Spain Park mother-daughter duo turn jewelry-making hobby into business

Amber and Madelyn Lewis didn’t have plans to create a business when they picked up bracelet beads at a craft store.

The mother and daughter, one a Spain Park High School science teacher and tennis coach and the other a Spain Park student, wanted to make jewelry for themselves. But as their tastes and talents grew, the pair started getting requests from family and friends to make jewelry for others.

“We were happily surprised that it took off like it did,” Amber Lewis said. 

The Lewises launched Road Less Traveled Jewelry in fall 2018, only a few months after their first foray into jewelry-making. Amber Lewis said it has been a big step because she’s a 21-year teacher and has no background in business.

“We’re called the Road Less Traveled Jewelry, and the idea behind that was take a risk that’s out of your comfort zone, don’t take the popular road. And that’s kind of what this was to us,” she said.

The response, through word of mouth and a small number of shows around town, has been overwhelmingly positive. Madelyn Lewis said the best feeling is when someone compliments her work, buys it and even brings a friend back to show them one of the pieces in the RLT Jewelry collection.

“It’s fun to see the domino effect,” her mother said. 

Amber Lewis said her daughter is the ideas person in the business, though they both contribute their thoughts in order to have jewelry that appeals to a broader crowd. Madelyn Lewis said she sees ideas online and around town, and she often makes a quick sketch on her phone when creativity strikes.

“She’s really got a lot of talent with the designing and ideas and putting things together,” Amber Lewis said.

The pair use supplies from markets as well as craft stores, and Amber Lewis said her daughter often counts every single link in a chain to make sure an earring or necklace lays exactly as it should.

RLT Jewelry started with cross necklaces, which are still popular, they said. They now offer a wide array of earrings and necklaces to suit different tastes, all under $20. 

“We’re not really looking for it to be elite and expensive, we’re looking for it to be accessible and fun,” Amber Lewis said.

Each piece is named after a road inBirmingham, from their own neighborhood to downtown.

“Hopefully we’ve got lots more pieces to come with lots more roads to use,” Amber Lewis said.

Around the holidays, the Lewises also started offering custom candles, as Amber Lewis enjoys making her own candles to burn in her classroom. They sold about 150 candles over the winter break, she said, and they plan for that to be a larger part of the business in the future.

The mother and daughter are even talking about hosting candle-making parties, where customers can choose their scents and wicks and even bring in their own container, such as a champagne glass from a special occasion.

Amber Lewis said RLT Jewelry has taken off faster than they anticipated, mostly through word of mouth and connections from friends.

Running their business will get more challenging in the fall as Madelyn, a senior, will head off to college at Auburn University. While Amber Lewis is proud — and an Auburn Tiger herself — she said she hopes working on jewelry together will be an incentive for her daughter to come home frequently.

Jewelry creation started as a way to spend time together, Madelyn Lewis said, and she’s confident that they’ll still be able to grow their business even with more distance between them.

“I just really value the time I get withMadelyn because she’s a teenager and that means she’s in a thousand different directions. And this keeps her a little here more often,” Amber Lewis said.

Find Road Less Traveled Jewelry on Instagram at @rltjewelry. Amber Lewis said they are creating a website to launch in the near future.

– Jasmyne Ray contributed to this article.