How Adina Eden’s Jewels Started

How Adina Eden’s Jewels Started Vs. How It’s Going

I started Adina Eden’s Jewels in 2014, when I was just a 19-year-old college kid. I always loved jewelry, but I never in my wildest dreams thought I’d become a jewelry designer. One day, I met my mom in Manhattan after she got off of work, and we went to a bead shop on 47th street. I was always collecting pretty beads, string, leather, and pearls. I would craft them into jewelry for myself when I got home. Jewelry was something that spoke to me and for me. As the quiet girl who sat in the back of the classroom, I never felt completely understood the way that jewelry understood me. Even as a little girl, I’d go to Claire’s with $10 that my parents gave me and spend hours in that store. 

As I got older, I started to visualize my dream of becoming a businesswoman in the jewelry industry. I started selling anything I can get my hands on at school — whether it was leftover candy from a holiday or accessories from my mom’s office. In 11th grade, we were assigned to create our own storefront in a graphic design class. Of course, I designed a jewelry store. Still, that dream didn’t become a reality until a few years later.

In college, I majored in psychology. Learning how to understand people helped me get into the minds of my potential customers. What would make them feel good about themselves? What would attract them to my product? I loved jewelry but I couldn’t afford the beautiful, high-quality, trendy pieces I had my eyes on. What’s more, growing up plus-size, most jewelry pieces I loved only fit petite girls. I wanted to create something that fit everyone, which is why my personalized collection is so popular. I knew what it was like to grow up wanting things that you couldn’t afford. I wanted to give people what I couldn’t have as a teen — including the confidence to accessorize. 

With just $100, I bought tools, materials, and everything I needed. I started crafting jewelry on my parent’s kitchen table to sell to other people. Even though I didn’t have any traditional training in jewelry design, I used YouTube and my own intuition to guide me along the way. Once I started putting my pieces on an Instagram page that I started over the weekend, the calls came rolling in. That’s when I knew this was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life. That’s when Adina Eden’s Jewels truly began. 

Now Adina Eden’s Jewels is a multi-million dollar business, with over 1500 SKUs and 40 employees. My brother, Mayer, is our CEO, and my sister Esther is our marketing director. Recruiting my family to help run the business was the best thing I ever did.