We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Stephanie Wells. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Stephanie below.
Stephanie , appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
My current company, Shooska Scented Car Jewelry holds layers and layers of meaning for me. It was born out of tragedy. My sister, Alisa, was dying from cancer, and my family and I cared for her. My sister and I had been close all our lives. In our 20s, we created Double Happiness Jewelry & Home, a successful jewelry and home decor design and manufacturing company that sold worldwide. Alisa was in charge of PR; through her, our pieces adorned the ears, wrists, and necks of the world’s top tastemakers. I expanded into clean perfumes, and I noticed how her moods would shift when I brought her my new scents. This experience, combined with her understanding of neuroscience, hypnotherapy, and brain function, led to a moment of inspiration, and Shooska was born.
Shooska’s purpose is to engage your senses while you drive, allowing your brain to rewire so that you can feel better. Shooska believes that time spent in your car can be used more effectively. Shooska Scented Car Jewelry is a synthesis of the power
metaphysical gemstones, the potency of aromatherapy, and the neural activation of dopamine decor working together to create a shift in the way you feel.
“People make efforts to eat healthy, to work out, get good sleep- yet how often do people think about how they feel when they drive? Consider commuters who spend hours in cars or moms constantly shuttling their children around. Don’t you agree that if we transform how we feel when we drive, we transform how we feel when we arrive?” asked Stephanie.
I believe Shooska can help make the world a better place by helping people reclaim how they spend their time while they drive. Importantly, all Shooska scents are made without the toxins traditionally found in car air fresheners, so you can feel good about what you are breathing.
I am keeping my sister’s energy with me in this new company, which is named in honor of her—inspired by her sister’s old email address, “Shnooska,” with the “n” removed.
While caring for my sister, I saw firsthand how important and healthful it is to have loved ones around you. Therefore, Shooska is committed to raising awareness and funding for the La Jolla Family House at UC San Diego. The La Jolla Family House at UC San Diego Health provides hope and comfort for families with a loved one in long-term or critical care. Among the services offered are guest rooms for loved ones and friends, a community kitchen, community lounges, and other critically essential amenities.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I got into design by chance, and I am 100% self-taught. In 2001, I started making jewelry for myself. People began to ask to buy it, and I formed Double Happiness Jewelry & Home with my sister, who lived in NYC. My sister volunteered for a show in NYC, hoping to wear my jewelry, and the next thing we knew, we were one of the brands being promoted. I had no real business; I was figuring things out, and I found myself in a runway show launching with brands such as Zack Posen, who was also new at the time. From that first exposure, we grew Double Happiness Jewelry to a brand sold in over 500 stores worldwide. Celebrities like Oprah, Beyonce, Victoria Beckham, and Alicia Keyes, among others, were all fans of my jewelry line. I ran the wholesale component of Double Happiness from 2001-2013, when I scaled back and opened a small space in Liberty Public Market.
I learned marketing, manufacturing, business logistics, data management, and more with Double Happiness. I grew Double Happiness, which led to publishing deals ( I wrote the best-selling Earring Style Book published by Random House.
I also designed a line for Jewelry Television ( JTV ) and sold on air for them in 2012-2013.
In 2015, I became obsessed with neuroscience, hypnosis, and NLP. I also created clean perfumes to sell at my Liberty Public Market space. Then my sister, who was my publicist, got sick with cancer, and my world shifted – like the needle scratching on a record, my world did a 180, and I moved to care for her and other family members. It was the most challenging time of my life. My family and I chose to keep her in her home while we cared for her – helping clean her home, doing her laundry for her, and driving her to and from medical appointments. I noticed how she responded to my perfumes and how they altered her mood. Curious, I included the olfactory system in my mix of studies, and the idea for Shooska was born.
My sister was a massive part of my life, my best friend, and my publicist for Double Happiness, so I decided to infuse her energy into Shooska to keep her energy with me. The name Shooska was the name she gave herself in her email address. In her honor, I am offering a percentage of each sale to the La Jolla Family House at UCSD. The Family Houses at UC San Diego Health keep families together while their loved ones are in the hospital receiving all kinds of critical and long-term care, from cancer treatment to transplants and so much more. They are a home away from home for families who receive community support, housing, food donations, and resources steps away from world-class care.
I saw how much being together helped my sister, and with Shooska, I hope to help provide that for others.
Finally, it should be noted that Shooska is committed to our customers’ mental and physical health. Unlike traditional car air fresheners, I am proud to say all our fragrances are phthalate-free, paraben-free, SES-free, SLES-free, and vegan. They have never been tested on animals, and our perfume inserts are biodegradable.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
Wow – there were so many times! How about when I spent $20k to participate in a wholesale market in NYC, and NONE of my displays for my jewelry arrived? I had shipped my displays from California to NY via UPS, but there was a storm, and all flights were grounded. Not knowing the NYC area well, I had to rent a car, drive to New Jersey to a Home Depot, and buy about 50 flower pots that I used as necklace displays for my other company, Double Happiness Jewelry. I was setting up till 2 am Eastern time ( I was used to Pacific, having flown there from California one day prior ). I got up the next day, took a cab to market, and acted as if I had intended that display all along! And the stores that carried my line loved it, and some of them took inspiration from it! The one thing I know to be true, having been in business for over 24 years, is business is an unpredictable dance. So be ready for the pivot, and don’t fear it. Opportunities are found in these challenges; you never know where it will take you.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
I love the act of creation, specifically how it feels in my body when I create. Sometimes, it’s challenging or frustrating, especially when I am on a deadline. But if I can get in that “zone,” that feeling of my mind turning off and my intuition taking over, then I can tap into whatever cosmic creative energy is and bring something new to the world. I always start with some sense, it may be the colors of the materials I am responding to or the shapes – and once I begin and move the pieces together, it’s often a surprise to see where it all ends, as in the final product.
It’s that feeling of creating something from nothing, and it’s the deep gratitude and satisfaction when others love what you created and feel inspired and empowered by it.
That is what is the most rewarding aspect of being an artist.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.shooska.com
- Instagram: @shooskavibe
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShooskaVibe/
Image Credits
Image credits Shooska.com