Business Mastermind Feature: Kayla Miller, founder of KM Jewelry Design
Curious to connect with women business owners, world changers, and boss babes?
Our Women’s Business Mastermind blog series features women business owners who are raising the tide for all of us.
This Women’s Business Mastermind Feature Series spotlights women in our Founding Females® women’s mastermind group to create a tighter web where women-led businesses uplift one another.
The women business owners you’ll meet in this series bring value to the community in insightful ways. I’m delighted to share their growth and success with you!
First, let’s cover one big question: What is a women’s business mastermind?
What is a Women’s Business Mastermind?
The Founding Females® women business mastermind is a female entrepreneur online space where members find support and belonging in a community full of ideas about how to grow their businesses.
Inside the Mastermind community is a buzzing conversation about business topics that really matter to small business owners, such as effective marketing strategy, practical tips to achieve work/life balance, and personal development guidance that translates into mindset growth.
Each month, Founding Females® Mastermind members have access to a transformative one-hour Mastermind call where all members share their best business wisdom on a specific business topic.
Monthly Mastermind calls are a way for women business owners to link arms and pour into each other with the goal for everyone in the Mastermind community to advance forward in their businesses.
Starting a New Business
For many women, business ownership has been on our hearts for years. Many times entrepreneur qualities shine from an early age.
For Kayla Miller, that was certainly the case. Kayla had dreams to become a jewelry designer from an early age and developed the interest by first starting with a “Daisy Chain” bracelet, an idea she found in an American Girl magazine.
Let’s dive in to learn more about KM Jewelry Design!
FF: Kayla, please introduce us to ‘KM Jewelry Design.’
Kayla: At KM Jewelry Design, I specialize in creating exquisite and unique pieces of jewelry tailored to each client’s individual style and preferences. I’m dedicated to crafting high-quality, one-of-a-kind jewelry that tells YOUR story. Jewelry about YOU. For YOU.
FF: Tell us about how your business came to be.
Kayla: When I was 11 years old, thumbing through the pages of American Girl Magazine, I came across a beaded jewelry pattern that I knew I had to try.
I quickly emptied my desk drawer to collect all the seed beads I could find and made my first "Daisy Chain" bracelet.
I was so proud of what I had made and soon friends and acquaintances were asking to purchase my creations.
A dream was born and it still lives inside of me 25 years later.
After gaining 12 years of experience in the fine jewelry industry and obtaining my GIA Accredited Jewelry Professional Certificate, I established KM Jewelry Design LLC.
FF: Who do you love working with and helping?
Kayla: My clients want a unique custom jewelry experience. They are the individualistic forerunners, the outliers that can't seem to find that dream piece of jewelry that they have envisioned.
They are sentimental, thoughtful, intentional, creative and unconventional.
FF: How would you describe your own personal growth journey through entrepreneurship?
Kayla: A valuable lesson in life is owning your life story, the good, the bad, the ugly, and everything in between that goes into the beautiful person you are and are becoming.
Often life takes unexpected turns, and we end up in places we never thought we’d be, sometimes good, sometimes hard, sometimes neutral, but unexpected. Our dreams may come true, but often the outcome doesn’t look the way we think it should. I want to challenge and encourage you to not only own your story but tell it, and even, wear it!
I am originally from California and never had I ever anticipated moving to Central Illinois, until I met my husband, from Morton, IL. When we moved to Illinois, I thought I may be giving up my dream of jewelry design for the dream of love and family - I wasn’t sure and felt that it was time to lay my career down and just get acclimated to my new surroundings.
It has taken some getting used to, but I am happy to say now, despite the cold winters, Central Illinois feels more like home than California.
I have come to appreciate the rich community and relationships in the Greater Peoria Area, as well as all the small business resources and support.
After spending my first three years longing to continue my career in jewelry design, with the support and encouragement of my husband and the Peoria business community including, Founding Females®, National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) Central Illinois, Central Illinois Women In Leadership (WIL), Distillery Labs, the Bradley College Small Business Development Center (SBDC), and the Morton Chamber of Commerce, I launched KM Jewelry Design LLC.
Founding Females Women’s Business Mastermind
We’re in open enrollment! Be part of something special by joining Kayla and the strong female founder community inside the Founding Females® Mastermind.
FF: Share a client success story!
Kayla: Here is a recent review:
"Working with Kayla on a custom jewelry piece was an absolute dream, from our initial meeting to the delivery of the finished product. At each step, she listened to my input and was excited to incorporate my suggestions into the design, and the end result is a ring that's perfectly ME. I'm excited to work with her on more designs in the future!" - Sara
FF: Kayla, tell us about your favorite business topics.
Kayla: Finding a community and developing a good sales process.
FF: Why did you decide to join the Founding Females® Mastermind?
Kayla: The Founding Females® community has made a tremendous impact on my business and my life! I joined the Founding Females® Mastermind shortly after starting my business and it has been a catalyst to my business growth as well as helping me to develop a plan for "building my business around my life instead of a life around my business"!
Entrepreneurship can be a lonely road, but it doesn't have to be! Starting my business helped me find my community.
FF: What else should we know about you?
Kayla: I became a Momprenuer in 2023, and though it is challenging as a new mother, I am even more thankful that I started my business when I did.
FF: Let’s get connected! Share with us where you’re spending time.
Kayla:
https://www.facebook.com/KMJewelryDesign
IG: @kmjewelrydesign
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kmjewelrydesign/
Website:
Follow KM Jewelry Design on Instagram
Connect with Kayla on LinkedIn
Facebook
Connect with KM Jewelry Design on Facebook
Conclusion to KM Jewelry Design Business Mastermind Feature
Kayla’s dream to become a jewelry designer started when she was 11 years old. Through diligent training and listening to her heart calling her back into the jewelry industry, Kayla now runs a thriving business where she helps clients create custom, one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry that illustrate their unique life journey.
Kayla naturally gravitated toward a supportive community with a diverse group of like-minded women, including within the Founding Females® Mastermind, and shared it made a tremendous impact on her business and her life!
Join the Women’s Business Mastermind
Join Kayla, Janelle Reeb, Lindsey the Ladysmith, Heidi the Joyologist, Lindsay Wineinger from Wineinger’s Country Feed and Supply and the rest of the Founding Females® family inside the Founding Females® women business mastermind.
We’re currently offering a free trial, so peek inside and see what it’s like!
P.S. Here are some of my top favorite female small business resources:
Dream, Build, Grow Free Resource Suite - free business templates for your business plan, marketing plan, ideal client persona, financial statements, and more!
Founding Females Community - an online female mastermind space for entrepreneurs to connect, support, and get inspired
Dream, Build, Grow: A Female’s Step-by-Step Guide for How to Start a Business - a guided handbook including everything you need to know from business idea to launch to profiting and scaling your business.
Free Downloads for Female Entrepreneurs
Free PDF Download: 25 Ways to Market Your Business (Aside from Social Media)
Free PDF Download: 33 keys to Business Success
Free PDF Download: SEO Tips for Entrepreneurs
Related Articles for Female Entrepreneurs
About Founding Females®
The mission of Founding Females® is to help women build thriving businesses. We create safe spaces for women to share business challenges and receive peer support.
In addition, Founding Females® offers an online female business mastermind, a how-to guidebook for female entrepreneurs called Dream, Build, Grow: A Female’s Step-by-Step Guide for How to Start a Business, and in-person events, like an annual women’s business conference and local Founding Females® Meet Ups.
Founding Females® was founded by small business educator, Francie Hinrichsen. She believes anyone with a dream on their heart can pull up a seat to change the world through entrepreneurship. Click to learn more about working with Francie.