Cleveland-Based Business Now Sells Nationwide
Denise Soldevila turned her creative side into a business idea fifteen years ago after deciding to try her hand at jewelry-making when she found some pieces she liked but found them to be too expensive.
“I’ve always been creative, and I saw a bracelet and I wanted one. They were very expensive, and so I tried to replicate it, and something else came out of that piece besides a resemblance of what I was trying to make. And I was walking through a showroom in Atlanta with a friend of mine. And a rep saw that bracelet on my arm and said, “Oh my gosh, I love that bracelet. Where did you get it?’.
And just like that, Deep South Originals, a handcrafted jewelry brand sold in the Delta, was born.
“I had been making pieces for my friend’s store, and that’s when the whole world of wholesale and retail was opened up to me. I’ve been in IT my whole life, so selling jewelry was not really like something that I was familiar with, so I just taught myself how to do it. I would watch videos, tutorials – lots of practice,” says Soldevila.
Last year, she decided to branch out into wholesaling her creations on Faire, FashionGo and Hubventory, which offer boutique owners the convenience of shopping with wholesalers for the latest styles without having the expense of having to travel to markets in Dallas or Atlanta.
“I had been putting [my jewelry] into small shops around Cleveland, and around August last year I decided to start wholesaling, which had been my dream fifteen years ago, but it just didn’t work out for me at that time. So now I’ve started wholesaling and my products are basically shipped all over the United States and Canada,” she says.
Soldevila’s creations include necklaces, bracelets, rings and earrings made from a variety of materials including stainless steel, fourteen karat gold, gold plate, brass, leather, beads, gemstones and pearls. She follows magazines to keep up with the latest trends in fashion.
“I just try to keep up with what’s trending and follow those trends and listen to customer feedback,” she says.
Her favorite items to make are necklaces and earrings.
“And I love anything with pearls,” she says. “We use a lot of pearls.”
Since going into wholesaling, her designs have found their way into countless stores nationwide. “We’re in over 1,000 retail stores now, probably 2,000.”
Items are also available for purchase on DeepSouthOriginals.com.
Soldevila enjoys designing her jewelry and plans to continue well into the future.
“I’ve been in education for twenty-four years and so, after I finish serving my time in public education, my plan is to do this full time,” she says.