19-year-old's jewelry business nearing $1M in sales
What started with some YouTube videos made to beat boredom during the COVID lockdown has morphed into an online jewelry business bonanza with $929,000 in sales and counting for a 19-year-old Long Island entrepreneur.
Evangelina Petrakis, founder of Freeport-based EP Jewels, says she harnessed the power of social media and her influencer base — she has 487,000 followers on Instagram alone — to grow her brand without doling out any advertising dollars.
“I use my social media platforms to promote and market my business,” Petrakis says. “Every time I post, I always wear my jewelry. People always comment and ask where it’s from.”
If someone clicks on a tagged item in one of her posts, they’re directed to her EP Jewels social page that has a link to her shop at epjewels.co.
WHAT TO KNOW
- A 19-year-old entrepreneur launched her own jewelry line, leveraging her social media following to generate sales.
- In less than two years, without spending any money on advertising, she has generated $929,000 in sales for EP Jewels.
- U.S. sales through "social commerce" — selling goods through social media platforms — is projected to double to $107 billion by 2025.
So-called "social commerce" — selling goods through social media platforms — grew to $53 billion in U.S. sales in 2022, according to market research firm Insider Intelligence. That’s projected to more than double to $107 billion by 2025.
The practice has proven to be "sticky,” meaning that many people who have bought once on social media do so again, says Jasmine Enberg, principal analyst for social media at Insider Intelligence.
Influencers “have already built their audiences on social media so it makes sense for them to use those platforms to sell their products to consumers who already follow them and love their content,” she says.
Video goes viral
Petrakis started growing her following through YouTube in April 2020 during the height of COVID, when she was 16.
“I started my channel basically out of boredom,” she says.
The first video was just a segment of her getting ready at home doing her makeup and hair, and the second video showcased her own jewelry collection with pieces from her mother and grandmother.
“My jewelry collection went viral,” she says, with 138,000 views to date.
Seeing an opportunity, she started by selling handmade tie-dye apparel she and her family made.
Her parents gave her $25,000 in start-up money, which she repaid within weeks from sales, her mother, Elizabeth, says. But producing the clothing was labor intensive and gave her little time to produce YouTube content, says Petrakis.
So she decided to take her love of fashion and jewelry and create her own jewelry designs, which are produced by half a dozen manufacturers in the U.S. and overseas. To find manufacturers, she knocked on doors in Manhattan's diamond district and went to jewelry industry conventions in Las Vegas, Manhattan and Miami.
She launched EP Jewels in May 2021 with about $10,000 in seed money from her parents, which she paid back within two months, says Elizabeth, who holds a 10% stake in the business.
The company's necklaces, bracelets, anklets, rings and earrings, made of sterling silver coated in gold vermeil, are priced from $38 to $300. The most popular item so far, a necklace with a teddy bear pendant with cubic zirconia, sells for $132.
Petrakis and two employees fill all the orders by hand. During peak holiday season, they handled as many as 1,500 orders in a month.
Evangelina Petrakis, founder of Freeport-based EP Jewels, prepares orders for shipping. Credit: Alejandra Villa Loarca
“She has mastered utilizing her social media platforms and personality as a means to market her brand,” Elizabeth says. “She works super hard every day. She loves what she does and is organized, independent and strong-minded.”
Ambassadors boost sales
In addition to selling through her own social media posts, Petrakis uses about 200 “ambassadors” who promote and sell her jewelry through their social channels. They earn 10% on every order, Petrakis says.
Her first ambassador, Jordyn Mannino, did so well that they teamed up on their own jewelry line; the EP Jewels X Jordyn Mannino Collection launched last September.
“We curated the whole thing together, which was really awesome,” says Mannino, 21, who gets 15% of sales from their joint collection.
They launched with about 10 pieces and several items sold out multiple times, Mannino says. They have since added more pieces. They’ve also been selling their line at “pop-up” events at stores, including Love and Honey Boutique in East Meadow.
“We have a very similar customer base,” says Love and Honey owner Jordan Krauss, 24. “There was a lot of cross marketing.” She said the pop-ups have been “wildly successful,” noting one drew 300 people.
Petrakis continues to expand her jewelry line and in September began selling Greek letter charms for 19 different sororities with approval from Affinity Licensing, a trademark licensing firm.
EP Jewels is working on other licensing deals, Petrakis says.
“She’s doing the same thing the Kardashians are doing, but on a smaller scale,” her mom, Elizabeth says. “But she’ll get there.”
She’s also looking to give back and donated $2,500 to the Levittown-based non-profit, MOMMAS House, a home for young mothers age 18 to 24 and their babies. She’s planning to gift another $10,000.
She said she doesn’t regret not pursuing college and jumping right into entrepreneurship.
“I continue to focus on what matters and build my business,” Petrakis says. “I see it only growing from here.”
Testing barrels found in Bethpage ... Opening statements in Trump trial ... Jets trade Zach Wilson ... Tulip festival
Testing barrels found in Bethpage ... Opening statements in Trump trial ... Jets trade Zach Wilson ... Tulip festival
