A self-taught jewellery designer who had her work featured in Vogue made almost $7,000 in less than 24 hours after her latest creation went viral on TikTok.
Samantha Rose, 28, left her graphic communications agency to launch Rapunzille the Label in July 2019 and now earns an average of $12,000 a month by selling ‘affordable fine’ earrings, rings and necklaces online.
Friends and relatives insisted she was setting herself up for failure, but the Melbourne businesswoman used her millennial instinct to market her accessories exclusively on social media and has never looked back.
Her latest product, $79 (AUD) ‘Ear Stack Mystery Packs’, raked in $6,800 in a single day after customers saw them in a TikTok video that has attracted more than 2million views since it was uploaded on June 9.
Self-taught jewellery designer Samantha Rose (pictured) understands the power of social media
Her latest product, $79 (AUD) ‘Ear Stack Mystery Packs’ (pictured), raked in $6,800 after launching on June 9
‘We didn’t use any ads for the launch, it was all just organic traffic,’ Samantha told Daily Mail Australia.
The packs, which include four earrings that are either pairs or mixed singles which can be used to build a trendy stack of bling, are made from 925 grade sterling silver with gold plating that is suitable for sensitive skin and won’t tarnish in water.
Fans have been raving about the earrings, with many saying they would get their ears pierced again just to wear them.
‘This is making me want to go and get more piercings in my ears,’ one woman said.
Another added: ‘Stop, this will hurt my bank account.’
Samantha (pictured) left her graphic communications agency to launch Rapunzille the Label in July 2019
Samantha’s designs (pictured) are made from a combination of semi-precious stones with a mix of low carat gold and metals like sterling silver
Others praised their value and quality compared to similar styles on the market.
Less than one year after launching her label, Samantha had already bagged three features in Vogue Australia.
She now ships around 150 units a month, netting an average of $12,000 every 30 days – three times more than she would be making if she had continued to work as a graphic designer.
While making the leap to self-employment came with a ‘fair share of failure’, Samantha previously told Daily Mail Australia that she learned more in a year of business than she ever would have working a nine-to-five job.
‘I’ve always been a jewellery lover, but I found that any items made from quality metals all had very generic designs that were mass produced,’ she said.
‘You’d see the same things everywhere. If you wanted something a little different you’d have to purchase fast fashion jewellery that had appalling quality and turned your skin green after one wear! It wasn’t sustainable.’
Samantha (left) designs timeless pieces like her $179 gold padlock necklaces and $110 twisted hoop earrings (right) in the hopes that they never go out of fashion
That lack of quality led Samantha to a relatively untapped section of the accessories industry: demi-fine jewellery, which combines semi-precious stones with a mix of low carat gold and metals like sterling silver.
‘It’s affordable fine jewellery,’ she said.
‘Rapunzille is kissing brass goodbye and the green skin that goes along with it, and saying hello to timeless luxury pieces that are suitable for sensitive skin. It’s jewellery that our customers will want to wear season after season.’
Prices range from $35 for sterling silver rings to $179 for gold padlock necklaces.
Her nod from Vogue came less than a month after the launch of her online store in July 2019, with buyers from the esteemed fashion bible reaching out over email.
‘I honestly thought it was a fake email, I almost deleted it without opening it,’ Samantha said.
‘I never expected them to contact me, I just couldn’t believe they’d stumbled across my small business. It kept me motivated to work harder.’
Her best-seller is the ‘Star Struck Ear Threaders’, delicate drop earrings made from 18 carat gold plating, sterling silver and cubic zirconia stones.
A TikTok video of Samantha wearing the earrings has been viewed 1.1million times since it was posted on June 18, prompting repeated sell-outs.
‘It went completely viral! We’ve been selling out pre-order after pre-order,’ she said.
‘We weren’t expecting such an influx, so I didn’t order enough initially. We’ve sold out three times and are heading for the fourth in the space of a few months.’
One American customer called them ‘by far the best jewellery purchase’ she has ever made in a review on the brand’s website.
What started as a range of six simple pieces has grown to 19 in less than a year, but Samantha insists it took ‘nine months’ to build a consistent customer base.
‘It was very slow at the start. We went from a few orders a month to over a hundred a month between April and June 2020,’ she said.
And despite grave reservations from loved ones, the move to self-employment ironically sheltered Samantha from the economic aftershocks triggered by the pandemic.
‘We’ve been selling between $10,000 and $12,000 since COVID hit in March, which is crazy. Business grew exponentially during lockdown,’ Samantha said.