From Etsy to Her Own Online Business, New Moon Beginnings Owner Rachel Glarner’s Path to Healing Became Crystal Clear
By Reese Randall
May 18, 2021
It’s rock star status when you shop at New Moon Beginnings, the gemstone and crystal shop offering rare healing crystals and unique stones. From collector quality, natural aquamarine and raw amethyst; to dragon’s tooth amethyst and raw smoky quartz, these materials are just a few of the healing crystals and stones you can unearth at New Moon Beginnings.
“It’s been my preoccupation to help others find what heals them,” says Rachel Glarner, the store’s owner and creator. “Our customers mean everything to us and it’s important to us to know what is going on in their life so we can do our best to help them.”
Glarner didn’t plan to open an online store, however she has dabbled in creating beautiful handmade crafts in the past. “I’ve always been into hand-making things and crafting items since I was little,” says Glarner. “It was a fun thing my mom and grandparents would do. I really liked jewelry making,” she recalls.
Glarner had a history of making jewelry, but found it was expensive so she decided to use the excess materials to make a bracelet. “I made a bracelet and listed it on Etsy in August 2014,” explains Glarner. She began to make more bracelets when a potential customer inquired about her selling pendants. “I remember letting them know that I didn’t, but I used the customer’s inquiry as a starting point and I began making necklaces and pendants — and they started selling.”
Shortly after, a customer asked Glarner if she sold raw stones. “I started listing my pendants with raw stones on Etsy and the success of the sale of the pieces snowballed. I listened to what my customers wanted and I found my way.” Glarner was interested in learning more about natural aspects of stones and what they do for the body and found she gravitated to a few. “My favorite stones are smoky quartz, amethyst and clear quartz, but I work with a material that comes from Mexico and Morocco called Selenite,” explains Glarner. “It’s beautiful and cleansing and energetically purifying.”
Bracelets, pendants and other jewelry is not the only merchandise found at New Moon Beginnings, there are aromatherapy products and the first of in-room and body sprays to help the emotional energy with a sensory element to make you feel better.”
I like rosemary, citrus, eucalyptus and lavender to help heal you after a long day,” says Glarner. “The human body is made of a lot of salt and water, so I always turn back to a salt bath when I’m feeling out of sorts — I find it most purifying.” Glarner incorporated aroma therapy into their bath salts to help heal for whatever a customer needs healing from. “Our candles have been very popular and they are all-natural made of a soy base with no additives,” says Glarner. The candle residue can be applied to skin and the wick is a cotton paper thread base, with no additives. “The eco-friendly candle burns clean,” adds Glarner, who shares the business with her husband, Christopher. “I created New Moon, but he picks up where I leave off,” says Glarner. “He is mister organization, efficiency and customer service.”
While working out of their house; including storing inventory, Glarner felt that it wasn’t conducive to their growth, so she sought out a brick-and-mortar commercial warehouse in October 2019. “It was then that we hit the holiday season, so we focused on getting the merchandise out, but by spring the pandemic hit and we never went retail.”
Fortunate to keep their employees and go through all the safety measures of COVID-19 protocol, Glarner adds, “I am so thankful we were able to support our employees this past year and it makes me happy that we continue to help our customers, too — it lets me know I’m on the right path.”
For more information about New Moon Beginnings, visit newmoonbeginnings.com.
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