Millennial Moment | Melody Godfred – Fred & Far
Melody Godfred is the founder of Fred and Far, A Self Love Movement, and creator of The Self Love Pinky Ring. She is passionate about empowering women to choose themselves and commit to practicing self love and self care on a daily basis. Melody is also the founder of Write In Color, Los Angeles’ leading resume writing service. Her career advice has been featured on Forbes, Inc. and The Muse. Connect with her directly on instagram @fredandfar.
1 | Tell me about your company… What does your company do?
I am the founder of Fred and Far, a Self Love Movement. I launched Fred and Far and created The Self Love Pinky Ring in 2016 to empower women to choose themselves and commit to practicing self love and care on a daily basis. We are a movement and community of women around the world that shares a common symbol and core values. When a woman decides to join our tribe, she makes a pinky promise to honor, choose and remember herself daily. This is our pinky promise pledge. She also gains a global sisterhood of women committed to self love. In addition to designing the jewelry that powers and represents our brand, I create content for our social platforms and website to assist women in honoring their commitment to self love and care. If you see a woman wearing a Self Love Pinky Ring, you know that she is a woman who is chosen. A woman who owns her worth and wholeness. A woman who stands for other women. Our goal is to make this symbol as recognizable as the engagement ring. Because if we wear a ring that represents our commitment to another, why shouldn’t we have a ring that symbolizes our commitment to ourselves?
2 | How long have you been working in the jewelry industry? Your product has a GREAT message, what can you tell our readers about how this movement got started and why?
When I came up with the idea for the Self Love Pinky Ring in early 2015, I had no experience in the jewelry industry. In fact, I wasn’t trying to start a business. As an entrepreneur with two two-year-olds, I had completely fallen off my own radar. I realized I needed a reminder to get to know myself again, and to care for myself and love myself the way I loved and cared for my kids, clients, friends and family. The very first Self Love Pinky Ring was an act of survival for me. When I realized the change it motivated in my own life, I thought it could help other women as well. And that is when I set out, along with the help of my best friend, to turn my self love into a self love movement.
3 | What are some challenges you have faced being an entrepreneur in the custom jewelry environment?
Before Fred and Far, I had no experience with jewelry (other than wearing and loving it). Jewelry, especially rings, and especially pinky rings, is challenging. Most women do not know their pinky ring sizes. Manufacturing jewelry in the United States (which we exclusively do, and are committed to), is expensive. Maintaining the quality standards we demand requires meticulous care. Ensuring every single piece is worthy of the movement it represents is something we work on daily. It took us a lot of research and trial and error to find manufacturers that work for us, to source the stones we use, to develop an overall product and customer experience that aligns with our mission. But it was worth every up and down. Each time a woman joins us and posts her pinky pledge or shares her picture and story, all the hard work is instantly validated. It is a profound privilege and pleasure to do what I do. To witness and celebrate women in this way.
4 | How much has social media impacted your business?
Social media has played a tremendous role in our business. First, when we launched, we went viral on Facebook due to several meme websites that turned our ring into a huge trend. You may remember seeing an article that said, “If you see a woman wearing a ring on her pinky, this is what it means.” That was us. We also were written up in many press outlets around the world, and these pieces were shared and liked and spread on social media at record speed. Aside from exposure, social media, is where we connect with and build our tribe. On Instagram we follow every customer so that we can witness and celebrate their self love journeys. We interact with them very closely, and provide constant support through our engagement and our content to ensure they are able to follow through on their commitment to self love and self care. On Facebook, we’ve also created a private group, called Self Love Confidential. This is a space for women in our tribe, and women in general, to connect, share stories, share resources, and discover inspiration. We do not ever sell or promote our collection on this page – it is really all about creating community. You can search for it on FB if you want to join. It’s private so once you’re in, nothing you post will be available to anyone outside the group.
5 | What motivated you to take the leap and start your own brand?
I experienced first hand the transformative impact choosing yourself and committing to self love can have on your life. I went from being anxious, unhappy, and in need of complete control, to being able to fully engage in and embrace my life. There was no question in my mind that other women like me existed, and the past almost two years has been proof of that. We all have unique stories, and special reasons why we reach the point of needing a daily reminder of our commitment to ourselves, but we are all united in our divine femininity and our power as women. Self love and sisterhood will save the planet. This is one of my mantras and a driving force behind the brand.
6 | What advice can you give to your fellow millennial entrepreneurs?
The best thing to do is to achieve a minimum viable product and get started. I think we’re taught that to have a business requires in depth knowledge of the industry you’re joining, ample resources and connections, and a fully formed plan. I’ve found that if you have an authentic reason why you want to pursue the business you’re pursuing and you share that story, people will connect. And then you work your butt off and make it work, one day, hour and moment at a time. You get started, and you keep improving. We make changes at Fred and Far every single day. Starting this business was the best decision I ever made, and I didn’t have the training, resources or action plan you would think one should have in place before starting something. So get started. Do it. You won’t regret it.
7 | What is your favorite product and why?
When we first launched, we had one product: The Original Self Love Pinky Ring. Today, we have over 20, including different styles of rings, other self love jewelry pieces, and even self love inspired paper products and enamel pins. Despite the growth, I’m still most passionate about The Self Love Pinky Ring, because it will always be the hallmark of our brand and represent our movement most fully.
8 | Who is your biggest influencer or inspiration?
Without a doubt, my biggest influence and inspiration are the women of our tribe. The women who power our self love movement. Each and every one is a light in my life.
9 | Do you have any promos that Bossfidence Babes can use to get your products this holidays season?
Use the code BOSSBABE for $15 off my favorite product, The Original Self Love Pinky Ring.
If you’re shopping this holiday season, starting Friday November 24, 2017 get an automatic 10% off $50, 15% off $150 and 20% off $300!
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