We were lucky to catch up with Robbie Darby recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Robbie, thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

In 2013 my mother Georgia passed away unexpectedly after being diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. She was my mother and my best friend, so this loss completely devastated me.

The grief was overwhelming my personal life but I was excelling in my professional life as a fitness/wellness entrepreneur. This imbalance was not sustainable, so one day in 2015 I prayed that God would send me a hobby. Something to honor my mother and start to heal. Immediately after this request I felt the desire to learn how to sew since my mother had passed before being able to teach me.

I bought a sewing machine on Amazon, it came the next day and I began my self taught journey that night.

However, almost immediately, I realized that I could sew intuitively – comparable to a musician who can play music but can’t read it. I began sewing all kind of things: my own clothes, home decor and more. This was truly a gift from heaven.

Using my hands has healed my heart, and many years later I am grateful to share this gift that radically changed my life after loss to both service and empower women to fully live!

In addition to this, purpose is everything to me, so when Georgia’s Gems originated out of my greatest tragedy I am grateful to be able to keep the sacredness and joy of this gift alive through giving back:

When you purchase any gem in pink, a portion is donated to various organizations dedicated to breast cancer awareness, research and support in underserved communities year round.

Robbie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I created Georgia’s Gems for the little girl in me, the little girl in you and the women we’ve become. Growing up I had the hardest time finding clothes that fit me, let along swimwear. But my mom would always make sure I felt beautiful in the skin that I was in…even altering clothes so that they would fit me. I would standout when I stepped out. I want every woman to have this experience. By allowing a women to design the swimsuit of her dreams, her relationship with her body, shopping for swimwear and how she carries herself in swimwear radically changes. I love seeing women not only transform their minds and body through rest, but also look their best.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Georgia’s Gems was honestly birthed out of a pivot. I started this company during Covid when we were all forced to slow down and reevaluate our lives. I have been working as both a fitness professional and actor for majority of my career, so when I started sewing as a hobby, I was automatically incorporating this new gift into my current lifestyle. In short, I’ve been making my own clothes for the last 10 years. So when Covid happened and I was called to use my skill set to make mandatory masks for my community, I really fell in love with not only sewing daily, but helping in a really unique way. I thought to myself, “what a joy it would be to do this for a living and make an impact.” I put that request out into the universe, took myself on a beach day shortly after and the idea just came to me. I had made myself a swimsuit that morning for the first time, and I made a matching mask to match. And before I could even make my way to my spot on the sand, ladies were swarming around me in Malibu asking where I got such a bespoke looking swimsuit. I just automatically said to them, “I made it. I’m a swimsuit designer.” And the rest has been history. The moral of my story is sometimes you have to just believe it’s possible, put it out into the universe, put it out into your community and see what happens. Georgia’s Gems is living proof, five years later, that a little faith can go a long way.

How did you build your audience on social media?

My social media following initially came out of my personal network. Because I started sewing after my mother passed away, Georgia’s Gems was initially a blog. I was documenting learning to sew and how the experience was helping me “refashion” my life after loss. Documenting my journey with grief and also sharing stories from my childhood with my mother and how certain sewing projects reflected that. As an actor, this was just another form of storytelling for me. It was also incredibly healing. I never imagined it being a fashion brand, but now that it is, a majority of my followers are deeply connected to the “why” – honoring my mother, Georgia. This is so important to me and I try to consistently highlight this unique element still.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://georgiasgems.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/georgiasgems
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/georgiasgemsshop/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@georgiasgems