We all had great fun “ring”-ing in the new year and are busy settling back into the swing of things around here. 2011 is a year slated to bring big changes and continued growth here at B3 and the effects of this stretch are already starting to become apparent on our about page. If you have visited our about page recently, you may have noticed some new faces. Over the past few months, the B3 team has experienced some changes and while it means that we miss seeing some folks everyday, they are all positive signs of growth for everyone involved!
First our B3 goodbyes (and best of lucks!)….
Several months ago the incredibly talented Vanessa Walilko made the decision to take the leap to become a full-time, self-employed jewelry artist starting Kali Butterfly. While we miss her terribly at the studio, we could not be happier for her. In the short amount of time that she has been focusing all her energy on her own work, Vanessa has received tons of well-deserved praise, won awards, and found herself swamped with orders – a great problem to have. Not many people may know that Vanessa was actually the first employee Rebeca ever hired. She was hired to help Rebeca keep up with jewelry orders and while she had been mailling for only a short time, she proved to be technically proficient and talented beyond many others considered for the position. Her vision and talent have only grown over the past several years and we are thrilled to think that Rebeca and Blue Buddha Boutique had a part in helping her get where she is today.
Vanessa is not the only artist leaving the B3 nest – Kat Wisniewski has also been working incredibly hard over the past several months to start her own jewelry business, Elemental Art Jewelry. Many of you have probably experienced Kat’s impeccable customer service skills and chainmaille expertise over the past few years as she was the friendly voice on the other end of the phone at Blue Buddha for quite some time. Behind the scenes, Kat worked tirelessly to help B3 grow, training new folks and managing employees with the same patience and enthusiasm she gave to our customers. Kat has transitioned out of her full-time customer service position and is now doing order fulfillment while she works to get her business off the ground. She will also continue to design kits and instructions for B3 (like her incredibly popular Glass Caterpillar) and like Vanessa, will remain a close comrade in the chainmaille community.
While the energy that Kat and Vanessa brought to the studio can never be replaced, we are happy to announce that we have added two new employees to help ease the transition. They are both lovely and bring with them to B3 hefty brains and great personalities.
Grey Litaker is not only a speedy and detailed inventory assistant but a Natural Philosophy student at Shimer college. She adores creepy crawly things and animals and says if she can’t spend her life somewhere beautiful looking at animals and thinking, “she’ll settle for doing math all of the time.” Yes, she’s our kind of gal.
Lisa Rosenburg is the newest lady processing your orders. Like many of you, she feels most at home being creative and is an avid crafter and certified graphic artist. Originally hired as a seasonal worker, we quickly realized she was too great to let go after the holidays and decided to keep her on as a full-fledged employee to continue to help us manage the ever-growing mountain of orders.
You guys are awesome! I have always received fantastic customer service from you all, whether it’s answering my newbie questions or accommodating my “OMG, I forgot to add something to my order, can it still get in?” panicked requests. It’s clear that you’ve built a really positive environment for people to work in, which is so important (and so lacking in a lot of industries/companies!).
I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for employment opportunities once you all are settled into your new space.