We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Siedra Loeffler a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Siedra, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
I grew up watching my mother garden in the summer until it was too dark to see and the bats were out. She would come into the house with dirt encrusted knees and a smile on her face as she offered me and siblings the sweet lettuce and snap peas she had grown. Working in the garden is still her happy place- a place of optimism and slowing down, a place of nourishment.
We lived in the middle of 40 acres in Vermont and working outside until dark was normal, especially with long summer days. My mom was an art teacher for 45 years and still lives a life that many would call a ‘homesteader’ but she would just call living. I learned early on that weekends were not for sitting around but a time to chop wood for the winter and to weed the garden. While much of the work we did was purely out of necessity there was also a joy to the work.
My mother’s delight in the process of creating is something that she has passed onto me. I was inspired to make jewelry through my mother, which then lead me to study jewelry in high school and in college. Much of my twenties was spent working full time as a bench jeweler and studio manager in NYC and San Francisco.
Opening my store in 2021 was the amalgamation of years coming into form. While there was definitely some fears present, I knew that I had the tenacity and community support to take the step. Now instead of stacking wood on the weekends I am slinging jewelry and sharing the creative process with the community.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
One of my favorite parts of being a jeweler and having a tiny shop in a small town is helping people find or create a special treasure. I love working on custom projects with folks and finding the perfect stone and design within their budget. Custom work can be out of reach for many and I do my best to keep prices affordable so everyone can experience the beauty of a treasure made just for them.
This spring I will be hosting a Charm Show that is a group of work by artist who are part of the Stay Gold Collective. The collection will feature thirty different artists and include all types of materials- gold, sterling silver, found objects and gemstones. I am particularly excited to feature this show in my shop because I love the jewelry community and showing off talented designers work. It feels super special to their work and cheer them on. This space is first and foremost a shop that highlights small scale artisan made jewelry. The show will debut in early June and be in my space until September.
Connecting my clients with the maker behind the jewelry is one of my biggest passions. All of the designers I curate in the shop are friends of mine, some very dear and others are new but sharing their story and who they are is super important. In our world of ever increasing globalization and quick fixes- I find it more and more important to share the ancient craft of jewelry making and the people who make it.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Oh good question! I think one of the trickiest skills to learn when cultivating your journey is to know when to gather information from others and when you need to root down into your own ideas with focus. I had a few mentors in my life who were very concerned with young jewelers coming up in the scene and not fully understanding the history that came before them. This had me in head for a long time, focusing too much on how to be respectful- which is definitely important and also is important to focus on your own needs. While I do think it is helpful to gather fragments of history to place yourself within the timeline- you also really need to not be afraid to just make and do.
It took me a long time to release the fear of failure- it still creeps in along the seams sometimes but I really try to not let it drive my decision making. With opening a store I definitely had a lot of concern about failure or not ‘doing it right’ but in the end I took the leap. Having close friends who were good at supporting me through the doubt was essential. Nothing happens in a vacuum, we need each other to thrive in business as well as in life.
What would you advise – going all in on your strengths or investing on areas where you aren’t as strong to be more well-rounded?
If you had told me when I was 25 years old that I would love spreadsheets by the time I was 35 I would have laughed at you! I never thought I would be someone who would organize my receipts in a spreadsheet and actually enjoy doing it. But wow does time change things for the better.
Once we have it in our heads that we are not good at something it holds us back from ever actually working on it. Unless you are a small business owner with very limited funds- then you are asked to get over yourself and do the thing! I think it was during the first year of the pandemic that I made my own website- from there I was pleasantly surprised that if I slowed down and let go of strict timelines I could do it.
Besides my shop I also have a day job working with food systems and with food insecure communities. My organizational skills as a business owner directly led me to having the skills I needed to pursue this work in food systems. I am super grateful that I grew to love spreadsheets- it really opened up a whole new world to me. They say ‘you never know where things will lead’ and it is cheesy but honestly so true. So while it is important to hone your skills and invest in your strengths, I think it is also important to stretch your comfort zone a bit and try new things.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thegoldhammershop.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thegoldhammer.shop/
Image Credits
Siedra Loeffler
Ryan McCarty
Caitlin Mathes
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
