Daily Breeze
Chain reactions
With a push from 9-11, Redondo Beach jewelry designer strung a lifelong passion into a new career and lifestyle
By Meredith Grenier
When Colleen Berg was 4, growing up in New York's Hudson River Valley, she designed her own necklaces by stringing colorful leaves on thread and wearing them around her neck. Berg's interest in jewelry grew as she grew. But rather than purchasing the accessories, she preferred to ferret out beads, wire and clasps to make her own.
Now 35 and living in Redondo Beach, Berg's lifelong hobby has evolved into a flourishing jewelry- design business. It has allowed her to open her own shop, Colleen Berg Jewelry in Hermosa Beach, while still having ample time to spend with Sofia, 4, and Lyla, 17 months. Berg even has figured out a way to spend quality time with her husband, exercise, plan play dates for the girls and fit in annual bead-buying trips to Tucson, Ariz., and marketing junkets for New York City fashion magazines.
Fifteen months after opening her business Berg maintains a hectic pace, selling at trunk shows, boutiques and fairs. She works with stylists to create jewelry for TV personalities including Samantha Harris and Giuliana Depandi of E! Entertainment News. And her designs will be featured in Us Weekly and InStyle magazine in March. Berg accomplished it all by following her passion, working hard and thinking outside the jewelry box. "You just can't be afraid," she said.
Undaunted by the fact that so many women -- from soccer moms to seniors -- seem to have cottage jewelry design businesses, and discount stores are selling jewelry like hotcakes, Berg and her husband, Seth, took the plunge together. They rented a second-floor shop on Aviation Boulevard, two blocks east of Pacific Coast Highway. She displays her jewelry in the windows and in glass counters in the storefront, while Seth uses the back room as an office. A third room doubles as a nursery/playroom.
Berg's earlier careers hit several dead ends, but a series of jobs taught her the marketing and sales skills needed in this competitive business. After graduating from St. Bonaventure University near Buffalo, N.Y., with a degree in English and a love of poetry, she joined the domestic Peace Corps and was sent to Santa Monica. Living with five other women on a salary of $75 a month, she learned to be frugal, entertaining herself with free concerts and browsing in second-hand stores for beads she made into gifts. By 23, Berg had left the Peace Corps and moved to Beijing, where she baked and sold cookies. During her free time, she searched for bead stores. "This is when my bead collection became a passion," she said. After a month, she moved to Japan to teach English to local businessmen. After mastering Japanese, she landed a job at an investment bank, which allowed her to travel to Hong Kong, Africa, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand -- all the time adding to her stash of beads. She also learned about Japanese cultured and freshwater pearls. Three years later, in 1997, Berg returned to Santa Monica, where she met Seth, whom she married in 1999. He was vice president of the film and television department at Capitol Records. She became a proofreader for Team One Advertising in El Segundo and as a freelancer wrote radio and TV commercials for other agencies. In 2001, Sofia was born, and within two weeks, the 9-11 terrorist attacks prompted nervous clients to cancel accounts, and Berg was out of a job. Berg says she viewed her loss as an opportunity.
"I didn't want to go back to work in an office and put Sofia in day care," she said. "I thought, 'How can I do this?' and then I realized I have loved jewelry all my life. "My husband actually supported me when I had the idea that I could make a go at designing, constructing, marketing and selling jewelry and also be a stay-at-home mom," she says. "Now, here I am in 2005 with my own store, some loyal customers and even an ocean view. My fear is that I will become too big. I design everything myself and often I'll do custom work for clients while they wait."
Her leap into renting commercial property was facilitated by her husband's decision, after working for 10 years at Capitol Records, to venture into business for himself, facilitating music for the film and television industry.
From the beginning, Berg decided to have the store open Wednesdays through Saturdays, leaving three days for family outings, business trips and shows. She also spends weekends exhibiting her work at festivals or shows, usually selling about half of her inventory at prices from $75 to $500 per piece, depending on the stones used and the intricacy of the pieces. Berg sees the trend in jewelry changing from large, clunky silver and dramatic stone centerpieces enhanced by beads, to a much more delicate look using gold and pearls. She also has seen increased interest in stones such as ruby zoisite and sapphires in their original rough state, rather than with their traditional highly polished finish. Freshwater pearls are taking on an all-new look, coming in flattened coin shapes, squares, diamonds, rectangles and arrow designs. They are available in white, gray, pink and gold tones. Pearls are experiencing a rebirth, Berg said. They are being incorporated into younger, fresher designs.
During a typical day, Berg and her husband walk their 4-year-old to her nearby preschool and then push the baby in her stroller to the store. Back at the shop, while Lyla plays in her nursery or takes her typical two-hour nap, Berg designs pieces on two black velvet busts so she can make sure they hang properly. "I am usually working on two designs at once," she said. "When I start working on a necklace, I don't know where the design is going to end up." Her necklaces to be featured in Us Weekly include three nursing necklaces, which are worn by lactating mothers. They are all wire-wrapped so the baby can't break them easily, and they are designed to capture the baby's attention so he or she won't be distracted by outside stimuli while nursing.
They also are designed with certain stones that are thought to have healing properties. Chalcedony, white agate, rock crystal and rutile, for example, are associated with lactation and pain management. Whether the jewelry Berg designs is for nursing moms, bridal parties, birthdays or anniversaries, or are redesigns from vintage jewelry, she makes each piece individually. One customer brought Berg a bracelet with four strands of rhinestones that was the only thing she owned that had belonged to her mother. From the bracelet, Berg designed two necklaces and two pairs of earrings for the woman's daughters.
Whatever the challenge, Berg tries to make every piece an heirloom. "I don't want to be trendy," she said. "I want my pieces to be treasured for a lifetime."
Want to shop?
• Location: Colleen Berg Jewelry is at 1312 Pacific Coast Highway, Hermosa Beach.
• Information: Call 310-947-5373