SilverChicks is owned and operated by Mom-preneurs, Valissa McGuffee and Catie Dupont. They quickly turned their creative juices into a profitable business while maintaining their dream to support the community, both locally and internationally.
What started as a little eBay business bloomed each month into something a little more exciting and interesting. Valissa and Catie never thought they would sell their jewelry when they created SilverChicks is 2002, it was a way to sell, and justify purchasing, the quality Sterling Silver findings and crystals they were buying to make jewelry with for fun – now look what happened.
It started small with some boutiques in Texas carrying SilverChicks and then a temporary move for Catie to Africa, which opened the door to antique trade beads and Kazuri ceramic beads from Kenya. Catie spent the year sending Valissa cryptic messages and small samplings of what she was finding while Valissa kept the creative juices flowing working on the SilverChicks ridiculously fun baby line of jewelry.
In 2004 when Catie returned to the U.S. with her African finds she and Valissa made an agreement to “Go for it!” and they haven’t looked back since! SilverChicks launched new lines using the fabulous vintage, antique and free trade finds from Africa and succeeded in placing their products on Amazon. At the same time Valissa and Catie invited a select group of Artisans to sell their wares on SilverChicks, with the hope of creating a supportive and inspiring community.
Catie returned from Africa with the idea of doing whatever she could to help the people of Ethiopia, and with little convincing Valissa jumped on board and since then they have used SilverChicks as a base of support for a number of non-profits working to improve the quality of life for those less fortunate in East Africa, to include EthiopiaReads.org, Hope for Children and Trees for Ethiopia.
Residing in two different geographic areas of the U.S. and juggling the lifestyles of busy moms has added tremendously to the depth of what SilverChicks has to offer.
Additionally, they continue to travel back and forth to East Africa bringing home interesting jewelry components and pieces of history with them with which to create.
Both Valissa and Catie are inspired and encouraged by the people they meet in their daily activities and learn so much from their life experiences that they then bring to their creative designs.
Valissa and Catie feel blessed to be able to work in a way that gives them pleasure and satisfaction and hope that you enjoy SilverChicks as much as they do!
Website: http://www.silverchicks.com
Thursday, January 29, 2009
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