Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Stephanie Maris Hicks. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Stephanie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?
Living on O‘ahu, I’m constantly surrounded by the beauty and power of the ocean. As someone who has always been deeply connected to the sea, I feel incredibly fortunate that my family calls this island home.
I am a new mother to a six-month-old son, and it is magical to see the wonder in his eyes as he develops a relationship with the ocean. I hope that my legacy is in the seascape that I leave to him and to future generations: I want him to experience an ocean that is healthier and richer in biodiversity than the one that we know today, and to feel empowered to champion a cause he believes in, someday.
Every time I dive, I’m filled with a deep sense of gratitude for the work we’ve done to protect and conserve the ocean. I make a point of wearing our pearls when I’m in the water as both a celebration and reminder of our role as saltwater ambassadors, and I hope that every time a customer wears their Maris pearls, they feel connected to the ocean through the impact that we have made by donating to marine conservation on their behalf.
Stephanie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My name is Stephanie Maris Hicks; I am a passionate ocean advocate and the founder of Maris Pearl, a jewelry brand that specializes in using naturally-shaped pearls as a vehicle to promote awareness and funding for marine conservation efforts.
The Latin word ‘Maris’ translates to ‘of the sea’. It is my maiden name and a north star in my life: it is a link to my Greek island ancestry, and a constant reminder of my commitment to stewarding our ocean planet. I couldn’t have thought of a more appropriate name for our pearls!
Originally from Montreal, I have lived and worked all over the world as a story-teller. I graduated with an bachelor’s of journalism from Ryerson College in Toronto, and then with a master’s in Global Marketing from Emerson College in Boston in 2016, which led me to pursue a career in global public relations in Hong Kong. It was here that I began to realize that I was the most inspired by the juncture between art and conservation: I quickly recognized the power of a beautiful brand to raise awareness and inspire positive action. I was immersed in Hong Kong’s thriving pearl culture at the time, and often visited the pearl markets on weekends. The idea of using pearls as vessels for ocean conservation slowly began to form.
The opportunity to create Maris Pearl came when I moved to Hawai‘i with my then-boyfriend, now-husband in 2017. I was working at a corporate marketing agency in Hawai‘i when I received an email from some of my family members in Greece that included an article about ghost nets wreaking havoc in the Mediterranean Sea. I saw the images of divers struggling to remove the eerie ghost nets and something clicked: I recognized that this was the problem I could use pearls to help solve. I emailed the organization, Aegean Rebreath, that same day, and launched Maris Pearl soon afterwards, pledging 5% from our very first sale to support their ghost net retrieval dives.
This leap to entrepreneurship is the professional achievement I am the most proud of. It was incredibly intimidating to leave the comfort of a traditional 9-5, and the first donations seemed insignificant, especially when I’d open my inbox every morning to newsletters about the dire plight of our oceans. But slowly, our donations began to grow, and so did our expertise. Today, I am a GIA-certified pearl specialist, and our team has grown to include a master jeweller and an incredible operations manager. Most significantly, our donations have grown, too, sponsoring rescue dives, the purchase of equipment, and the recent purchase of a van to transport Aegean Rebreath divers. As we head into the summer, we are excited to grow our conservation network and sponsor initiatives closer to home through new partnerships with Hawai‘i-based NGOs.
I have always been passionate about ocean conservation, but as my roots are in communications, I wasn’t sure how to make a contribution in this space. I hope that my story is able to encourage other entrepreneurs to harness their unique abilities to champion the causes they are passionate about. You don’t need to be an expert in every field to create positive impact. In fact, the opposite is true: purpose crystallizes when you combine your unique talents with aligned action, and dive in.
Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?
Until very recently, I made every piece of Maris Pearl jewellery myself. As my husband will attest to, I was not a very dextrous person when I first launched our studio, so I kept the pieces very simple: two studs, and a baroque pearl pendant called the Ariel. The vision I had for the pendant involved a tricky wire wrapping technique that is easy to do messily, and very challenging to execute elegantly. At first, I wasn’t up to my own quality standards, so I had to turn to my husband, a subsea robotics engineer, to help me assemble each pendant as he was used to working with delicate electronics.
The Ariel taught me not one, but thousands of lessons in manufacturing: I had to develop the muscle memory pendant by pendant, so literally inch by inch. The gold materials I worked with were too expensive to waste, so I bought reels of inexpensive brass jewelry wire and spent hours watching instructional youtube videos and practicing. Eventually, I graduated to partially completing each piece, and having my husband polish over my work. Today, I’m sure we’re both thrilled to share that I have perfected my technique, and no longer need his help.
Though I now have other jewellers helping me produce our collection, I’m grateful for the lesson that those early days taught me: skill doesn’t always come naturally — sometimes it is the result of thousands of tiny, repetitive actions, compounded by time.
How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?
Jewellery is emotional by nature, and pearls themselves carry significance because of the way that we celebrate them as a society. Pearls are often viewed as wedding jewellery, as heirloom pieces to be shared with future generation, and as symbols of overcoming obstacles with grace.
Because of the significance of these purchases, I have always made a point of trying to connect with our customers on a personal level. We receive stories on a weekly basis from the women who wear our pearls on their wedding days, to job interviews, and sometimes to the hospital, as sources of strength. One one memorable occasion, a customer reached out to share that she was going to name her unborn daughter, ‘Maris’, because of her deep love of the ocean. I shared that I was pregnant with my son at the time, and we celebrated our children and our connection to the sea together.
I think that the first lessons in fostering brand loyalty are to open yourself up to your customers, and to invest in some stationery: thank you notes are magical reminders that every interaction takes place between two people, not two screens. I also have (and heartily encourage) a budget every month that allows us to go a little bit above and beyond — sometimes this goes towards rushing an emergency sale and swallowing the obscene next-day mail rates from Hawai‘i to the mainland, or including a surprise gift for a mother of the bride, so that she can match her daughter on her wedding day.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.marispearlco.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/marispearlco & www.instagram.com/stephaniemaris
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephaniemarishicks/
Image Credits
For the ghost net photo please credit Aegean Rebreath; all of the other photos are owned by Maris Pearl Co.