Superior Woman--Summer 2020--Final Edition
Superior Woman Summer 2020 is a publication about women living, working and playing in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Superior Woman Summer 2020 is a publication about women living, working and playing in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
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LASER<br />
focused<br />
BY DALE HEMMILA<br />
Editor’s Note: The story below was filed just before the COVID 19 pandemic hit hard. Subsequently,<br />
the business involved has been impacted by the storefront closure, while online sales have continued.<br />
Although summer trade shows were canceled, wholesale orders have begun to pick up and they saw an<br />
uptick in sales after federal stimulus checks were distributed. <strong>Superior</strong> <strong>Woman</strong> wanted to present the<br />
original pre-pandemic story of how this business partnership began with the hope that more normal times<br />
will be in our future soon.<br />
Two women, a business, and a plan: that’s inspiration right there. So,<br />
it shouldn’t be a big surprise that their business is called Be Inspired UP.<br />
The women are Jackie Bessner and Stacey Willey, their shop is a<br />
small storefront in downtown Ishpeming, Michigan, but their business<br />
is much bigger than that.<br />
The shop is filled primarily with laser-cut jewelry. Most of those are<br />
Bessner’s designs and they feature images related to Michigan’s Upper<br />
Peninsula, with an eye toward the natural beauty outdoor activities.<br />
The shop also features the books written by local authors that are<br />
part of Willey’s book publishing business. With some additional local<br />
art on sale, and a few other odds and ends related to the 906 area code,<br />
there is a lot to take in once you step inside.<br />
But that is not the only place to find their unique items. With a<br />
presence on Shopify and Etsy, they reach a much larger audience,<br />
and their own website features 24 pages of unique earrings, pendants,<br />
bracelets and a whole lot more.<br />
Recently <strong>Superior</strong> <strong>Woman</strong> met with Willey and Bessner to learn a<br />
little more about their inspiration:<br />
So, how did this business come about?<br />
SW: I opened the gift shop and I still run the book-publishing part,<br />
and I’m still pretty busy with that. This location has been open about<br />
two years. Jackie, a couple of years ago, started her own jewelry line<br />
business. So she approached me about helping her with this stainless<br />
steel line of Be Inspired jewelry.<br />
JB: I had my own little jewelry line and I would do a craft show<br />
here and there and some gift shops started reaching out asking can you<br />
make us some things, but it got to be too much. Getting up at 5 a.m.<br />
to package jewelry, making jewelry, working again after I got home<br />
from my regular 8 to 5 job, so I built a website, I did Etsy, I built a<br />
Shopify site, and realized this could be something, but I don’t have the<br />
time to dedicate. I needed help.<br />
You kind of found each other then?<br />
JB: Stacey did jewelry and I got to chit-chatting with her one day. I<br />
was at the point where I either needed to sell it or bring on a business<br />
partner who has a vested interest in it.<br />
SW: At one point, Jackie really broached it as looking for rental space.<br />
JB: I was looking for rental space to get it out of my house. I just<br />
knew Stacey sold jewelry and she filled the other piece from the<br />
graphic art point that I needed help with, as well. So I approached<br />
her and at first, she said, ‘Well, maybe I’ll help you a little bit,’ and I<br />
showed her what I was doing, and what the potential was, and she<br />
said, yeah, and here we are.<br />
And how is all of that going?<br />
SW: Organically, I think things have fallen into place.<br />
JB: This is a ‘labor of love,’ is a good way to put it, because the<br />
amount of hours it takes to get where we’re at, if someone would have<br />
told me how much labor I would put in without any monetary value,<br />
most people would say, no thanks.<br />
SW: Neither one of us is getting a salary at this point.<br />
JB: It’s dumbfounding how much work it is, but we’re at a pivoting<br />
point right now, and I think it could be a successful business.<br />
SUMMER <strong>2020</strong> SUPERIORWOMAN.NET 13