Her pandemic hobby became a business

CLAYTON — The COVID-19 pandemic forced Stephanie Lofink to choose between career and family.

“Right before COVID-19, my mother-in-law moved in,” recalled Lofink, a teacher for 21 years. “Because I was a specialist teacher, I saw 650 kids within a couple of weeks.”

That meant she brought the threat of COVID home every day.

“I just thought that it wasn’t fair for me to keep doing what I loved and put the people in my family at risk,” Lofink said.

So she retired from teaching, and then like many people during the pandemic, she picked up a hobby — making jewelry. But “jewelry supplies are not cheap, and the bills were kind of adding up,” Lofink said.

Her husband encouraged her to turn her hobby into a business, said Lofink, who would go on to start Lofink’s Lovelies. “Fortunately, Johnston Community College has an excellent resource called SBC,” she said, referring to the Small Business Center. “They have free counseling for you if you want to start a business.”

The learning curve for launching her business was long, from the financials to the creative, but one thing she learned early on was to give customers what they want. “So instead of imposing my likes on them, I do all kinds of things, and it stretches my envelope of creativity,” said Lofink, a Raleigh resident and a regular vendor at the Clayton Farm & Community Market.

She varies her styles and materials based on what the customer prefers. “So sometimes I’ll make things that are bigger and bulkier that are not really my taste, but people love them,” she said. “It’s kind of fun to stretch myself creatively.“

Lofink makes bracelets, earrings and necklaces. “I have tried all different kinds of styles, from wire wrapping to jumping jewelry,” she said, referring to the technique of linking “jump” rings together to make necklaces. “That’s what keeps it fresh for me and keeps it fun.”

She tries new styles or looks for fun, Lofink said. “My sister-in-law is the one who brought the idea to me about making French doll pendants,” she said, referring to pendants made of beads and fashioned to look like miniature dolls. “She showed me some pictures on the internet, and I said, ‘Do you want to make one?’ So we sat here in my office, and we made French doll pendants.”

When it comes to making jewelry, Lofink has two distinct approaches. In one, customers come to her with ideas, including the woman who wanted a family tree pendant to wear at her son’s wedding.

In the other, Lofink goes looking for ideas. “I go to thrift stores and I’ll find something that maybe doesn’t make a good necklace but would make a fantastic earring,” she explained. “I try to keep the cost of my materials low so that I can keep the cost of products low.”

The Clayton market taught her what sells best, Lofink said. “I brought a few things that were a little more expensive, but in general, it takes a lot longer to sell those things,” she said. “I think it’s important to know your market. I sell at the market, where people are looking for a deal.”

She is always trying to put the customer first, Lofink said, recalling a custom order for a necklace. “I wasn’t really happy with the way the different elements were hanging,” she said.

And she told the customer that. “I said, ‘I’ve been thinking about it, and I think I can make it better,” Lofink told the woman. “ ‘Would you let me try? And if you don’t like it, I’ll put it back the way it was. But I think it will be better.’ The lady liked those changes that I made.”

It’s proved a good business for her, Lofink said. “I’m retired, and I’m playing, and I’m making money at it,” she said.

“I’m actually having a really good year this year,” she added. “I’m being able to buy some better materials that have some gold plating and some silver plating.”

The joy in her new career comes from being creative, Lofink said. “It’s an opportunity to learn, grow and be creative,” she said. “It’s a good life right now.”

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