The Academy Awards are not just a time for the best and brightest stars of Hollywood to bask in the glow of critical acclaim. They’re also an opportunity for businesses in the health, beauty, clothing, accessories, and styling industries to showcase some of their best work.

That’s because if a celebrity is wearing a designer’s gown, jewels, shoes, or has hair and makeup done particularly well, reporters want to know who’s behind the look. And it’s this kind of publicity that can catapult a startup brand well into the limelight and a meteoric rise to success.

But for most small businesses, the road to the red carpet is often a long one, traveled on hope, hard work, and investor funding—mostly of the family-help variety. As the awards season comes to a close, Portfolio.com talked to some up-and-coming designers on the verge of making it big, and asked them how they got started, what keeps them going, and what others can learn from their journeys.

Jewelry: Dannijo and Sarah Healy Design

For jewelry designers Danielle and Jodie Snyder of Dannijo, as soon as Beyonce wore one of their necklaces, the line took off. “We’d gotten press before in magazines and online, but when she wore our necklace, it quickly sold out on our site,” the sisters say. Now a fixture on the Fashion Week circuit—they provided all the baubles for Luca Luca’s Fall-Winter collection at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week last month—they were inspired to go into jewelry design when they discovered their surgeon father’s tools. “We realized that his precision instruments can help us work the wires,” says Danielle. And while they both went into fashion after college, it was rock-and-roll chic with a hint of sophistication that finally won out. “We quit our jobs and decided to pursue our love full-time,” they say.

Starting a business is always risky, exponentially so during a recession. But for the Dannijo sisters, it was a risk worth taking. “We were lucky that we had our own money as well as support from our family and great response online initially,” they say. And they’ve come a long way from a studio apartment they used as a design space initially to a workspace in Manhattan’s Meatpacking district of Sex & The City fame and a line carried at Bergdorf-Goodman, among others. “We decided early on that we wanted to focus on ‘accessible luxury,’ and that influenced the retailers we pitched to,” says Jodie. “We also came to Bergdorf at a time when the recession was shaking luxury spending, and they liked the idea of having an affordable line that still focuses on quality,” she adds.

Quality gems are the focus for jewelry designer Sarah Healy. “Learning all the aspects of building a business was difficult at first,” she says. “But it was essential to learn the ins and outs of the industry, the difference between wholesale and retail, and who I should talk to about carrying my line.” Sold at Henri Bendel— where she held a trunk show of her latest work just last weekend—among others in New York, Connecticut, and online, Healy counts her absolute involvement with the brand as one of her big successes. “Going into the store and interacting with potential customers was essential to my getting the word out,” she says.

Her advice to other entrepreneurs? Don’t give up, and keep going after your target. “I knew I wanted to be carried at Bendel’s, but my first break was when a small yet very popular shop in Soho picked up my collection,” she says. It was at Foley + Corrina that celebs and stylists first saw her designs. “Once I was selling at Foley + Corrina, it was easier to sell other store buyers on taking a chance on me,” she adds. Healy’s marketing strategy consisted of carrying 10 of her best pieces around town, trying to make appointments with store buyers ahead of time, but not being afraid to just go into retailers with her wares even without an appointment. “I found that bringing my tools with me was very helpful, because inevitably, buyers want to see different combinations and overall want to know how flexible you are as a designer,” she says.

Since marketing and promoting is key to businesses, but often cost-prohibitive to those just starting out, knowing expenses ahead of time can help. “Trade shows are a great way to get your name out there, but they’re expensive, costing between $1,500 and $5,000 just to get in,” Healy explains. “But if you can afford it, budget an extra $1,000 for stones and materials so you can customize looks for your client on site.”