We were lucky to catch up with Dee Ruel recently and have shared our conversation below.

Dee, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with the decision of whether to donate a percentage of sales to an organization or cause – we’d love to hear the backstory of how you thought through this.

We do! This is a huge part of the soul of our business, most of the charities that we support are small, in need and near and dear to our hearts. To date we have raised and donated over $32,000

On a small scale we support almost every school/sports team/non-profit in our are via single donations of gift cards or jewelry.

We also support some local organizations on a larger scale. We donate and adopted a family each year through East Cooper Community Outreach.

We support Surfers Healing a national organization that holds surf camps for children with autism. We created a special ONE PERFECT DAY bracelet just for them with proceeds going towards keeping the camp free for families and providing qualified volunteers.

Other local organizations that we support via pieces of jewelry that were made just for them is The Bee Cause, The Lowcountry Down Syndrome Association, and The Lowcountry Food Bank.

In 2019 we raised over $20,000 for victims of hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas and last year we raised 4,000 for victims of the Lahaina Fires.

I feel like giving back is an important part of running a successful business, and not for the clout or write offs. For the love of community.

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

My name is Dee Ruel, and I started designing jewelry when I lived on Maui in 2000, I attended a craftsman school called Hui No ‘Eau and never looked back! I sold my first necklace while I was waiting tables at a very popular restaurant on Maui. The thrill of someone loving what I created was and is still a big part of why I create. I have had my brick and mortar shop/studio in Charleston South Carolina since 2007. I’m so proud of this business that I built before the age of social media so successfully.. It is crazy how important social media is now, but it’s even crazier how word-of-mouth is still the most important.
We design jewelry for the girls that love the ocean, the girls that love the pearls, the grandmothers that want something sentimental, for the brides that want a one of a kind piece, for the husbands that have no idea what their wife might want but we do.
In this little business, I am most proud of the girls that work with me. We are a united team and they are as much of this as me.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

I feel like I’m in a little bit of a different situation than a lot of people that start their businesses now. Commercial rent wasn’t insane in 2007. I had $4000, a dream and a good landlord. I wanted to get a bank loan, but at the time I was young and had no credit and nobody would give me any money so I had to figure out how to make it work! And I did! 17 years later we are still here, the display table that I use in the middle of my shop was one that I found on the side of the road on Sullivans Island right before I opened. My advice to anyone getting started, would be to stay as scrappy as possible in the beginning.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

I am lucky enough to have a brick and mortar shop so I can keep in touch with a lot my customers face-to-face, during Covid I started a Friday Flash Sale and I also started a birthday club where my customers would get 30% off one item during their birthday month. This has helped foster an awesome community. I do blast the sales and promotions all over social media but honestly the most successful way to communicate for me is still via email.

Contact Info:

• Website: deeruel.com
• Instagram: @deeruel
• Facebook: @deeruel

Image Credits
Caitlin Corgill