Ashley Bellino launched Stoned Crystals in July 2015 as an advocate for modern mindful living by using crystals as a stylish interior statement pieces for our homes and workspaces.
Tell us about Stoned Crystals.
Stoned Crystals is a fresh and modern take on crystals. Positioned as Australia’s first natural crystal decor line, our mission is to evolve crystals beyond their traditional ‘hippy’ status and translate them into the modern lifestyle. Sitting comfortably on the knife’s edge of spirituality and design, we’re passionate about empowering our customers to create sacred, styled spaces that inspire stillness, presence, and mindfulness in their lives. The same way you would put plants in and around your home and can clearly see the connection and energy they omit; crystals also connect us to the natural elements of Mother Earth. They truly are Mother Earth’s natural sculptures. Whether it be through a custom piece of crystal jewellery, a statement cluster or one of our signature curated styling sets, Stoned has a broad range of modern wellness and lifestyle products. And, we’re proud to have been recently ranked #60 in the Australian Financial Review’s Top 100 Fast Starters list!
When and how did you know your business idea was one you wanted to bring to life?
As a child I absolutely loved anything that sparkled and my first brand was a jewellery brand. Raised in the inner-city suburbs of Melbourne and coming from a modern family and home I had never been exposed to crystal energy or healing. After living abroad for 2 years I spent a lot of time living close to one of China’s ‘Gem Cities’. Under the direction of somewhat of a spiritual mentor to me, I visited the crystal city for an old jewellery label I had started. I learnt to feel crystal energy for the first time. I found that there were very few websites clearly explaining what crystals are, how they work and how we can incorporate them into the modern-day lifestyle. It was here that my obsession and experimentation with crystals began and I knew that there was something deeply connected to my purpose within this concept.
In what ways are you disrupting your industry?
Stoned Crystals has been at the forefront of online sales since its inception in 2015. I actually started the business from the dining table of my apartment in Melbourne, selling crystals via Instagram Live. And, this method of selling has only ever grown! With social media influencing the way consumers interact with brands, we were able to take advantage of this evolution and create the next generation in e-commerce. It fuses face-to-face sales with an online model; effectively humanising online shopping! Having revolutionised the digital shopping experience, much of our success has been through a ‘virtual live sales’ model via Instagram and now into our very own Stoned Crystals App. The App is designed to offer an immersive experience where you can watch live-streamed shows and interact with the hosts and the crystals you’re looking to purchase. Ask questions in real-time and add-to-cart as the show progresses. Seeing our customers enjoy and evolve with us and our offers is something truly magical. It creates a close-knit group of crystal-lovers from anywhere around the world to purchase our products while still experiencing a human-to-human interaction with our sales team.
What are the biggest challenges you have overcome as an entrepreneur?
At Stoned Crystals, some of our biggest challenges have been the building blocks of our greatest achievements and breakthroughs. There have been MANY times where obstacles and setbacks could have had me packing my bags, but my resilience and ability to pivot and create a ‘new idea’ has meant that Stoned Crystals has continued to be an ever-growing business. As an intuitive female leader, I tend to trust my gut when roadblocks occur. The challenges we faced on social media platforms for example, with Instagram being a very unreliable and uncontrollable beast for businesses at times, lead us to create our very own App. Without the trials and tribulations that we experienced with that third-party social platform, we wouldn’t have developed one of our biggest sales advantages which is our App.
How do these challenges shape the way you do business today?
Mindset is everything when it comes to pursuing your goals and this is something I always speak to my team about. Using an analogy of being caught in rough surf, rather than try and battle the waves and be thrown around, we’ve gone under them (or even surfed over the top of them!) and emerged on the other side stronger than ever. Whatever came my way, as a business owner I’ve always chosen to focus on the light and opportunity rather than the negative, and this truly has been the way Stoned has been able to get to where we are.
What is your proudest moment as an entrepreneur?
I’m so proud of the way we’ve been able to evolve and transform our business with the demands of the modern business landscape. We’ve had to be incredibly agile, sometimes transforming our business model overnight. The global pandemic proved to be a significant time in the history of Stoned Crystals. During 2020 we put our ears to the ground and really listened to what customers were in need of, and it was concepts like ‘Keep calm and quarantine’ that created a wave of like-minded people gathering in our virtual live shows and joining in conversations to get mindfulness techniques from our team and from one another. This much-needed support and social interaction during lockdown periods really were magical for us and our customers. Whether it be thriving (not just surviving) through the global pandemic, unpredictable social media algorithms, or the ever-evolving needs & wants of our customers, being able to pivot and be flexible has been our biggest strength.
What are the four must haves from your brand right now?
I’ve been incredibly fortunate to source a selection of top-quality pink Samadhi Himalayan quartz clusters. A stunning statement styling piece that I highly recommend. I can’t go past our award winning Stoned Maiden bracelet for the warrior women out there and for luxe gifting made easy I recommend our Crystal Crush platter collection and Geo Gem range.
What do you plan on tackling in 2022?
This business has always been my first baby, and now a new mum myself I’m juggling both! My partner Jeremy and baby Vincent recently accompanied me to Tucson, Arizona for our annual sourcing trip. This means a whole raft of new, ethically sourced crystals to bring back to Australia and share with our customers. Our crystal styling sessions – inspiring customers to use crystals as natural styling tools in their home & office spaces – will continue to be at the forefront of our offering as well as expanding our core collection of crystal decor and boxed crystals which have been our most popular product ranges. Although the last two years have thrown everyone so many curveballs, I’m determined to keep moving forward in creating new initiatives for Stoned Crystals. We have so much planned for 2022; including new product developments, as well as running in-store events & workshops to help build our community and encourage like-minded people to create their own sacred, styled & still spaces.
