We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Chelsea Rose a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Chelsea, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

Chelsea Rose (the brand) was born in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. An extremely bored creative needed a new hobby to keep her busy during those lonely quarantine months. I truly had no idea what I was in for and what was to come for myself & my brand.

Owning my own brand has always been a dream of mine. I’ve always loved fashion and jewelry, so it is only fitting that my brand emulated that. I was tired of the same old basic trends that I was seeing. I didn’t feel inspired by any jewelry I was seeing on the market, so I thought “why not create my own?”. What did I have to lose? My photography career was put on hold due to the pandemic and my creative juices were not flowing.

Prada, Chanel, Gucci, Dior, Louis Vuitton… you know the drill. These high fashion designers do something that no one else does— they make you feel truly special when wearing their name. You feel luxurious. You feel confident. But I am not oblivious to the fact that not everyone can afford to enjoy these luxuries. I wanted to merge the worlds of luxury and affordability and create something that could reach more demographics. Everyone deserves to enjoy this type of art, regardless of their income. So I combined my love for high fashion and affordability and repurposed designer pieces emerged.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Chelsea Rose, and I’m from Dana Point, California. I specialize in creating repurposed designer pieces! I take vintage pendants (buttons, charms, etc) from high end designer pieces and turn them into jewelry, essentially giving them a new life. I am passionate about making high fashion brands more accessible to different demographics, basically merging the worlds of luxury and affordability. I also sell a lot of basic, everyday jewelry as well!

I think what sets my brand apart from others is the individuality in our items. For example, if a customer is wanting a repurposed necklace, they can choose their pendant from a large variety, and can even customize which chain design and length they prefer. I haven’t seen any other jewelry brand do this, and I think it gives our customers a sense of individuality when shopping with us. I also make a lot of custom pieces for customers and brands who have something more specific in mind, which is super fun creatively for me.

I am most proud of accomplishing my dream to go to Fashion Week. I attended New York Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2023 with a fashion designer, where I made custom pieces for her runway looks. I repurposed pendants from her garments and turned them into jewelry, essentially what I do with the repurposed designer pieces I sell, but made specifically for her brand. It was truly an honor to be included and it was a wonderful experience.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

One of the proudest moments in my life was when my side hustle turned into my full-time career. So many small business owners dream of this, and I truly never thought this was possible for me.

My jewelry business started as a quarantine hobby, and it was a fun creative outlet for me when my photography career was put on hold. I never thought so many people would want to be wearing my pieces. I credit a lot of my success to my customers who share my page with their friends and family, share it online, and continue to support me in so many ways. I am forever grateful for this shop of mine and the community it’s created. It is truly a dream to reach a point in my career where I’m able to do what I love every single day.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

My brand is super personal to me and my customers. I make it a point to show my face, thank my customers regularly, and show my appreciation in any way I can think of. I think it’s extremely important to show your customers how much you care and how hard you work to give them an enjoyable shopping experience. I’ve made many friendships with my customers and am so grateful for every person who has ever purchased my jewelry!

Contact Info:

• Website: shopchelsearose.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shopchelsearose
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shopchelsearose
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@shopchelsearose?lang=en