Life is a little ironic. I founded Tramonti in 2007 as a company that would allow me to fulfill my passion of designing jewelry but the longer I had Tramonti the more I focused on the business rather than the passion. I came to face with this realization one day while emailing a customer and signing off as Tramonti. The email looked more like an automated message from a department store rather than a personal letter from a jewelry designer to a valued customer. I think this was because I viewed Tramonti as a business, separate from jewelry design. The reality is, I would design and make jewelry whether I was making money or not. I was becoming drained from trying to make my company a business and I had to tell myself that business is not my passion, jewelry design is. I didn’t realize designing and selling jewelry was already a “business” before it was Tramonti. My business was communicating with my clients, finding out what their needs were and making something for them that they were excited to wear. Although I still communicated with my customers, I was focusing on the wrong things.
I decided to look at Tramonti from an outsider’s perspective. If I visited Tramonti’s site would I feel welcome? Would I want to come back? The truth is, I didn’t feel welcome and although I might have wanted to buy the jewelry, I didn’t feel a connection to anyone. I know I am being blunt about this, but I think it’s important to look at things honestly. I realized that I needed to give my visitors a trunk show experience while online and I think it will come from putting myself into the site. To go along with my “new” business, will be a new business name. This month I am changing the name of the company from Tramonti to the Whitney Williams Collection. Re-branding my business with my name gives me the opportunity to personalize the business. The new website, which is set to launch in early April, is being re-designed to be an interactive experience between customers and myself. I will do this by keeping a blog on my site that I will update regularly to give customers information about new designs and upcoming trunk shows and it will also be an outlet for communication with customers. I will keep my designs, because they are a reflection of me, the only thing that will change is the name of the business and the experience of being one of my customers. I also hope to make the shopping experience a fun one.
Stay posted for updates on the launch of the Whitney Williams Collection and I hope you will enjoy the new experience!
An early mock-up of the web-site collection:
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