So, back to business. Small business, that is! I've got an incredible story to share with you today, from Diana at Gemela Design in Detroit, Michigan. She and her twin sister, Julie, have been through some tough times, but managed to bring beauty and inspiration to the world despite what most would see as a major obstacle. Thank you Diana, for contributing this moving, deeply personal about story with us:
"In December 2006, my twin sister Julie and I both graduated from the College of Engineering at University of Michican Ann Arbor with majors in Industrial and Operations Engineering, and minors in Spanish. We spent summers doing international engineering internships in Brazil, Turkey, Spain and Italy. Upon graduating, we were both hired to the International Leadership Development Program with the British engineering company GKN. While in the program, we each took three different six month projects in three different continents, working in three different languages. Julie was in California, Germany and Argentina, and I was in St. Louis, Germany, and Brazil. In February 2009, while both on assignment in South America, I was diagnosed with stage 3B Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, and we immediately dropped our Latin American lives as engineers, packed up our things and were back home with our family in Michigan within 24 hours of the diagnosis. Julie immediately ended her position, and I went on medical leave. The first three months, we lived at the hospital due to a multitude of complications from the cancer and aggressive chemotherapy. Due to a bone marrow transplant in August, we again found ourselves living in the hospital for a month. We realized that despite the fact that I was in a very weak physical state, Julie could invest her time into something that could generate profits to be donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). Thanks to our intense brainstorming sessions, creativity, technical business minds, worldly experiences and colorful cultural backgrounds (our mother is from Detroit and our father from Chile), Gemela Design was born. "Gemela" means "twin" in Spanish and Italian.We've always been creative and artistic, and took this perceived drawback during trying circumstances as an opportunity to redirect our energies into something completely different from our past "left-brained experiences" in engineering, while also helping other cancer patients and tapping into a developing Detroit market. We have both always carried an entrepreneurial spirit that never previously had a chance to develop. Our design aesthetic is influenced by nostalgia for our international travels; we physically display reflections of our experiences overseas and the world's beauty, ironically meshed with our industrial and technical backgrounds. Each unique piece of jewelry is named after a different city in the world and is created with unconventional materials that bring an industrial edge to a normally delicate jewelry design industry. 95% of all Gemela materials are purchased outside of the United States, in order to physically bring a piece of global beauty (be it leather from Argentine, Lapiz stones from Chile, vintage pieces from Paris, pearls from China, etc) into the hands of each of our customers. From there, one thing has lead to another and Gemela Design has organically created a thriving accessory label and business since August 2009, producing increasing profits since its first month.
We design and hand make every piece in the collection, and are currently selling our Ready to Wear (30 unique designs with a price point of $40-$70) and Couture Collections (20 unique designs with a price point of $300-$1300). Gemela sells online at www.gemeladesign.com, and in ten Michigan boutiques. We have also expanded internationally into Greece and Argentina, and are expanding to other parts of the US. In January 2010, we hired an intern from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit to keep up with the growth. Through the internship, we can mentor other young design students in Detroit and help cultivate their skills in a city that is quickly filling with potential, but offers very few opportunities for local design and entrepreneurial experience. With each business opportunity, we aim to raise awareness about LLS by donating a portion of every purchase to the society. This risen awareness has lead to business partners doing the same and donating a portion of their profits for a given month to LLS as well. In January’s issue of Styleline Magazine, we were featured with Chi Chi & the Greek Boutique for our fashion and charity collaboration, where 20% of January sales will go to LLS (Styleline, January 2010 issue, page 31). We are also honored to be Styleline's Featured Designer of the Month in the February 2010 issue (p 29). Our jewelry has been featured in a shoot in Styleline’s March issue as well!
In the future, we are determined to continue cultivating, promoting, breaking barriers and inspiring young entrepreneurs in the merging of left and right brain skill-sets, especially in trying situations, by turning ''problems'' into opportunities. We also look to promote Detroit as a city above and beyond its industrial image and replace its persona with one of creativity, entrepreneurship and philanthropy. As I finish up with treatment, we are currently studying for the GMAT and plan on getting our MBA's to fully cultivate our business skills. With a strong technical business background, a passion for fashion and design, and a drive to spread LLS awareness, we see only the boundaries of Mother Earth as our limits!"To learn more about Diana, Julie, and Gemela Design, be sure to visit their website at gemeladesign.com and check out their some of their designs for purchase on Etsy.
Health and happiness,
Abbey
1 comments:
Primas!! I'm so proud of you!! Gemela Design rocks!!
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