In less than 20 years, Lauren Fenty has turned her young teen interest in jewelry making, color and beads into a company with sales to fifty states and 30 plus countries. And it all started as a fourteen year old with her own discipline and initiative. Read on to learn how this young, local entrepreneur is transforming her industry with Bead Box Bargains.

Mrs. Fenty grew up in a large family in Normandy. She is the second oldest of eight siblings. “I always knew I wanted to run a business. We used to get these bulk wholesale Oriental Trading Company magazines in the mail. I would spend hours poring over the candy section, filling out order forms for my imaginary candy company and calculating how I would price each confection,” said Fenty.

“I started making jewelry in my early teens and quickly fell in love with the craft. Only problem was, beads were expensive. I shopped craft store clearance sections and bought on Ebay. I began working part-time at McDonald’s at 14 and spent most of my earnings on my hobby.”

“I then started looking into working with wholesalers and factories. Prices were better than retail but I had to buy in bulk. So I saved up for six months until I was able to make my first wholesale order, keeping the beads I wanted and selling the extras on Ebay. I made more than I originally paid for the whole lot, and got to keep the beads I wanted. I took the profits and reinvested them into more beads. Pretty soon I was making more money selling my extra beads on eBay than working at McDonald’s, so I turned in my notice.”

The hobby was now a business. “From there on out, at age 15, Bead Box Bargains became my career. After I graduated college and married my wonderful husband, Brandon, I ran everything from the back room of our basement. I filled all the company roles from sourcing, sorting, packing, shipping to customer service myself, until my daughter was born and I realized I needed to hire help to keep up.”

Today, Bead Box Bargains has over 20 employees, with sales in all 50 states and 30 plus countries.

Bead Box Bargains is an online store offering a constantly changing array of discounted gemstone, glass, metal and crystal beads along with jewelry supplies like clasps and findings. The small, but growing, company, has a big focus on offering high quality beads at closeout prices as well as a commitment to top notch customer service. Prices are typically 50% to 90% lower than retail store prices.

The company has now expanded to include a subscription service thanks to a customer suggestion requesting a surprise box of beads. “The Bargain Bead Box is a curated, themed collection of beads, pendants and findings, over a $70 retail value, for $24.99 each month.”

Fenty and her team source high-quality factory closeout and overstock gemstone beads and jewelry-making supplies from all over the world including India, Czech Republic, China and Austria.

Bead Box Bargains customers are typically creative jewelry artists and designers, crafters and instructors as well as bead stores and craft retailers. “We serve the beading community wherever they live.”

When asked what motivates Fenty to get up and go to work each day, she quickly said, “The people I get to work with are absolutely phenomenal. My team keeps me on track and makes every day fun. I get to do something I’m passionate about. There’s always something new to keep me motivated-new beads, new challenges, new ideas.

Plus, I get to play with sparkly beads.”

Fenty is passionate about customer service. “Great customer service is the best advertising investment you can make. Bead Box Bargains has never had an advertising budget in the traditional sense-we have grown almost entirely through word-of-mouth thanks to our awesome customers.”

Fenty has a YouTube channel, @BeadBoxBargains, with jewelry-making tutorial videos, gemstone identification tips and more.

Bead Box Bargains moved to Tullahoma in 2022. “Growing up in Normandy, I’ve always loved Tullahoma. It has a vibrant business community and great amenities like fiber internet, but also such a friendly, small-town feel. Tullahoma feels like home to me.”

As an indication of her love for Tullahoma, Fenty offers 20% off to her local customers with a coupon code (TULLAHOMA20) at checkout.

The entire current stock is available on the website www. BeadBoxBargains.com.

Fenty added, “When I first started selling beads on Ebay, I didn’t expect that I’d get to do this as my full-time job for the next twenty years. I definitely didn’t expect my team and my customer base to grow to this point. My goal has always been for the business to be a good thing for everyone it touches. It’s truly a dream-come-true to get to run Bead Box Bargains every day and I couldn’t do it without the support of my team, our customers and our community.”

The first twenty years of Bead Box Bargains has seen tremendous growth. It will be exciting to see where the next twenty years takes this dynamic and creative company.

Lane Curlee can be reached at lcurlee@lighttube.net or 5810360.