We had the good fortune of connecting with Brianna Cannon and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Brianna, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
As a mom of two pre-school age boys (especially during a pandemic) my work-life balance is everything. By nature, I love to work. I feel good when I work and unfortunately I get a major sense of pride and accomplishment from my work, but I also recognize that being a mom is THE MOST important job I have. I’m also a wife and if I don’t put my marriage first, then everything else suffers…there’s lots of balancing going on! When I first started my own business, I felt the need to work around the clock. I wanted to make money and show my husband that investing in my business was a smart move and I didn’t want to let him down (even though I don’t think that’s possible — he would be proud of me regardless). I felt an insane amount of pressure to succeed that was legitimately only coming from my own expectations of myself. I would stay up until 2am or sometimes just not go to bed at all and work through the night to finish a task I was working on. But while this made me feel very accomplished with my work, I was tired and not present for my family. So I did what I always do when I have challenges in life…I turned to my faith and I asked God to grant me peace of mind and discipline to work when it’s time to work and then leave the rest of the work for tomorrow when it’s time to stop so I can prioritize my family. I told myself I will work from 8:30am until 5pm Monday through Friday and the evenings and weekends would be reserved for my family. Once I started doing this I felt SO GOOD. I was SO HAPPY to spend more time with my family and I also found myself being more productive during the day since I was holding myself accountable to maintain my shorter work schedule. This was great for everyone. Don’t get me wrong– the work is NEVER done. Do I think I could be more on top of things if I worked around the clock? Absolutely. But it’s all a cost-benefit analysis in which I have to ask myself if getting done a little more work is worth losing family time, and the answer is always, “no” for me. I think this is the key to being a working mom who can feel good about all things– your marriage, your children, and your business.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
My brand, Brianna Cannon, is a bold jewelry brand that brings an element whimsy and fun to fashion accessories with unique, colorful designs. When we initially launched the brand, we focused on creating Officially Licensed Gameday earrings, and we obtained licenses for over 30 NCAA Institutions. The brand gained traction very quickly and clients loved our playful aesthetic, so we started immediately getting requests for other designs that were not related to gameday. This led us to expand into seasonal products and custom designs such as monogram earrings, which were an instant hit! Since our initial launch, we have grown from a gameday brand into a lifestyle brand offering products for any occasion. We have also expanded our product categories from only earrings to now include headbands, necklaces, and bracelets! Because of the major shift from exclusively gameday products to more lifestyle/fashion products, we decided to rebrand and change our name and introduce a trademark. This was a difficult but very important process– we are still working on transitioning all of our products to reflect our new trademark and will probably continue working on this transition for many months. I think the greatest lesson learned from this experience thus far is to not put your brand or your business in a box. A lot of entrepreneurs know what direction they want to go, but sometimes consumer demand will take you in a different direction. I believe it’s important to be able to respond to consumer demand and pivot or make changes to your business model when necessary. In the case of my brand, this change has been extremely positive for us and will open up our brand to a broader range of customers than if we had remained exclusively gameday oriented. In terms of what sets us apart from others and whether or not if was difficult to get started– well EVERYTHING and YES! Haha. We still make all of our jewelry in my formal dining room almost 2 years later. We use American materials as often as possible and we make all of our completely original designs from scratch and by hand. This process is a continuous learning curve and our designs have evolved with our own skillset which improves over time. It’s a lot of trial and error, which can unfortunately be expensive. Everything from deciding what type of metal to use and how to cut it, and what packaging and tags to order, and what kind of packing peanuts we want in our boxes… there is no corporate office to order from. We create all of our own processes and I make every decision from top to bottom. We operate with a team of 3 women plus myself and together we run every aspect of the business. We are small but mighty 🙂

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We would start the day getting breakfast at the little donut place in our neighborhood called Sophia’s Kitchen in Castle Hills. We would drive there on our golf cart and give them a little tour around the neighborhood to show them all the beautiful ponds and golf course. We would probably head to The Star in Frisco to tour the Dallas Cowboys Practice Facility and then grab lunch at one of the many fantastic restaurants, one of my favorite being Neighborhood Services. Our evening could go one of several ways, but we would probably come back to our neighborhood and go fishing for a bit in the evening and then have dinner at our favorite local mexican food restaurant called Mexican Bar Company at the Shops at Willowbend in Plano. On Sunday we would take them to our church, Prestonwood Baptist Church, and we would enjoy Brunch at Pie 3.14 in our neighborhood after church. It would be relaxing and full of great food and company– which is always my ideal weekend!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Hands-down my husband. His name is Eric Cannon and he is the CFO of the City of Allen, in addition to being my CPA and physically helping make jewelry with us on a regular basis. He hammers our gold pieces by hand and he is ALWAYS the driving factor behind my confidence when it comes time to make risky decisions. He’s brilliant and his work ethic is unmatched. I would not have ever started my business, and I wouldn’t be able to balance things so gracefully without his support and unconditional love.

Website: teamrln.com
Instagram: @briannacannonofficial
Twitter: @teamrln
Facebook: /briannacannonofficial

Image Credits
I took all of these photos myself so they are my own

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