Meet Macy Calderon of emme jewelry
To understand where I’m today, I have to talk about the past. Back in 2013, I was the mom of a toddler and a preschooler. I had been an immigrant and out of the corporate world for two years. I was a stay-home-mom with everything to succeed, but I was failing tremendously at it. Every day at 5 pm, I felt like the walls of my home started to close into me like a prison. At the end of every day, I felt miserable and trapped. I was full of negative feelings, regrets, and complaints that were hurting my ability to be a loving mother and a good partner. I urgently needed to change my course, but my vision was blurred.
One day organizing my closet, I found a pair of earrings that belonged to my Abuela Olga. They were a beautiful pair of big and bold green hoops. When I picked them up in my hands, I immediately remembered what she always said: You should never leave home without earrings or red lipstick.
That day I decided to wear those earrings to pick up my kids from daycare, and everyone had something sweet to say about them. The next day, I wore the same earrings with a pair of shoes that were also forgotten in my closet. On the third day, I wore the earrings, the shoes, and a dress and went out to sign up for an English conversation class.
I did not know at the time, but that was the start of a new me. Little by little, I started to feel right about my day, and at the same time, the 5 pm nightmare begun to fade away. A lot of self-discovery and emotional work has happened since then. However, I still remember vividly the awakening moment that started with that pair of earrings. That small flame of empowerment started the course that helped me regain the energy to be a better me, a happy mom, and a joyful partner.
From a personal point of view, the most challenging struggle was to change my mindset from a stay-at-home mom to what I love to call a mompreneur. I had to start making wiser choices about how I spent my time and energy and how to get rid of the mom guilt that shows once in a while.
From a business perspective, I think that keep persevering is the biggest struggle, even more than raising money to fund your business. You get a lot of rejections when you are starting, and you have to understand that it is a normal part of being in business and that no matter what, you have to keep pushing through. Success is on the other side of the perseverance.
Tell us about your business/company. What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc. What are you most proud of as a company? What sets you apart from others?
Emme’s mission is to design handmade jewelry that celebrates mothers and their power. Every piece of emme is handmade with the intention to make moms look and feel their best. I firmly believe that mothers are the foundational rock of society. Still, motherhood can be isolating and often not a positive experience if you are not surrounded by love and feminine wisdom. That is why I design every piece of emme jewelry thinking in a fantastic mom that goes from work to soccer practices, that manages home and work, that gives herself unconditionally and needs a little reminder that love conquers all. I want every mom to wake up in the morning, put a piece of jewelry, and say: I got this!
Every piece of emme is handmade to bring joy and is something that everyone feels just from opening the packaging. My proudest moment is every time a receive a selfie of a mom smiling and wearing emme. Just that knowing that that mom took a minute from her busy day, to wear emme and felt so happy to take a selfie burst my heart with pride and joy.
Success for me is living a joyful life. If I’m able to connect with joy on everything that I achieve, conquer, or create every day, I’ll feel successful.
