Trunkt

I am getting ready to show at my first New York International Gift Fair. The wholesale show starts Saturday August 16th and I have been wait listed for three years for the handmade section. My booth may be in the Hudson River, but I finally got my foot in.


Along my journey in the retail/wholesale jewelry business I tried many different ways to promote myself. As I have been prepping for the show this morning I started thinking about how I got here and who helped me along the way. One company that has been with me almost since the start of things is called Trunkt.


Trunkt, founded by Ayesha Ahmad and Dev Tandon, started out by holding retail shows in the New York area. They then moved onto online sales and eventually even a temporary store in Tribeca, NY. Their sole purpose is to promote indie designers and artists. They handpick their members so you can find something you like on each page of their site - http://www.trunkt.org. Each artist is asked to create a profile and enter product and information about the product, you can view my portfolio at:

Great people, Great Company.

Daily Grind

I came across a great way to recycle old running sneakers (I have a ton). Nike collects old sneakers and grinds them up to be used to make different parts of sport surfaces in communities around the world.

http://www.letmeplay.com/reuseashoe

To keep the recycling equipment running smoothly, they have a few guidelines for recycling:

• Athletic shoes only (any brand)
• No shoes containing metal
• No cleats or dress shoes
• No wet or damp shoes

I am getting ready to send a box, I will take any from friends who want to do the same. Or you can send on your own:

Nike Recycling Center
c/o Reuse-A-Shoe
26755 SW 95th Ave.
Wilsonville, OR 97070

There are drop off locations as well, see website for more information.

Cheers!

Eco Friendliness

As I am new to online blogging I would like to start by initiating a dialog about eco-friendliness.

A few months ago I was contacted by one of my buyers that were converting to a new policy that would change their relationships with whom they deal with. They would only be carrying items that are made from organic, sustainable, fair-trade, and/or recycled materials. I never gave much thought to the above as a way of marketing myself, really just making choices in my business as I saw fit. I now realize and am embracing what I have already unconsciously started.

Let me backtrack a bit by stating that I was raised in an extremely eco-friendly household in rural Pennsylvania. My parents taught me how to recycle, compost and grow my own food from birth. We purchased 95% of our clothes, toys, household items flea markets and tag sales. They invested in geo thermal heating to their home 20 years ago to reduce our family's footprints. And this is just a small taste of my history.

What my parents did was create an independent designer who, in my own home based studio, carefully handcrafts each individual piece that is shipped. I purchase all my stones directly from India and I do not source any products to third world countries nor to minors. All of my silver is made from recovered metals and in fact the company I purchase from recycle many times more precious metals that they sell, creating what is called a 'usage offset'.

So after mulling over these facts for the past few months I called my parents this evening to ask them to help me set up an identity as an eco-friendly business. They were perplexed as to why I was contacting them. I think this is the best part of my whole experience. They don’t even realize how cutting edge they are and have been for a quarter of a century and possibly longer.

So with these thoughts spinning in my head this is my first public step in announcing my company’s passion, even though it has been for 34 years.