Metro roundup: Best friends’ handmade jewelry business booming
Within nine months of starting an Etsy store, Vestavia Hills residents Abbey Kaldi and JoAnna Feldewerth have built a jewelry business that’s growing fast in and around the Birmingham area.
Kaldi Kollective is an online business that sells handmade clay earrings and hair accessories. After becoming friends through their husbands two years ago, Kaldi pitched the idea to start their “side hustle.”
“She invited me over, we started making new shapes and colors, and next thing we knew, we were shaking hands and giggling with excitement as we decided to make this thing official and go get our business license,” Feldewerth said.
The best friends both have full-time jobs outside of the Etsy store, with Kaldi working as a pharmacist and Feldewerth as a compliance officer at a real estate agency. On top of their day jobs, each plays a role in the success of Kaldi Kollective beyond creating as much product as they can at their kitchen tables.
“A majority of our business is a joint effort split between the two of us,” Kaldi said. “I run our online sales through our Etsy shop and JoAnna does in-person marketing by reaching out to local businesses to pursue wholesale and event opportunities.”
The process to make each creation takes several days. After conditioning the clay to get the texture right, they roll it out, sometimes adding in patterns. Each piece is hand cut, and some earrings can have nine pieces of clay attached. Before baking, they quality control check each clay piece to make sure they’re up to standard. After assembling the earrings, they add in an earring post or hair clip and let it dry for at least 24 hours.
“Once they are done, they go on a card, get priced on the back, and then either organized by color for upcoming markets, or uploaded to Etsy to sell,” Feldewerth said. “It is a long process, so we aren’t kidding when we say each piece is handmade with love.”
If you visit Kaldi Kollective on Instagram, it’s likely you’ll see the company feature women wearing their products from all over the South and beyond. The support online and in-person means so much to the pair who spend their free time doing this, they said.
“Some of the sweetest moments I have experienced in this business happen when a returning customer comes to one of our events, is wearing our earrings already, and starts telling the other shoppers at our booth why they should buy our goods,” Kaldi said. “It has brought me to tears seeing that kind of support, and I am so grateful for that.”
That support is what keeps the duo creating and striving to empower their customers and followers. Their phrase “babes support babes” rings true in their spring collection that launched in March. Each piece is named after a special woman in their lives.
While the team is keeping their plans for the future under wraps, Feldewerth hinted at new products besides the earrings and hair accessories the business is known for.
To view their products, visit Alabama Goods in Homewood, various craft or lifestyle events around town or on Etsy at etsy.com/shop/KaldiKollective.