Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Stevie DAndrea. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Stevie, thanks for joining us today. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

I cannot imagine my life with a “regular job”. I have worked for many years in corporate America, retail and more before running my own business and I can without a doubt state that I am much happier now with Jewels For Hope. Yes, as a business owner, you have to handle a lot of work- everything from customer service to bookkeeping and everything in between. The hours are long and there really isn’t a day off – but still, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I put my heart and soul into my business, Jewels For Hope, and I feel having this company has taught me more than any corporate job ever could. If you run your own business, you know that there are good times and bad, but even through the bad times, you learn so much and continue to put your all into your company. I live and breathe Jewels For Hope and wouldn’t have it any other way.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I run Jewels For Hope with my mother Sandy. We are self taught jewelry designers who create handcrafted gifts that give back to charity. We donate 10% of the profits of every sale to charities close to our hearts. Sandy actually taught me the art of jewelry design and I taught her how to use social media- so we are the perfect team!

We’ve had Jewels For Hope for over a decade now and our handcrafted creations have been featured on numerous celebs and tv shows such as Katherine Heigl and Sarah Chalke in FireFly Lane, Will Kemp in Girlfriends Guide To Divorce and The Princess Switch 3, Emily Deschanel in Bones and more.

Jewels For Hope has a ton of items we create such as greeting cards, jewelry, home decor and more. We originally were just jewelry designers, which we love creating… but once the pandemic hit we had to branch out a bit and start creating different items as no one was buying jewelry during that time. Now we are your one stop shop for gifts that make people look good, do good, and feel good!

Have you ever had to pivot?

I’m branching out from my last question to explain a bit more for this. Jewels For Hope, as you can tell by the name, was initially only jewelry. My mother Sandy taught herself how to make jewelry many (many!) years ago and then taught me about a decade ago. We handsew a lot of our pieces and create funky intricate designs – lots of statement pieces! Well, once the pandemic hit, we definitely had to pivot our business since no one was buying jewelry- rightfully so! It was a scary time for most business owners and if we didn’t branch out and tweak our business I honestly don’t know if we would have survived through that really rough first year of the pandemic.

We now create gift items such as greeting cards, decor, and more. I’m so happy we expanded our offerings not only because it helped us throughout the last few years but because we can reach a bigger audience now with different products. Your one stop shop for gifts – and each one donates 10% of the profits to charity.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

So, this isn’t particularly a story on how I met my business partner since it is my mother Sandy… and well, we met 37 years ago (haha). but more so of how we got into this business together.

Sandy started making her own jewelry well over 40 years ago before I was even a thought in her head. She would make it just for herself – and she loved it. Completely self taught. Fast forward to 2009 after Sandy became a mother of 3 and started being a caregiver for her own mother who suffered from Parkinson’s and Dementia. Sandy, who had stopped making jewelry years ago due to life getting in the way, picked up the craft again when she was a caregiver. She would give the nurses who regularly came in to assist jewelry as a thank you- and then a lightbulb went off and she decided she could start selling the jewelry and donating a portion to Hospice. Jewels For Hope was born.

A few years later after I graduated from FIT, I came home and started promoting my mom’s Etsy shop. Never in a million years did I think I would later on buy the company from her and work with her as a partner. She taught me her jewelry skill and I showed her how to use social media. We haven’t looked back since!

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.jewelsforhope.net
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/jewelsforhopect
• Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jewelsforhopect