We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jacquelyn Tugwell, co- owner of Twine & Twig along with her sister Elizabeth White, a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jacquelyn, appreciate you joining us 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.

Below is a blurb about our philanthropy…

Twine & Twig incorporates philanthropy into the core values & culture of our brand! Because of the way that Twine & Twig originated, with my daughter’s illness, (you’ll read about on next question) naturally our first charitable act was to Make-A-Wish. As mothers it is important that we instill in our children, through example, that you must give back to the people and places in your community. Then we discovered something invaluable…that our customers wanted to be a part of our philanthropic journey. Our charity page reads more like a diary, as it is full of causes that have come in and out of our lives. From cancers, to the environment, to humanity, we have created products where 100% of the proceeds went to specific causes. Our first attempt at this form of giving back was with the Low Country Land Trust, where we created 100 necklaces that would be released in conjunction with our Garden & Gun article and 100% of the proceeds would be donated. What happened was magical, they sold out in minutes and the overwhelming feedback from customers was the appreciation of having a physical piece to wear to remember their good deed as well as a conversation starter. In a time where so many platforms are digital donations, we love that our customers can purchase a piece and wear it when they want to feel their philanthropy.
Read more about our philanthropy here: https://www.twineandtwigstyle.com/pages/philanthropy-page

To date we have worked with over 15 charities to create a product as well as donated items for auction to 200+ organizations/causes.

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

Twine & Twig is a story of an organic beginning, a sister duo with growth and giving back. As with a lot of small businesses, we started by accident, had no experience in jewelry making or business and have grown this company year after year learning so much as we go.The story behind our start is a sweet one, my daughter Banks was diagnosed with a brain tumor when she was 2. During that time, my sister kept me distracted by stringing beads and creating. What we designed was something completely unique and original, which is what we credit to the quick demand that followed. We both loved the idea of a statement piece, but found that what was available on the market usually involved shiny, metal, rhinestone, costumey jewelry. We wanted a raw, organic, natural feeling piece that we could throw on with jeans and a t-shirt or a dress and have it still be the wow piece that could transform your style. We tied our strung beads onto a suede strap for comfort and this became the recognizable trademark of Twine & Twig.

The ball started rolling fast, we had stores reaching out and had to google how to create a “line sheet”. We hosted one trunk show where we invited friends, who invited friends and before we knew it we had sold out of 200 necklaces in 2 hours. The demand was literally bigger than the rate at which we could make the necklaces. We were two mothers (7 kids between us) who were designing and creating while our husbands watched the kids and our mom did coffee runs.

Fast forward 8 years and we are in over 100+ stores across the US but our main driver is our website. We have had some pinch me press moments including Garden + Gun, Vogue, Southern Living and many others seen here https://www.twineandtwigstyle.com/pages/press.

We hand craft everything in our Charlotte, NC studio alongside our team of 7 amazing women. We cut down and stitch our suede straps, we string every bead onto thread and we burn our brand into every strap – it is a labor of LOVE.

After being in business for 10 years there are so many things we have learned along the way…but one of the biggest ones is that you have to have passion for what you are doing. Passion is the driving force behind a small business!

To our followers and fans: all we want is to create something that makes you feel special. That is the highlight of the job for us, being told by customers that wherever they go people comment on their jewelry. We have worked hard to create a product that is unlike anything on the market, it is like a true work of art!

Has your business ever had a near-death moment? Would you mind sharing the story?

Covid was quite a test to our company, like I’m sure it was to so many other business both big and small. We did not want to let anyone go, so we applied for the PPP loan and managed to navigate keeping everyone on payroll. There were so many ebbs + flows during those two years. There was an initial rally for supporting small businesses, then there were slumps around the holidays. Everything we though we knew about timing, how to run our operations, etc, were out the window.

It is so hard in the retail world to know when people are going to shop. The constant negative news about recessions, inflation, etc do not help the morale of the everyday shopper. We are forever grateful to our loyal customers who have been with us from the beginning.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

I’m a big believer in therapy. And as cheesy as the old saying goes, communication is key! I believe in the power of constructive criticism, it is such a powerful tool. But you have to be vulnerable to want to hear the criticism. I had a manager at one of my first jobs that taught me a valuable lesson. I would stew and stew over a problem within the company before I would finally go to her frustrated to share my concerns. She always said “I can’t fix what I don’t know”. I think that employers have to create an environment that fosters the space for employees to share any grievances with possible solutions.

I also believe in creating team morale through different forms of group hangs. Because our team is so different, we try to mix up our staff outings. We have done everything from plant bars to spa days, happy hours to community service. I think it is important to do things out of the office, and to offer a variety of options to appeal to all personalities.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.twineandtwigstyle.com/
• Instagram: @twineandtwigstyle
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/twineandtwig