I know…
Business + Jewelry + Dance
seem random.
I hate small talk. So let’s dive right in.
I’m Ronii Bartles. Business strategist, jewelry curator, dance instructor, and CEO of Simplicity. On paper, those things may not look like they belong together. But the common thread isn’t what I do. It’s how I think.
I’m curious by nature. I want to know how things work, why they work, what isn’t working, and whether there’s a simpler way to do it. I’ve spent more than 20 years doing that with businesses, but the same curiosity has followed me into jewelry boxes, dance studios, and pretty much everything else I’ve decided was worth learning.
My superpower is listening, especially to the things you’re not saying.
Taurus sun, Leo moon, Cancer rising. I don’t need a lot, but what I do have has to be luxurious. My idea of camping is staying at a Holiday Inn. I might move slowly, but trust me when I say I’ve weighed all my options and analyzed all the angles; I have. My parents would say that I’m stubborn because once I’ve made up my mind, it’s hard to change it. I’m fiercely loyal. I live in my head a lot, which is not always a good thing. My core desired feelings are luxury, accomplishment, freedom, passion, and purpose.
What had happened was…
In 2008, I was the Business Manager for a small marketing research firm. The economy was unraveling, and the partners came to me and said, “We see what’s coming. You’re the MBA here. What should we do?” Their biggest expense was people. The second was rent. There wasn’t much we could do about the rent without filing bankruptcy, so they made the difficult decision to let people go. I wasn’t one of them.
Instead, I pitched them an idea for my own company. They said, “That’s a great idea. We’ll be your first client.” And just like that, I became an entrepreneur. They’re still a client today, 18 years later.
Then came 2016.
On my 39th birthday, I landed in the hospital for two weeks with a ruptured appendix. Until then, I had done everything I thought successful people were supposed to do. I worked constantly. My calendar was full. I was busy as hell. Then one trip to Urgent Care wiped my calendar clean.
I spent two weeks in a hospital bed watching Fixer Upper and somehow made just as much money that month as I had the month before while hustling my ass off.
That was a rather inconvenient realization.
A lot of what I called productivity was really just busy work. I had fully earned my Busy Badge. That experience eventually became my CEO of Simplicity philosophy: figure out what actually needs to be done, understand what’s driving the chaos, prioritize what matters, and simplify the rest.
Eventually, I realized that philosophy wasn’t limited to business.
Jewelry has been part of my life since I worked in the fine jewelry department at JCPenney in college. I never stopped collecting, researching, or wanting to know more. Eventually, that curiosity became Jewelry Curator, professional jewelry education, and helping other people figure out what’s hiding in their jewelry boxes.
Dance goes back even further. I started with ballet as a kid and kept coming back to it. It became my non-negotiable me time. Eventually, I stopped following the instructor and became the instructor myself.
So, yes. Business + jewelry + dance may seem random. But none of them showed up yesterday.
They’re all things I’ve spent years learning, doing, and coming back to. And underneath all three is the same thing: Pay attention. Figure out what matters. Make the complicated simpler.
The Official Stuff
MBA, The Citadel
Most Influential Women in Business, Charleston Regional Business Journal
Forty Under 40, Charleston Regional Business Journal
20+ years in business strategy, operations + management
Creator, CEO of Simplicity
Professional Member, International Gem Society
IGS Diamond Fundamentals
Jewelry Curator + Jewelry Sessions
Certified Zumba Instructor
ZIN Member
Private Dance Experiences
Group fitness + dance instruction
The Fine Print: I’ve worked in newspapers, marketing research, insurance, marketing, operations, finance, and probably a few other things I’m forgetting. I’ve served on boards, won some awards, taught workshops, spoken at conferences, hosted a podcast, and once received an award during a government internship in DC that I can no longer remember the name of. Apparently, I’ve done things and people like me.
SO, what am I doing now?
These days, I divide my time between business strategy, jewelry, and dance. Sometimes all three in the same day, which makes for a very weird calendar. They use different parts of my brain, but I like it that way.
I’ve spent more than 20 years helping businesses figure out what’s working, what isn’t, and what’s making everything harder than it needs to be. These days, I’m especially interested in the intersection of simplicity, leadership, systems, and how we actually get work done without making ourselves miserable in the process.
I buy it, sell it, research it, test it, collect it, and can lose an unreasonable amount of time trying to identify a tiny hallmark. Through Jewelry Curator and my Jewelry Sessions, I help people understand what they have, what may be valuable, and what the hell to do with all of it.
Dance is still my non-negotiable me time. It also happens to be something I now get paid to do, which is a pretty good arrangement. I teach Zumba and create private dance experiences in Charleston designed for people who want to move, have fun, and stop worrying about whether they’re doing it right.