Today we’d like to introduce you to Chelsea Mead
Hi Chelsea, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I was by chance born into the jewelry industry, with my dad making a career change and becoming a Gemologist. I was always creative growing up and constantly creating new jewelry things. With the family jewelry store, I was re-stringing necklaces and helping engrave jewelry at an early age. When it came time to figure out a college “plan” it meant art school or nothing to me, which seems silly now, but that’s how strongly I felt about my artistic education. Through all kinds of different endeavors, I ended up back where I felt like I belonged, in an career realm where I could focus on engagement ring design with my unique history in the jewelry industry. I started Honey Designs Jewelry in 2015 solely focused on custom engagement ring and wedding band design, and operated appointment only until spring of 2024. I ran a full time business while also being a full time parent to our two boys for 6 of those years. That was a challenge in itself, as well as a huge blessing that I owned my own business and worked for myself.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I started my business with some existing debt from a previous business endeavor, which still haunts me. But EVERYTHING and every experience I’ve had has allowed me to grow in some way. Unfortunately I like to learn things the hard way it seems and persistency has been my best friend throughout all of the challenges. Staying persistent with my business and continuing when some seasons were really tough, has been redeemed to see a retail space come to fruition. Challenges seemed bigger in the early days and my resilience is a lot stronger now and I know what boundaries to have with how I’ve carefully curated my business decisions moving forward in the past year.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Honey Designs Jewelry?
Honey Designs Jewelry is a small woman owned boutique fine jewelry experience for engagement ring design, custom jewelry design, permanent jewelry, fine jewelry gifting, and more. HDJ offers a unique engagement experience that sets me apart from other similar industry businesses, where I have packages available to clients to help with the proposal planning process from start to finish. It sounds menial but I love how my brand has felt pretty timeless over the past 9+ years and I’m able to update subtly to avoid any stale vibes, especially since jewelry trends are ever evolving. I’m proud to offer engagement and wedding band experiences to anyone, regardless of location, and give everyone the same special experience regardless of budget, jewelry preferences, etc.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
This is really going to expose my past here, haha. I was always doing something creative and also pretty silly. Our family is comedic and I’m not sure how whole families can just be funny or think we’re funny, but that’s us, and very into pranking/scaring each other. I also very seriously wanted to be a clown professionally, until almost high school. My sister and I were constantly creating little entrepreneurial operations making jewelry. We were extremely lucky to travel and experience a lot of things growing up.
Pricing:
- $1000 + (Custom Wedding Bands)
- $3000 + (Custom Engagement Experience)
Contact Info:
- Website: https://honeydesignsjewelry.com
- Instagram: @honeydesignsjewelry
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/honeydesignsjewelry
Image Credits
PattyFrames
Kindred Light Studios
Odessa James Photo
Kati Best Photos
