In three years, Chrissy Harrison’s jewellery enterprise, Elsie Frieda, has outgrown the visitor bed room of her Close to West Finish house, transferring to a studio and manufacturing area at 3600 Douglasdale Street close to Metropolis Stadium. Designing chokers and earrings utilizing African vinyl beads, Harrison left her IT consulting gross sales job to pursue her ardour for vogue in late 2018.
A spouse and mom of two boys, she had simply gotten her youngest began in kindergarten when she revisited her previous interest of jewellery making. She knew colour was going to be integral to her designs as a result of its pure skill to make folks really feel joyful. Sourcing her bead provide from a market in Ghana by way of two feminine bead brokers, she launched with about 12 designs, promoting at in-home jewellery events and at Roan, the ladies’s clothes retailer in Carytown. In February 2019, a fancy dress designer for the Netflix teen drama “Outer Banks” noticed a social media put up and purchased a number of colour variations of Harrison’s “Louise Choker” for the present. A 12 months later, Harrison had all however forgotten concerning the thrilling encounter as she continued to develop the enterprise, overhauling the web site and promoting her merchandise at boutiques throughout the nation. Then the pandemic hit, and every part got here to a cease. Like many small companies, she needed to cope with transport and provide points. Then in April 2020, Harrison obtained a game-changing electronic mail from Netflix letting her know that the present together with her necklaces was about to air. “Our world simply modified in a single day,” Harrison says.
Harrison says she has not too long ago added a line of fedoras and will broaden to supply purses. “We wish to change into a family model,” she says.
After the sequence premiered, Harrison says orders went from about 30 per day to 100-plus. Navigating this wave of enterprise was made potential because of her core crew of feminine staff who assist with every part from making the jewellery to transport it. Three of her finest mates have been with the enterprise since its early days: Laura Connor, Kim King and Katherine Natalie. Harrison says their help, mixed with recommendation and assist from different feminine jewellery makers, has been invaluable.
Elsie Frieda now gives a line of fedoras and Harrison says they could broaden into different merchandise sooner or later. “We wish to change into a family model,” she says.
Harrison has had many sturdy feminine function fashions in her life, together with her grandmother, for whom she named the enterprise. Frieda was one of many first girls to graduate from Temple College in Philadelphia.
Harrison modeled the corporate’s mission after Frieda’s disposition. “We’re variety first, work onerous second, after which we all know we’ll achieve success,” she says. Being variety and giving again are core tenets of Harrison’s philosophy, and he or she’s helped increase funds for causes comparable to breast most cancers consciousness and starvation reduction.
Elsie Frieda jewellery has caught the attention of celebrities comparable to Katy Perry, Lindsey Vonn and Lizzo. However in the event you’re trying to mimic a celeb’s choose, you’ll must snag it fast, as a result of colour pigments can range by batch. If Harrison isn’t in a position to supply the precise shade of bead, she drops the product.
Harrison says she by no means would have guessed she’d be on this place together with her enterprise after making that profession change in 2018. “It’s been a very enjoyable experience,” she provides. “I can’t wait to see what the longer term brings for us.”