Irish Women in Business: Fiona of BettyandBiddy.com

For the second in a new series of editorials on Her.ie focusing on Irish Women in Business, we’re talking  to Fiona Fitzsimons who founded jewellery website BettyandBiddy.com, which went live last month. Here, Fiona explains in her own words her business ethos, how the idea became a reality, and what her future plans are for the site. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––  The idea behind Betty and Biddy was simple enough; create a jewellery emporium that was chic, on trend and affordable. The aim of the website was to bring a supreme selection of costume pieces, updated regularly, with a guilt free price tag. I believe style should be attainable to all and price shouldn’t influence how beautiful a woman can look. Fiona, hard at work... We strip out the overhead and source our product directly, this allows us to avoid any middleman mark ups. We work closely with our suppliers to introduce new products on a constant basis, and tailor our selection based on our customer feedback. We want to bring to the market pieces that customers cherish and we will hunt for those pieces on their behalf. I started selling on online markets trying to shift stuff I had lodged in my closet for a millennium. It turned out people wanted what I had, which surprised me more then you can imagine. I started to notice the jewellery was moving very fast and people kept asking if I had more. I did, I had loads of stuff collected from years of gathering accessories. I used the money I had collected from selling online and started to track down suppliers to get in more shiny gems. I started ordering samples to test the quality and re-sold them online once they passed my personal quality control checks. There was no exact ‘light bulb moment’ but something that developed over a few weeks.   The next stages all happened very fast. A little too fast, fast enough that I did cry a few times on the spot, in my car, at the computer, in the shop. Anywhere really. Setting up the actual website was the biggest challenge. The only computer experience I have is being mates with Microsoft Word – turns out that wasn’t helpful at all. I spent hours getting it wrong, googling for help, phoning for help, asking anyone that could turn on a computer for help. I would spend hours searching for the best products I could find to feature on the website.  I chase down products that Betty and Biddy would be proud to represent and women would want to wear. I come from a background in Science having studied Forensic and Environmental Science at college. I liked what I did but I never loved it. Shiny jewels are my calling. This is something I love so I don’t mind spending nights trawling through suppliers and fixing the website for it. I want to grow and develop Betty and Biddy into a one stop shop jewellery superstore. I want to make it easy for women to find and shop for statement jewellery pieces that really stand out versus the high street. Ultimately, taking the hassle out of accessory shopping. Betty and Biddy will grow into something woman can feel part of and proud to wear. I consider exquisite customer service part of Betty and Biddy experience and I aim never to lose the personal touch that makes Betty and Biddy quirky and unique. There’s nothing more exciting than having something nice arrive in the post and I endeavour to make that journey as enjoyable as possible. To find out more about Fiona and her new business, visit BettyandBiddy.com To suggest other great Irish women to feature in this series, please drop us a line to [email protected]