Candis has been a friend of mine for a whole 10 years, and I have watched her grow her business from a super thoughtful handmade gift for her friends to the inspirational and stylish company that we all know and love, The Jones Market.
Words can't express the amazing feeling I get when I have the opportunity to collaborate with dear friends on cool projects, and our collaboration on this amazing Memento Bracelet--a design exclusively for our Love Everywhere General Store--has me over the moon!
I recently interviewed Candis for our very first Maker Showcase, and you can learn more about her and The Jones Market below!
What Inspired TJM?
My answer for this one is two fold: 1. Desperate times 2. Mamas and Babies
Desperate times because I don't think I would have had the courage to start a business if we weren't so hard up financially. Bills were due, furnace was breaking down, my family needed to be fed and we just did not have enough money for it all. The idea for baby friendly necklaces was born because I didn't have enough to buy a friend a Christmas gift so I made her one. This very first necklace looked a lot like our adjustable double necklaces in the shop today. She loved it, people who saw her wearing it loved it (and asked how to buy) and I soon realized babies loved them too. At that point it was 2011 and baby friendly necklaces we not a thing. So I researched what I would have to do to make jewelry that was safe to tug and teeth on and came up with the a small line of necklaces, all the same design just different colors. While we have dozens of necklaces designs, bracelets and keychains now - I've never strayed from my original goal to make necklaces that you'd wear whether or not you have a baby on your hip. I didn't want them to look like toys you wear on your neck. As a mom of two little ones myself I wanted moms to feel pretty and put together when they slipped one around their neck or wrist. That said, a big part of our customer base doesn't have kids at all! This makes me all sorts of happy because I know that we are doing right by the idea to first and foremost make gorgeous jewelry.
What was the last gift you gave someone?
I slipped an extra necklace in a package for someone. One of thee best parts of having a business is getting to be generous to people.
If you could throw any type of parade in your city, what type of parade would it be?
I think it would be a hero parade. You would have to nominate a hero and then we'd pick like 50 of the very best in various categories. Then there would be amazing floats built for them around the theme. Like lets say a child who has been a driving force at ending bullying at her school wins one, we would make her a float full of those old school desks and chairs and she would be in the middle of it all wearing a superhero outfit with a sweet soundtrack playing over speaker. And lets say a caregiver at a nursing home wins another, we would give her a day at the spa and a chance to pick out whatever dress she wanted at whatever store she wished and would put her on a convertible with a armful of flowers and a sash that says "HERO" on it. Now I really want to make this parade happen and am getting all excited. Ha!
Signature dance move?
I have junk in the trunk so I go ahead and use that to my advantage in you know what I mean.
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Shop The Jones Market + Love Everywhere exclusive Memento Bracelet design here
Shop the rest of The Jones Market collection here
Are you a maker that would like to collaborate with us, email us at shareloveeverywhere@gmai.com and tell us a little about yourself!