Makayla Donovan: Before I was even of legal working age, I used to do face painting at kids’ birthday parties for money. Being an entrepreneur is very much part of my spirit and who I am as a person. But if I look at the evolution of the company and how it started, back when I was in high school, I actually worked in some of Australia’s leading jewellery stores in a retail capacity, and got to learn about the industry and meet a few jewellers.  I then did a Bachelor of Business Marketing and a little corporate stint, and then it came full circle when my now-husband Tom and I were looking at getting engaged. We knew moissanite [a lab-grown gemstone similar to diamond in terms of its sparkle and durability] was an option, but it wasn’t readily available at the time, especially here in Australia, so we sourced our own stone, and worked alongside one of the jewellers I had previously worked with to create my engagement ring.  We loved the creative process and knew there was a gap in the market. It was one of those situations where all of the stars aligned, and we had that lightbulb moment of going, ‘Aha. This is a business that we can bring to life.’ Ultimately, you just have to give it a crack. We were both working full-time and doing the business on the side. We launched the website with about six ring designs, so a very humble beginning, but we had a really clear vision that has driven us all the way to where we are now. Makayla Donovan, founder of The Moissanite Company. Supplied IR: How did you go about raising brand awareness as a new entrant in the market? That can often be a really difficult – and costly – endeavour.  MD: My approach was to be as authentic as possible and to focus on our mission of providing bespoke, ethical and affordable pieces. Those are our main brand pillars, and it’s what differentiates us in an industry where bespoke and custom are at the forefront of what people do. Everything kept coming back to: how are we doing things differently, and what are our unique selling points? What are we doing in terms of our supply chain, traceability and sourcing, and how can we ensure that we are trailblazing in that area? Unfortunately, the jewellery industry can be a little wishy-washy when it comes to mining. We wanted to guarantee that our pieces were as responsible as possible.  For us as well, there’s no point in having an incredible business if we can’t give back, so from the beginning, we have invested our time and energy into finding initiatives and organisations that we align with. One of them is Trillion Trees, an amazing Australian organisation that helps support biodiversity, and we plant a tree for every ring that we craft. When we launched into lab-grown diamonds in February, we decided to add another initiative to our company, so we donate a portion of profits from every lab-grown diamond ring that we craft to the Australian Marine Conservation Society.  We also operate in an industry that puts crazy markups on a product that doesn’t need to be unattainable, so we never put excessive markups on our product to remain affordable.  When we launched and were trying to raise brand awareness initially, we used TikTok and were really quirky, but still sophisticated. Now we have the budget to present our pieces in a really glossy editorial style, but initially, we did all the photography ourselves and used a lot of video content across Instagram Reels and TikTok to show our pieces in an authentic way.  We started as an e-commerce brand before we ever went into bricks-and-mortar, and we really tried to connect with our audience online, and build a community.  We first launched in June 2021, and we had a goal of crafting 50 rings before Christmas [of that year]. We ended up doing about 450, so we well and truly exceeded our goal, and it’s been a snowball effect from that point. IR: Can you tell me more about how demand for ethically and environmentally responsible products is impacting the jewellery industry?  MD: We are in a day and age when everybody is trying to make more conscious decisions. The mining industry has implications for our environment, and people choose lab-grown [gemstones] because there is a clear traceability aspect in terms of lower emissions. You just can’t compare the irreversible damage that’s caused by mining a diamond or gemstone with growing it under controlled conditions in a laboratory.  Of course, there are still emissions with lab-grown, but people choose it because they know it is the better option. Chemically and optically, there is no difference between a mined diamond and a lab-grown diamond, they are one and the same, so it’s kind of a no-brainer. You also don’t have that excessive markup in terms of price, so you can get more bang for your buck.  When we look at why people are choosing lab-grown options, it’s because they can have a better quality stone, a larger karat size, it doesn’t cost them as much, and it’s also the more ethical option.  IR: Given all that, do you think there’s still a stigma around buying lab-grown diamonds?  MD: Absolutely. There’s still a portion of people that have that stigma, and that’s what continuously drives us to spread awareness – to get rid of that misconception. Without discrediting a huge industry, [mainstream jewellery retailers] have been driving a certain agenda for a long time, so we are here to spread the word about what lab-grown diamonds and moissanites are and how amazing they are. There definitely has been more demand for lab-grown gemstones, and I think more people will be going in this direction as time goes on.  IR: What have the last 18 months been like for The Moissanite Company?  MD: We did $3.75 million [in sales] last financial year, which is incredible. On the whole, we’ve had really steady, but rapid, growth. I think a real accelerator for our company was opening our first Brisbane showroom in Newstead. We decided to do that in April 2022. I had a five-month-old baby at the time, so it was a little bit wild, it all happened at once, but I just had a really strong feeling that we had to do it. Having that connection with our customers in-store has been incredible. That’s what it’s all about for us – personally connecting with our customers on their special journey. It is such a privilege to be able to craft somebody’s forever ring, so that’s what we try to bring into the experience of our showroom. That first showroom got us through to October last year, but we outgrew it, so we found a new showroom space in New Farm in March. It all fell into place very quickly.   One of the other really big events for our company is our once-a-year sale, which happens in November. We don’t discount our products throughout the year, so that’s an incredible time for our company in terms of revenue and reaching new people who want to purchase an engagement ring. The brand aims to open a second showroom in the next 12 months. Supplied IR: I know that a lot of businesses in the wedding industry saw a big uptick in demand post-Covid. Do you think that benefited your business? MD: Potentially, but more so, it’s people wanting to find a more affordable and ethical engagement ring option. A lot of our customers are between the ages of 20 and 35, and they don’t really care for an engagement ring that costs them the earth – literally and figuratively. The reality is that people don’t have $50,000 to spend on a two-carat mined diamond of great colour and clarity. People are looking for alternatives, and I think it was a matter of us launching in the right place at the right time and having the options that people are after. IR: Looking ahead, what’s next in terms of your top priorities for the financial year? MD: One of our big goals is opening a second showroom, most likely interstate. We are in the very early stages of that, but it’s something we are determined to do to connect with our customers.  We’re going through a period of focusing on our range and refining our offering. We launched Cultured Clarity, our range of hand-selected lab-grown diamonds, back in February, so that is quite young, and we’re going to be doing a lot of development in terms of that. Another big goal is focusing on the ethical side of the business, so we’ll be working with experts and auditors to try to make a carbon-neutral lab-grown diamond. That’s really important to us. Carbon is still emitted when you grow a lab-grown diamond – of course, it’s less than what’s involved in the mining process – but if we could ensure that the lab-grown diamonds that we hand select are carbon neutral, that would be huge for us.  IR: You’re really targeting the next generation of customers. Do you think that mainstream jewellery retailers have realised this is where demand is heading? MD: I think the big conglomerates do understand, but change takes longer when you’ve been doing things a certain way for a certain period of time. For us, we want to position ourselves as cultured gemstone specialists – we don’t touch anything mined. Mainstream jewellery stores might offer lab-grown and integrate it into what they already do, but the experience, the quality, the knowledge, all of that, isn’t going to be the same as what a company like ours can offer.  IR: Can you tell me about some of the things you’re doing online to make the buying experience really special and unique?  MD: The website was a lot simpler in the beginning, but it still allowed customers to customise their ring, which was fantastic. For us, it was about coming across as transparent, authentic, and genuine, and removing all fear from the purchase, so we offered things like complimentary engraving and free resizing. That is huge, because many customers guesstimate their partner’s ring size.  We evolved our online offering when we launched our Cultured Clarity range earlier this year. We overhauled our entire website to be really user-friendly, with a signature ring-builder for people to build their ring online step by step. Now they can select their desired ring setting, choose what gemstone they want, whether it’s a moissanite or a lab-grown diamond, and choose each specification in terms of carat-size and colour. They can add bespoke customisations to their ring, enter a free engraving, and then proceed to the checkout.  It’s a really immersive experience, and I think it’s a way for customers to be in control of their dream ring. That’s essentially what we’re here to help facilitate – it’s their vision and our expertise.