Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristine Jenson
Hi Kristine, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I came to be a jewelry designer almost by accident. My education and career was focused on natural resource management, specifically protecting and repairing lakes, rivers, streams, and wetlands. I always loved nature and was fascinated by it. Growing up in Minnesota allowed for me to have access to all sorts of nature opportunities. My family would travel every year to Grand Marais, MN on the north shore of Lake Superior long before it was a popular tourist destination. I love that area and would spend hours playing with the rocks, gazing at the majestic pines, daydreaming while sitting alongside the big lake. So having a career that helps protect these natural resources has been very satisfying.
The jewelry side of things came about through my 30 year practice of yoga and meditation. These activities have been a constant part of my life since I was 19 and have helped me manage through the ups and downs of life. About 10 years ago, I took a workshop about mala necklaces. Malas are used as a meditation tool and they have 108 beads on them. The traditional Buddhist practice of making them includes making a knot between each stone. So in the workshop, I got to choose the stones and crystals in my mala and then I thread them on string and began making the knots. Where many people struggled and became frustrated, I became very “zen” and meditative in the process. I loved the act of making the knots, the feel of the stones in my hands, moving them along the thread, and seeing the piece come together. That was my very first piece of jewelry I ever made. And I was hooked.
I went home and began looking up other stones and took a deep dive learning about them. I started to buy beads and made more malas, getting better each time and discovered a vein of creativity I never knew was there. Choosing the stones and bringing together different varieties that have energetic properties was fun, as was creating different patterns. Even choosing which colored thread I wanted to use and the tassels was enjoyable to me. As people began to see my creations, they asked me to make them malas and then bracelets. I never expected to make a business out of it but found that it was something people were interested in.
I wasn’t comfortable with being a business owner and also hestitated to be another person out there selling “stuff” and trying to “make a buck”. If I was going to be a business, it had to be about more than just that. I needed to have a reason for doing this. So, as someone who meditates, I did just that and asked for guidance on what to do. As I dropped into meditation, the answer came to me almost immediately. I needed to make my business be a vehicle to share the legacy of my beloved niece Devon who passed away in 2003 from a rare heart defect.
Devon was like a daughter to me. She is my brother’s daughter and she was born before I had kids of my own. We didn’t know she had a heart defect until after she was born when she went into distress at 1 day old. We learned she had a defect called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS). This defect is fatal. The doctors told us they could attempt a series of three operations that would allow her heart to do enough of the work to keep her alive until she was a little older and could have a better chance of surviving a heart transplant. The first surgery was when she was 6 days old.
Our odyssey lasted 3.5 years and included more operations, procedures, and hospital stays than I can count. As a family, we came together to do whatever was needed to keep Devon with us. Sadly, the final operation of that series was something that Devon could not recover from. After 7 weeks in the hospital and having machines do all the work to keep her alive, the decision was made to let her go. It was the worst moment in my family’s life and we still are deeply effected by it. Devon’s life inspired so many people and has altered the course of many of our journies.
I knew that I didn’t want anyone to forget her and so when the message came to me that my business could be about sharing her story with the world, it all made sense to me. Jenson Natural Jewelry came together easily from then on. The colors of the logo represent Devon’s favorite colors, the messaging and ethos behind the company are based on the lessons I learned from this little girl. Every order that goes out includes a card with Devon’s picture and a few sentences about who she is. She has now reached all over the United States and as far as Japan, New Zealand, Qatar, and several European countries. I receive messages all the time about how her story has touched others and how her beautiful face inspires them to lead with love and kindness. And the best part of my year comes when I get to write a check to the program and hospital that worked so hard to keep Devon with us. I donate at least 10% of my company’s profits to the Pediatric Cardiology Program at Children’s Hospital MN in her memory.
My company is now 7 years old and I am so proud of all the donations I make each year, not only to Children’s Hospital but to other non-profits and organizations that matter to me such as Minnesota Public Radio, Catkins Animal Rescue, and Queerspace Collective, among many others.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has definitely been a winding and sometimes bumpy road to get to where I am today with JNJ. I am still considered a micro-business and have done most things on my own until a year ago when I brought on a parttime marketing and operations assistant, Sam Monk. There is a huge learning curve when it comes to owning a business. Just doing the proper things to establish yourself as a business is a lot but then learning how to set up a website, social media, get your brand name out there so people know about you, and also honing my skills so I have a quality product to sell is a ton of work. I did a lot of in person markets in the beginning. Luckily in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, maker markets are a popular event and I was to learn a lot about how to sell and who the right customers are for me. I learned how to create different types of jewelry and offer other things such as bracelet and mala making workshops as a way to not only earn money but get my name out there even more.
A big struggle for me with all these in person events is that I am an introvert and have chronic fatigue syndrome. So putting out all the energy would leave me completely drained and I would get ill. But I kept pushing myself to do it and kept refining my offerings and my brand as I went.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, all markets were cancelled for the foreseeable future. Being successful in business means you have to be able to pivot all the time and be totally open to change and evolution. I used the openess in my schedule to fully dive into developing a website that would have the reach necessary to help grow my business. I also explored more wholesale and consignment relationships with stores. I began to do virtual trunk shows on Facebook as well which I found to be really fun and allowed me to still interact with people but not have to put in nearly as much time and effort as was needed for in person markets.
In the summer of 2023, I moved from the Twin Cities, my home for all of my 49 years to a very small town in the middle of the woods in northern Wisconsin. My husband and I planned this move for some time but I admit that it has been another learning opportunity for me and my business. My assistant Sam is still in the Twin Cities and I come back often for both business and family but it is very different having my base of operations in an area where nobody knows me and where none of my dream customers are located. It has given me the chance to lean even more into my online offerings and to work with Sam in getting the JNJ brand name out to more people. I’ve done a few podcasts and been interviewed for publications in the last 10 months and we have done an organic outreach to small businesses around the country to explore partnerships. The hope is that the rewards from all these efforts will be seen in the 2nd half of 2024.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I primarily work with natural, high-quality gems and stones to create bracelets, necklaces, and malas. I have added earrings to my offerings in the last couple of years and really enjoy creating them too. I create every piece myself and put a lot of care and attention into everything I do. You can buy beaded jewelry anywhere but when a person holds or wears a piece of my work, they can feel the quality of the stones used and the craftmanship and effort put into the piece. Malas have also become popular among those in the yoga community. The ones I make stand out from others because often the others will not be knotted between each stone nor are they made with the types of stones and gems I use in mine. Another thing that stands out in mine are the tassels that I source for the malas. I found a woman owned, small business on the east coast where the owner travels to India and buys the tassels from women there at fair market value. It means that the costs for my malas may be more than others due to amount of labor I put into each piece and the quality of the materials but a customer knows they are getting a mala that has had great intention put into it and was sourced with high ethical standards.
I work very hard to only do business with ethical suppliers and other small businesses in all areas of my business. Even my packaging is sourced from small companies with the least amount of impact to the environment as possible. My motto in life is “Connect & Amplify” and that’s what I try to do in all aspects of my business – from my interactions with suppliers to other jewelry designers to my customers and beyond. I want anyone who deals with me to feel that they are heard, seen, and understood. Another value we have is to be accepting of all others. There is no room for prejudice or hatred within my brand. During June of 2024, we created a Pride bracelet in honor of the LGBTQIA+ community and I donated 100% of the profits to an organization called QUEERSPACE Collective in the Twin Cities. After sending out emails and posting on social media in regard to this, we ended up losing two of our longtime customers. And while this stung, I also knew that it would never stop me from standing up for what I believe in and using JNJ as a vehicle to enact positive change in the world. That is something I am very proud of.
In regard to my malas, those are my specialty and really let my artistry shine. This year we changed the name of these pieces from “malas” to “Intention Beads”. As a cis gendered, white woman with northern European heritage, I have struggled with the ethics of using the name “mala”. I honor and revere the Buddhist religion and the heritage and people from which malas originated and feared I was culturally appropriating by using their terminology. I don’t want to take away from their beautiful culture. I have been researching all the other forms of “prayer beads” used around the world and I want to start incorporating those into our offerings as well as I develop the skills to create them. I have a prototype of a Pagan prayer bead bracelet and would like to create a version of prayer beads I’ve seen that was used perhaps by my Scandinavian ancestors. As someone who doesn’t practice any one religion, I don’t want to be pigeonholed into just one area with my jewelry. I am actually trained as a shaman and medicine woman and find my spirituality within nature and the energetic realm. I want my creations to be open and available to everyone because that is who I am as a person.
Surprisingly, the item I sell the most is my custom design bracelets. I guess there aren’t many people out there who work with customers to create truly unique beaded bracelets with specific stones and patterns that the customer requests. For me, that is one of the most fun aspects of my business because I get to know the customer and understand not only what they are wanting but WHY they want a bracelet with specific stones and/or in a specific layout. It goes back to the value we have in the business about making sure others are seen and heard. As the artist and creator of the piece, I need to truly understand what the customer is asking for and to make sure the end product is what they envisioned.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
Tenacity. That is the first word that comes to mind when faced with this question. You must have tenacity if you want to start and run your own business. I could work 24/7 and it wouldn’t even bother me because it doesn’t feel like work. Well, perhaps the bookkeeping and taxes portion of running a business feels like work but mostly everything else energizes me. I am the type of person that is always looking to learn more and get better at things so being in business for myself is perfect because things are always changing and I am always looking for new ways to get the JNJ brand out there for others to see. Plus when I get to my work bench and start creating, the whole world fades into the distance and I get lost coming up with new things and trying new ways of putting things together and growing my skill set. I don’t think you can ever stop learning and growing when you are an artist or a small business owner. Having tenacity means you determination to keep going even when you hit roadblocks. It is much easier to quit. You have to have the ability to keep going no matter what.
Pricing:
- Bracelets begin at $25
- Earrings begin at $28
- Necklaces begin at $34
- Intention Necklaces begin at $130
- Custom Designs begin at $55
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jensonnaturaljewelry.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jensonnaturaljewelry
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jensonnaturaljewelry
