On how the mother-daughter duo keeps it colorful
If you’ve been reading On Your Market for the last five—nearly six!—years, you know I’m a Jane Taylor Jewelry fangirl of epic proportions. While the brand’s collections exude a sense of joyous brilliance resplendent with color and modern style that would draw fans on their own, it’s the mother-daughter duo behind the name that keeps everyone hooked. If there ever was the perfect spokesmodel—spokesmodels— for the brand, it’s Jane Taylor herself along with daughter Cleo Zancope Gnatek. Colorful and fun-loving, they’re the living embodiments of their craft: vivid, lively, and, even through photographs, people you just know you’d love in person. Their presence on social media reinforces that feeling through a rainbow of photographs: Mostly, you’ll see the personality of their creations, but every once in a while, there’s a glimpse of the duo—smiling, laughing, making funny faces, or a combination of all three—and you can’t help but join them. Here, Cleo (with a little input from Jane!) shares some thoughts on what Jane Taylor Jewelry’s Social Life is all about.
Your Instagram is filled with so much color! What is your favorite color combination to share (and which do you think is the most popular?)
Cleo Zancope Gnatek: Thank you! Neither I, nor our followers, have a favorite color combo, but we’re all big fans of the rainbow explosion!
Do you and Jane share in the social media duties?
Zancope Gnatek: Nope, it’s my thing. I first started working on our social media six years ago (holy cow, almost to the day! I just looked at our first Facebook profile picture and it was from Jan. 24, 2011—weird coincidence!). Our social media program is my baby and I’m very proud of it. My mom is an absolute genius when it comes to communicating through metal and gemstones, but photography and copy are not her natural mediums. So we’ve got a great yin-yang thing going in that our strengths and weaknesses complement each other.
What is your favorite social media platform to use for business?
Zancope Gnatek: Instagram, Instagram, Instagram—though it’s incredibly important for each business to recognize which platform plays to their brand’s strengths, not just blindly follow marketing trends.
How about for your own personal use?
Zancope Gnatek: For personal use, I’m also a big fan of Instagram, because photography has always been a passion of mine. Facebook has become a go-to for staying aware of current events and keeping a pulse on politics (besides NPR, of course). I love that the platform has changed from the place my generation used to share pictures of drunken escapades to a digital community where we can rally around the issues that matter most to us.
First social media site you check in the morning?
Zancope Gnatek: Big surprise: Instagram!
Which is better: Snapchat or Instagram Stories?
Zancope Gnatek: I prefer Instagram Stories for business use, and Snapchat for very silly, personal use. Instagram Stories was an exciting development because it allowed people to take advantage of the audiences they had lovingly and painstakingly grown. Running a small business is time-consuming, so the smaller number of apps I have to use, the better.
Tell us a social media success story.
Zancope Gnatek: Well, Nov. 18, 2015, goes down as a particularly memorable day for us. I happened to be visiting my mom for a work trip and kept getting distracted during our meeting because I noticed that some of our older photos were getting a ton of likes out of the blue. Then I got a Direct Message from Instagram itself, telling us that we had been included in their Dress You Up Jewelry Design collection, back when the Explore page had curated roundups. I freaked out and we did a little happy dance!
Name your five favorite jewelry-related accounts to follow on Instagram.
Zancope Gnatek: @diamondoodles, @gemstonegypsy, @perpetuumjewels, @gemgossip, @thirdcoastgems, @diamondsinthelibrary, @marlaaaron, and @jewelry_maven—and @thegemdiaries of Quadrum Gallery always kills it from the retail side of things. Whoops, that was nine! I know JT [Jane Taylor] loves @fd_gallery because she’s always DMing me vintage and antique pieces [from their feed] that make us drool.
Now, five other Instagram accounts that are must-follows (not jewelry-related!)
Zancope Gnatek: @erinhansonartist, @sarahkbenning, @bakedideas (I’m obsessed with colorful sugar cookies, and this is definitely not the only cookie account I follow), @lauraiz, and @ratedmodernart.
Social media pet peeve?
Zancope Gnatek: When people “regram” using those regram apps, and it leaves that distracting little rectangle saying whose account the image is from. Aesthetically speaking, it offends me to no end! Just screenshot the image you want to share, then tag and/or mention the account whose image you’re using—it gives the proper credit and looks infinitely better. I’m a little type A!
If you could offer one piece of advice to anyone just getting into the social media arena (from a jeweler to your average owner of a personal account), what would it be?
Zancope Gnatek: Well, to start, don’t use those regram apps! [Laughs] But really, it’s important to have your own voice. Whether your style is not giving a f**k and posting a crazy cacophony of images, superduper caring about the organization of your photos, or anything in between, own it. Know your own stylistic perspective, stay true to it, and never be a copycat. Also, please, please, please post high-quality images. You don’t need anything more than your phone to do so, but invest a little time in understanding framing, lighting, composition, balance, and editing tools. There are way too many lackluster photos on Instagram already, and you’ll only hurt yourself by not representing yourself and your work in the best way possible.
Last Q: favorite meme?
Zancope Gnatek: I’m not really a meme person—I’m not even sure I could define what a meme is—but there are a few “pictures of words” that I like:
Jane Taylor: The Obama-and-Biden bromance memes!
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