Check Out Carissa Martinez and Annaliese Kosmicki’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Carissa Martinez and Annaliese Kosmicki.

Hi Carissa and Annaliese, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
We met 2 years ago at our neighborhood pool while our girls were in swim lessons. We became fast friends, connecting on house projects, DIY, and motherhood. We have both had multiple small businesses, from selling baby bows and SVG files on Etsy to earring-making and mid-century plant stands. When a friend recommended we do permanent jewelry, we jumped at the opportunity.

What a great way to be creative and do what we love, but also get to connect with amazing people and small business owners weekly. We saw a need in the area to provide chain options of all different price ranges and worked hard to source great chains from a variety of wholesalers. After a few weeks of long days and late nights, we had our business up and running.

We practiced welding on everything from bananas to our reluctant spouses, to amazing neighbors and friends. When we were finally confident enough to go out into the world we started with some fun private parties and before we knew it we had our first big pop-up event.

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
We have been extremely blessed and supported by our community, which has made growing our business a joy. As stay-at-home moms, one of our major struggles is balancing work and home life. Our schedules are always changing, and we end up working a lot of nights.

We have both left our families with tears in our eyes, but love getting to be out in the world connecting with all kinds of amazing businesses and people, and wearing multiple hats. We have also struggled with social media – it is an area neither of us loves but is also a great platform to share what we do and connect with customers and other businesses.

We have learned that our favorite method of growth is face-to-face and word of mouth.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
We specialize in permanent jewelry. Customers pick from our wide (and always growing – we can’t help ourselves) selection of chains, we custom fit the chain to their liking, and weld it on for a seamless, clasp, and fuss-free look! We do bracelets, anklets, necklaces, rings, and even joke about toe rings. We are natural creators, and always looking for new things to add to our collective.

We make high-quality gold beaded bracelets that can be customized with fun words and phrases. Additionally, we just recently launched our earring collection, where we use leftover chains, that would otherwise go unused, to make beautiful one-of-a-kind earrings. We aren’t stopping there- we have such fun dreams and ideas to continue to grow the collective!

Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
The beautiful thing about being a business without a brick-and-mortar is that we rely on other amazing businesses to collaborate with. We are hosted mostly by local, woman-owned businesses. They have all had a large influence on us as business owners. When we first started, we felt anxious about contacting businesses – Would they want to work with us? Would they turn us down? Were we good enough? We received a text message alert from one of our favorite stores, Due South/Brew in Lafayette, about their Brew anniversary party.

It was always a goal to partner with them so we shot them an Instagram message, and the celebratory dance that followed when they responded they would love to have us was LOUD! It was our first pop-up and made it clear we were on the right path! We will forever be grateful to those first businesses (Due South – Lafayette, Lottie Lane -Erie, Flower Wild – Longmont/Boulder, and Eleanor & Hobbs – Louisville) for welcoming us into their spaces. They are run by amazing women who continue to inspire us and push us to be innovative and grow the collective.

Pricing:

• Enamel Bracelets: $30
• 14 K Gold Filled/Sterling Silver/Stainless Steel Bracelets: $30 – $60
• 14K Solid White and Yellow Gold Bracelets: $100 – $210

Contact Info:

• Website: www.alpinecollective.us
• Instagram: @alpinecollectivecolorado
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089769098870
• Other: https://linktr.ee/alpinecollective

Image Credits
Kelly Doctor, Randy Yeats Photography, and McCamey Photography