Timeless Jewelry For Contemporary People
INTRODUCTION BY SARAH KIM
I'll be honest. I haven't met Rachel yet. But you know who I was intro-ed to her by? Chelsea Welsh who is MY GIRL, who you can read more about here.
Chelsea and I have this phrase we like to coin women we recommend to each other, we call them "REAL ONES." I am so grateful for a recommendations, whether it's restaurants, best places to go, strongest coffee, and similarly (but more seriously) our go-to women.
We are so excited to meet and for you to meet Rachel and interact with her about how she practices low-waste in her business.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your brand so we can get to know you better?
I was born and raised in Orange County, CA and studied at Art Center College of Design for photography. After college, I worked as a freelance fashion photographer for many print publications some including; Project Runway, Playboy Magazine, etc. My passion for fashion sparked an idea in me and soon led me to start my journey with RG.
I’ve always been a very hands-on creative so for me, jewelry was the perfect route. I wanted to design pieces that were not only stylish but eco-friendly as well – pieces that will last you a long time instead of going in the trash after one wear. Being able to make and sell pieces that truly help people express their inner goddess was a huge deal for me.
What’s the inspiration behind Rose Gypsy, and what aspirations do you have for your company moving forward?
My inspirations for RG comes from many places. I find inspiration in the nature around us. The curves in a tree branch, the textures on a leaf. The ripples of water or sounds of the ocean hitting the sand. I’m also very inspired by the 70s and 80s eras. The over the top glitz and glam. Golden tones, pearls, bangles. The statements pieces that made their wardrobes complete. It’s very important for me to reference these eras as they’re the ones I feel most connected too.
I have many aspirations for the business, one of which would be to continue to grow and satisfy our customers, so that they’ll continue to come back for life. In a fast-fashion world where it seems nearly impossible to get good customer service, we pride ourselves on truly helping each customer. I would love to open up my first brick and mortar store one day and carry other sustainable brands along with ours.
Do you practice a sustainable/low impact/zero-waste lifestyle? If so, how do you practice it and what are your motivators?
It is of the utmost importance for us to practice a sustainable/low impact lifestyle! We strongly believe that our footprint matters. We pride ourselves on recycling everything we can. From recycling and melting down our scrap metals to providing reusable packaging and bags, we hope to eliminate one-time use! One of the biggest motivators in practicing a zero-waste lifestyle is Mother Earth. We only have one. It’s so sad to see the pollution, waste, and overconsumption in our society.
What’s one small change humans can do to show a little love Mother Earth that they may not realize?
Personally, I think that if everyone thrifted their clothing, we would greatly reduce our waste on the earth. Fast fashion is one of the biggest contributors to our polluted world. I am a huge advocate for purchasing upcycled clothing, and I honestly feel better about where my money is going when doing so as well. I think contributing to reusing something instead of getting one use out of it can make a huge difference in helping out our beautiful earth.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? What’s the greatest piece of encouragement?
That it's ok to fail at things. You will never learn from your successes in life, you will only learn and grow from the failures. For someone that started this company with $0 and just an idea, I strongly encourage anyone to go after their dreams! Start taking little strides, writing down ideas and then start to execute those ideas! It’s not about the big wins, in my opinion, it’s the little wins that mean the most. The bigger picture will fall into place if you focus on the small stuff.
What are you excited about? Is there anything fun coming up for you?
We are very excited for this holiday season as we shot our first editorial campaign and will be rolling it out soon. This time of year is our favorite because we get to see so many people happy and satisfied customers!