Broke Bish Beadz: Maddie Langford’s budding empire

If you’re looking for a colorful beaded necklace or a personalized shoe chain, Broke Bish Beadz has what you’re searching for. Maddie Langford, a junior majoring in business administration, started her beaded jewelry business Broke Bish Beadz in April and has since achieved great success.

During quarantine, Martha Calvo necklaces were popularized by fashion influencers such as Suede Brooks and Victoria Paris; however, these necklaces run for several hundred dollars. Determined to have her own, Langford went to Michael’s and bought $70 worth of supplies. After making her own, she offered to make some for her friends.

“​​I spent about $70 buying the beads, so I wanted to sell them to my friends to break even,” Langford said. “That’s when I started selling them. But then it obviously turned out to be a lot more than that.” 

Soon after, Langford started her company’s Instagram account, @brokebishbeadz. It started out filled with memes and funny posts, but as the page grew in popularity and more people wanted to order her products, she realized it could be something bigger. 

When Langford first sold the necklaces, her customer base comprised of largely other USC students or friends. Once she used social media and grew her brand, her customer base expanded exponentially to the point where she now ships worldwide.

Langford prioritizes branding her jewelry in an effort to make it both unique and competitive in the jewelry market. Her marketing reflects her carefree persona and gives the brand a separate personality, Langford said.

“I think the people that purchase [my jewelry] are people that I would be friends with in real life because they follow my account and because there’s tons of Instagrams for beaded necklaces, but I think the marketing and branding of mine makes it different,” Langford said.

Mehak Chhabra, a junior majoring in business administration, has been friends with Langford since freshman year and the two later became roommates. Chhabra witnessed her roommate’s business evolution since the beginning. 

“I remember waking up to the sound of beads rustling. It was always great to know how much fun she had doing it and how much she really enjoyed it,” Chhabra said. “She has a really good relationship with all her customers and cares about every necklace looking the best.” 

To continue growing Broke Bish Beadz, Langford prioritized developing her brand and marketing. 

“I wanted to be unique and funny, and also relatable,” Langford said. “So I made it more like a persona or a character than an actual business.”

Langford types all of her captions in a particular style  to create a sense of consistency within her brand, using phrases such as “baddies,” “queens” and “besties”. Langford uses everything Instagram offers — from captions to story polls and Q&As — to learn from her customers and create products targeted toward her consumer base.

“I also think posting pictures or reposting pictures that [customers] would send me of them wearing necklaces made them feel part of the brand, which [builds] loyalty and trust with them,” Langford said.

Courtney Woloson, a sophomore majoring in philosophy, politics and law, purchases jewelry from Broke Bish Beadz.

“The online social media presence of Broke Bish Beadz is one of the key factors that drew me in as a consumer,” Woloson said. “The founder’s personality is very much present in the social media activity, which really fosters a relationship between the company and the consumer. It feels like interacting with one of your peers, rather than a business owner.”

Langford even had a booth at Row Rave, a USC student-run music event, where she shared her work with a huge group of students. Despite immense success, Langford faced challenges running a small business while being a full-time student.

Originally, Langford found taking more than 100 orders through Instagram to be rather time consuming. Due to the overwhelming interest, Langford created a fully functioning website to make the demand more manageable. Although it helped make the process more efficient, handmaking all her jewelry by herself still consumes much of her time.

“The biggest challenges I’ve faced were really trying to balance it with school and my internship. It was super stressful when I’d have over 100 orders to fill, but then I’d have to study for finals or want to hang out with friends,” Langford said. 

Although time-management is difficult, Langford has learned a lot from her entrepreneurship and perfected her process. Moving forward, Langford hopes to trademark her company and further expand it. Yet to decide her exact plans, Langford wants to continue with the company. The experience has taught Langford a lot about the realities of running a small business and the importance of following one’s passion.

“I thought I wanted to go into investment banking or consulting,” Langford said. “But now I realized that I want to do something creative. Even if you don’t think you can at first, being successful is more about doing something that you’re passionate about.”