You may have spotted people on campus rocking a little more jewelry than usual this semester. That’s probably thanks to Keri Fitzpatrick and Jill LaRocca, the founders of their own jewelry company. This jewelry company out of Ewing, NJ specializes in making jewelry out of healing stones.
“Keri has always been interested in healing crystals and would collect them from different countries or cities that she had visited,” says Jill, a junior Civil Engineering major.
“Recently Jill had picked up an impressive piece from New Orleans and we were looking at them and said “Hey, why don’t we start making our own?” We were always purchasing them anyway, and now we would be able to make them the way we want to with our own designs and it has more meaning,” says Keri, a senior Public and Mass Communications major.
The girls launched their business in early February of this year and started selling their jewelry to friends before deciding to promote their work on Instagram. “We were extremely surprised with the interests in our necklaces! At first we thought it would just be people in our organization and friends that we forced to support us, but we started to get some outside buzz, which was fantastic,” says Keri.
Jill and Keri learned how to make their unique pieces by watching YouTube videos, and trying to recreate designs they liked. The girls found their own style and suggest that customers let the stones chose them. “When friends and customer’s purchase our work, we tell them to feel with their soul rather than think with their head of which stone they want. You may be surprised, but your soul knows what you really need in your life! Don’t pick your favorite color or shape, but wait until one calls out to you,” says Keri.
Some designs consist of intricate wraps and others focus on showing off the stone. No matter what, the pieces are one a kind, just like Keri and Jill!
All Images Courtesy of Keri Fitzpatrick and Jill LaRocca