How Four Jewelry Designers Cultivated Their Home Based Businesses
Business Name: Peace Images
Founder: Camille Peace
Former Day Job: Women’s Shelter Administrator
Wares: Earrings, Bracelets, Body Chains, Hair Accessories
Price Range: $10-$125
Business Fact: Approximately 40 percent of Peace Images sales come from Facebook.
Advice to Aspiring Entrepreneurs:
“Trust yourself. Whatever you make, trust that people will like it. Keep working no matter what. It’s about momentum.”
Like Sarah Elliot, Camille Peace’s entrepreneurial journey also began at Walmart of all places. In the spring of 2008, while still living in the Midwest, Peace bought a jewelry kit to repair some of her favorite pieces that had fallen apart over the years. She felt empowered by the idea of reclaiming the jewelry she loved and pretty soon she began making her own accessories.
Peace’s pieces are far from ordinary. She has body chains that sumptuously drape the shoulder just so, earrings that feature long colorful feathers and big chunky agate rings that sparkle in the sun. “I get inspiration from lots of places,” Peace explained. “Sometimes it’s a song. Sometimes it’s what I’m reading. I’ve been reading a lot of Malcolm x speeches lately so that’s influenced some of my pieces.” Many of the items offered by Peace Images contain symbols of the African Diaspora such as a ring shaped like Africa and earrings with dangling ankhs.
For about a year and a half, Peace kept a day job at a women’s shelter while selling jewelry in her free time. After relocating to Los Angeles with her fiancé at the end of 2009, Peace began working on her passion full time. “I wasn’t raised in an artistic family, so I’m really learning as I go. This is the first time in my life that I’m running my own business and setting my own hours,” said the 30-year-old, who typically wakes up at 8 a.m. and works for 16 to 17 hours per day.
Peace comes up with about 20 new designs every month and has her work available for sale at boutiques and galleries in Los Angeles and St. Louis in addition to her website. She plans on making something special for herself on her big day, but in the meantime, she enjoys making one of a kind items for other brides.
