Jessica Santander is a lover of life whose hardship with listening to her heart led her to take a grand leap of faith in the most unthought moment. After landing her first full-time job in the Digital Marketing field, she found herself feeling disconnected and lost and grew a fascination with what can be from the idea of creating her own path. This idea kept tapping into her heart and led to her lifelong project of what is called Project Moment Designs. 

Can you tell our readers about your background?

My name is Jessica Santander and I’m the Founder and Designer of Project Moment Designs, which is my handmade jewelry business based out of Tampa, FL. I’m originally from Rochester, NY, but had lived most of my teenage and young adult life in Delaware. Growing up, I was fascinated with film and theatre, and was pursuing a career in acting (I was able to work alongside with Mark Walhberg in The Happening) throughout my early teenage years.

I also had a blazing passion for international cultures and aesthetics/ways of life, so I decided to complete my Bachelor’s Degree in International Business and Marketing from the University of Delaware. Post-graduation, I had spent a few years navigating the fashion and beauty industry at Sephora and still felt yearning energy to continue my education within the fields of Marketing- as I grew an admiration with brands that were breaking the status quo and creating sensory experiences with consumers. This decision led me to move to Tampa, FL where I obtained my Master’s in Marketing. It was during my studies at the University of Tampa that my growing fascination with brand marketing eventually brought me to re-visit my utmost life passion—the grand window of opportunity to create my own business and lead with a differentiated brand voice.

What inspired you to start your business? 

I’ve always known what ignites that blazing passion within my heart—and that has been the vivacious beauty and difference cultivated found in the fashion industry. After completing my Master's Degree in Marketing, I came across a mentally and emotionally difficult roadblock where I was receiving closed doors for almost two years trying to find a job. Though I was fortunate enough to land a job in Digital Marketing, I still felt incomplete and lost with myself as I knew this was not what I wanted to do with my life.

After many moments of feeling sorry for myself, I made the leap of faith to just go for the unthinkable and make my own path. The entrepreneurial spirit of creating with no boundaries and, from such creations, making a difference in the world just feels right to my heart-it’s like no other sensation experienced. 

Where is your business based? 

My jewelry business is located in Tampa, FL, but as we are an e-commerce company, we are sharing our mission of empowering women all across the world. 

How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?

I started my business out of my living room, working diligently each night after coming home from work on building up my Shopify website to be as user-friendly and eye-catching at first sight. This did require me to invest in a digital camera for my product photos, but other than that, I’ve self-taught myself the ins and outs of growing my eCommerce platform. The beginning stages of launching one’s website and online presence is most definitely an exciting one as you get to see your vision come to life. Hard work certainly pays off when passion leads the way.

 What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business?

As the social media nerd that I am, I took a deep dive into Instagram and started engaging with bloggers, friends, family members, and basically the network of my network to get the word-of-mouth going for my business. In addition to utilizing the social aspect of social media, attending local markets and trunk shows to connect with new customers personally has been a growing foundation to continuously raise awareness for my jewelry business.

What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?

My biggest challenges thus far have been expanding my online reach as my business is primarily e-commerce, and therefore, there’s that extra roadblock when trying to establish a personal connection to new website visitors. Though this is a daily challenge of mine, I’ve heavily invested in showing up for my brand online through social media and email marketing- engaging with my audience through videos to bring them closer to our business and experience our overall brand voice. 

How do you stay focused?

Every day I remind myself what my mission and purpose are, and this alone drives me to do all I can in nurturing my business on that very day. I pour my passion and love into what I do and I believe this shall be seen and also appreciated day by day.

How do you differentiate your business from the competition?

My business is grounded on a foundation that’s always evolving with my clients’ journey. As our mission is to empower women to celebrate their moments of self-growth, changes in life and renewed beginnings, we bring this to life by handmaking our jewelry designs and color story to speak to a new moment/experience that resonates to the hearts of a dream-building woman. 

What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business? 

Balancing both consistent content and video marketing with all my platforms has been a valuable marketing strategy that further supports our brand’s mission and aesthetic. Such two aspects of marketing bring to life our brand’s story and touch the sensory experiences of our customers.

What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?

Just begin—time passes by too quickly and now is the best of times to pursue one’s passion and allow that to lead to a new journey. No one has all the answers and we’re all learning by doing—believe in your potential and in what you want to begin.

What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why 

My favorite app is my iTunes podcast as I’m a huge fan of many, many podcasts covering all topics. From running a business to unleashing one’s own inner goddess, I start my day usually listening to one full episode. As for books, I find myself leaning towards resources that nurture a healthy mindset and lifestyle such as Girl Code by Cara Alwill.

What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?

My favorite business tool is my current email marketing platform, MailChimp, as there are numerous features to fully customize not only your templates but also email sequences to resonate with one’s own audience. I appreciate its flexibility in such areas as I’m able to always go back and re-adjust my campaigns to current events, promos, website updates…etc.

Who is your business role model? Why?

My business role model is Cara Alwill as I profoundly appreciate her journey and how hard she’s worked to get to where she is today. Cara is such an inspirational role model helping many women all across the world celebrate themselves and their greatest dreams. She helps me remind myself that anything we set our hearts to, and with a resilient mindset, can happen.

What is your beauty routine? What are some of your favorite products?

I’m such a skincare junkie at heart and have gone through many skincare lines to get to the point where my acne is under control, while also combatting against the signs of skin fatigue. Recently, I’ve been loving the am and pm products from Beauty Bio as it’s a female-founded company that is completely transparent with its honest ingredients. 

 How do you balance work and life?

I honestly take each day to be just one day at a time with a mini to-do list of the 2-3 must-do action items for that day. I, also, make sure to dedicate a full hour of self-care workouts to get my body moving every day.

What’s your favorite way to decompress? 

I absolutely love slipping into my comfy PJs and enjoying a warm bowl of oatmeal with no screen distractions. This helps to alleviate my mind and feel calm with where I am and what I am doing.

What do you have planned for the next six months? 

Prior to COVID-19 occurring, I had a full month focused on planning the launch of my Spring/Summer collection, along with setting up an on-campus brand ambassador program with a local university. Now that our entire lives have been shaken up, I’ve taken a pause to discover ways to further be of service to my customers with our products. This reflection has led to many exciting ideas lined up heading into the summer and fall that has a glistening focus on more personalization offerings.

How can our readers connect with you?

All readers can connect with me directly via our website, Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest.