Courage, Creativity and Confidence: The Entrepreneurial Journey of Lauren Sigman
On this epsidoe of the B Student Podcast, Lauren Sigman shares the real story behind building a fine jewelry brand — offering invaluable lessons in self-belief, resilience, and the art (and science) of following your passions.
Discovering the “B Side” of Success
Host Betsy Gardner sits down with fine jewelry designer and business owner Lauren Sigman for a candid conversation about what it really takes to leap from corporate comfort into entrepreneurial uncertainty.
Lauren's journey is a compelling tale of courage, creativity, and constant learning, one that will resonate with anyone considering a bold career move, especially those curious about the realities of entrepreneurship in the creative industry.
Taking the Leap: Trading Security for Passion
Lauren spent the first 20 years of her career in executive sales at a telecommunications company. Successful and financially secure, she was nevertheless unfulfilled. With her husband’s encouragement and drawing on her own family’s strong entrepreneurial background, Lauren took the leap and left her stable job.
This decision, while bolstered by some degree of security, was anything but easy. As Betsy points out, opportunity costs are real — leaving behind benefits, steady paychecks, and career momentum requires not just a plan, but real backbone. Lauren is honest about the risk: “I left an amazing job, and I left full benefits.” Still, her upbringing in a family of business owners made the unpredictable seem normal, even expected.
The Truth About Entrepreneurship
Lauren’s story shatters the glamorized image of entrepreneurship. It’s not all inspiration and Instagram; it’s, as Betsy jokes, sometimes “a soul-crushing siege” involving hustling for opportunities and overcoming endless learning curves. In Lauren’s case, she had to figure out the ins and outs of fine jewelry design and business from scratch — at a time when information wasn’t as accessible as it is today.
“People were pretty secretive in the field about sharing information,” Lauren recalls. She became her own apprentice, finding mentors, taking metalsmith classes, and absorbing every bit of industry knowledge she could find. “It took me triple the amount of time that it should have taken because I just went the longest, hardest route,” she laughs.
But entrepreneurship is relentless. From adjusting to volatile commodity prices (the cost of gold and diamonds is always in flux!) to hiring employees and learning retail strategy, Lauren emphasizes that successful business owners never truly “make it” in the sense of arriving and relaxing: “You’re always learning, always trying to do better and figure out what the environment looks like.”
Courage, Self-Belief, and the Confidence Gap
A recurring theme in the conversation is courage — the secret ingredient behind every leap and every late-night worry. For Lauren, courage is a mix of inherited mindset, self-belief, and relentless resourcefulness: “It didn’t occur to me that it couldn’t work out.” Betsy notes that this is a powerful message, particularly for women or anyone facing a “confidence gap,” especially after career breaks for family. The confidence gap is prevalent, and Betsy sees it frequently in the women who take the Winter Park Chamber's Relaunch: Career Reentry for Professional Women program.
Lauren encourages would-be entrepreneurs to trust themselves, stop apologizing for their ambition, and be authentically who they are. She acknowledges that not everyone comes from an entrepreneurial family, but courage can still be cultivated through action — by seeking mentors, investing in learning, and refusing to let setbacks dictate your trajectory.
Balancing Creativity and Commercial Success
For creative entrepreneurs, Lauren’s story includes practical wisdom. She describes the tension between making what you love versus what sells: “I’ve watched a lot of artists fail who cannot get out of their own head … there's being a creative but then there’s owning a business.” Transitioning from wholesale to retail allowed her to connect directly with customers, receive real feedback, and refine her offerings while staying true to her brand. The lesson? Know your market, iterate, and accept that you won’t be for everyone — just enough people.
Jewelry, Legacy, and the Courage to Express Yourself
The episode wraps up with Lauren channeling her expertise into a hands-on demonstration of necklace layering, showing Betsy (and listeners) how to build a personalized jewelry stack. Her advice: there’s no wrong way to do it — confidence makes the look. She also touches on the emotional legacy of jewelry and the joy of helping customers reimagine inherited pieces.
Final Takeaway: Keep Going, Keep Growing
Lauren’s journey is proof that entrepreneurship is as much about grit as it is about glamour. “Don’t give up,” she urges. “There are days that are harder than others and there’s value in just sticking it out … If not you, who?”
Whether you’re dreaming of designing jewelry or building your own venture from the ground up, this episode is a reminder that courage, continual learning, and self-belief are the cornerstones of meaningful success.
To dive deeper into the stories of Central Florida’s most inspiring entrepreneurs and professionals, catch the B Student podcast on YouTube, Apple or Spotify.