We were lucky to catch up with Tracey Mayer recently and have shared our conversation below.

Tracey, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

What I would like to continue far after I am gone is a world filled with more kindness so that every shining star out there can truly shine. There is no way for me to know what people will say about me after I am gone, but I hope to be remembered as a great mom, daughter and friend; someone who always did what is right, not what is easy; a quirky creative who was always a step ahead of most people, and most of all someone who was kind, generous, loving, and courageous. I also want people to remember how much I believed that you can shine without needing to be seen. The stars never stop shining, and they don’t care who’s looking up!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

In 1990 I traveled to India and saw the silversmiths making jewelry by hand- I was hooked. In my heart, I knew one day I would come back and start a business, which is what I did. I began by designing moderate priced sterling silver jewelry and created a collection under the brand “Tracey Mayer”. I opened my own store in Chicago and over the next few years realized I wasn’t being challenged enough creatively so I went back to south Asia for more inspiration that was better aligned with my creative ideas. I was blessed to meet someone who truly understood how my brain works and had the capability of producing designer-level silver jewelry for me.

I wrote a new business model and became a wholesale brand. I was learning there was a gap in the market for well made men’s silver jewelry so, along with my women’s line, I began designing men’s pieces. Once I had a collection I felt I could sell and deliver on time, I began applying for the finest men’s wholesale shows in NYC which attracted the top buyers from all over the country and beyond. It took me three years to be accepted into the best show. My first booth was in the last row at the end of the room in the corner – the absolute worst place to be – but that was the right of passage we all had to go through as newbies! I didn’t write any orders the first two markets, which was devastating because the cost to travel to NYC and show (I lived in Chicago) was very high, but I really believed in my product and saw there was a need for it in the marketplace.

By show number three I finally started writing some orders…smaller ones, but that was ok, and the buyers from the bigger shows were stopping by more because they remembered me and that is important- they want to see that a designer has the means to come back market after market. By year four I wrote my first order with Nordstrom and many of the top men’s specialty stores in the US and Canada.

I grew the business over the next 12-13 years until the market crashed in 2008/09. That was devastating for me, along with many others. I wrote $1.8M at market the show before the crash and was already in production when the orders for holiday delivery started canceling. It was too late for me to stop producing and I ended up with almost 80% of my orders canceling. That didn’t just level me, it put me 20 feet under.

I decided to make another shift and wrote a new business model shifting from wholesale back to direct-to-consumer knowing I now had my website as a tool, which I did not have when I started the business. I had met many of the people who were buying my products through the retail stores and did all I could to get them to purchase directly from me, which many of them did. To increase the volume of revenue, I partnered with other brands and layered in my product to events they were doing to elevate the experience for their clients. I was able to do this with Rolex and Rolls Royce along with other brands. This was great branding for me at a low expense because I layered my product into their events. I also partnered with a top bespoke designer who was creating wardrobes for many c-level guys, along with professional athletes and entrepreneurs. I had the same clients so it made sense for us to join forces and layer my men’s jewelry into the overall wardrobe design. I did this for about seven years, along with selling via e-commerce.

I also had the opportunity to design a moderate-priced women’s collection for HSN during this time and sold the collection on TV for three years. That was a great experience and very different learning how to sell via electronic media. We built the business to the point where they wanted me to take on all the risk, which I did not do initially, and I could not do it because I knew if one big thing went wrong, my whole business would be paralyzed. So I walked away.

Over the next handful of years I designed a new women’s collection focusing on gemstones and golden south sea pearls. A very curated design sold only through private clients and some online since many were one-of-a-kind pieces. It was so fun creating this collection because we were able to buy the pearls directly from the pearl farmers in south Asia, which is unheard of as a smaller brand. I was very fortunate, and this collaboration allowed us to create some beautiful pieces. This was the last collection I created before going through a major tragedy in my life, which caused me to hit the pause button with my business.

I went through a horrific experience with domestic violence after my 30-year marriage ended and ultimately made the decision to find the silver lining in my experience so I can use my voice and story to help others. I currently serve as a development consultant in the domestic violence non-profit space. It’s a difficult subject to talk about, so I’m using my background in luxury jewelry/fashion/beauty (I was also a professional model along the way) to create beautiful events and experiences to bring people together to learn about the bigger issues surrounding domestic violence as we chip away at the shame and stigma. Most people don’t think it happens to women like me – intelligent, accomplished, from a great family, but it does. I would never have dreamed I would be doing the type of work I am doing now, but I found a way to be able to keep using my creative brain and my love for designing…I’m just doing it in a different way at the moment. 💜

I believe I was successful with my jewelry brand because we were innovative – creating new finishes to the metal, coming up with new ways to mix metals and finishes, adding signature touches to the collection like I did with my men’s cufflinks, which had decorative bullet-shaped stones on the ends of the t-bars. It became my look. We also did a lot of hand carved pieces from mother-of-pearl, something I have yet to see. The cool thing is if you lined up 10 pieces of the same carving, each one would be slightly different, which is a true indication of hand work. I had many people try to copy me, but they couldn’t because we ALWAYS STAYED A STEP AHEAD. We were also fortunate to have a celebrity clientele, which boosted sales. I did this mainly through a PR agency I retained in NYC- capitalizing on every opportunity to get our product on people (on loan) for red carpet events and in magazines for editorial shoots.

I was also successful because I am resilient and never give up. If I hit a brick wall, I find another way. Being extremely resourceful and creative was key to my success, and finding ways to collaborate with other brands using clever marketing tactics was key. You can have the best product out there, but if you don’t know how to market it, no one will know you exist. There is more competition now than ever, which requires a ton of strategy and creativity to let consumers know you exist.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I illuded to this earlier- it was when the market crashed in 2008/09. Not only did I lose all of my business, I was underground because I produced the holiday orders I wrote at market and 80% of them canceled after production was done. I had all of this inventory and no one wanted it. I sold it off at cost, and I slowly started chipping away at getting my head above water. It was horrible, but I had no choice but to keep going. I’ve never looked at facing a stop sign as a failure and stopping point, but rather as a learning moment. Like many, I’ve stood on the mountain tops and sat in the valleys, and it’s in the valleys where I have learned the most. I also believe that our core confidence is unaffected by life events. We may get knocked off track, but we always find our way back to who we are at our core.

Have you ever had to pivot?

My entire life has been filled with pivots, and I think this is so important for people to understand. You will hit brick walls in your personal and professional lives – it’s inevitable. Having the ability to pivot is critical to success, in my opinion. It’s also important to embrace imperfection and be comfortable with it.

I went from being in the corporate world to starting my own business after becoming a mom- my greatest joy! My first business was a low-fat bakery (that’s a story for another time!). Sold that and started my jewelry business as a retailer…pivoted to becoming a wholesaler…pivoted to becoming DTC and partnered with other brands for more opportunities…. pivoted in my personal life after my 30-year marriage ended, and most recently pivoted professionally into the domestic violence space. If you are not able to shift and recalibrate, I believe it will greatly impact your opportunities in life- both personally and professionally.

Contact Info:

• Website: on pause for now since I am on hiatus. IG has a lot of images of my jewelry. Linkedin content is more relative to what I am doing now, including fashion-related content.
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetraceymayer/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracey-mayer-7a328a6/