What you’ll learn in this episode:   How Jessica built her accessories business, and when she knew it was time to step away from it  What it was like growing up in a creative household with Vladimir Kagan, a leading mid-century furniture designer, and Erica Wilson, the “Crewel Queen of Needlework” How to build a #neckmess that tells a story How to make the most of Instagram, Etsy and other selling platforms Why a Victorian jewelry padlock inspired Jessica’s most recent work   About Jessica Kagan Cushman   Jessica Kagan Cushman is an independent jewelry and accessories designer who launched her career in 2004 with a line of hand-engraved ivory bracelets. Her line later expanded to necklaces, rings, earrings, and other accessories that were sold at Barneys, Bergdorf Goodman, and other high-end retailers.  Today, Jessica is known as the creator of #neckmess, a jewelry trend combining multiple necklaces, charms, and chains to tell a story. Jessica’s latest endeavor is a line of antique-inspired padlocks and connectors that serve as the building blocks of #neckmess. Additional Resources: Jessica’s Instagram Jessica’s Etsy     Transcript: Jessica Kagan Cushman is a jewelry and accessories designer who struck gold not once, but twice: first with her hand-engraved ivory bracelets decorated with sassy slogans, and then with #neckmess, a style of jewelry wearing that layers multiple necklaces, charms and chains. She joined the Jewelry Journey Podcast to talk about what it was like growing up in her exceptionally creative household; how Instagram and Etsy have helped her business thrive; and how to build the perfect #neckmess. Read the episode transcript here.    Sharon: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Jewelry Journey Podcast. This is a two-part Jewelry Journey Podcast. Please make sure you subscribe so you can hear part two as soon as it comes out later this week.    Today, my guest is Jessica Kagan Cushman. She’s a well-known jewelry and accessories designer who today may be most well-known for her development of “#neckmess.” We’ll hear all about that and the rest of her jewelry journey today. Jessica, welcome to the program.   Jessica: Thank you so much. It’s delightful to be here.   Sharon: It’s so great to have you. Tell us about your jewelry journey. It sounds like it started early and you stayed on course for the most part.   Jessica: Sort of; it was a little bit circuitous. For most of my adult life, professionally I was a management consultant, but I always had jewelry running parallel. It wasn’t until about 2007 that I was able to stop doing the horrible corporate stuff and start making jewelry and make that into my business.   Sharon: Were you always making jewelry? Were you artistic as a child?   Jessica: Yes, and I always loved it. I loved jewelry from an early age. Both of my grandmothers had fabulous jewelry collections and loved it. My mother never wore jewelry. She wore a wedding ring and occasionally she’d wear earrings if she was going out. It skipped a generation.   Sharon: Do you consider yourself artistic in other ways? Were people are always saying, “Oh, you’re going to be an artist”?   Jessica: Yes, I think so. I think partially that was an assumption people made because of my parents and what they did, but there was always that sense. My whole family is artistic for the most part. Yes, I was always creating things. That was the thing I loved to do.   Sharon: I thought there was a break with jewelry in terms of your professional career, but it sounds like the professional aspect came in the last 10 or 15 years.    Jessica: Yeah, 2007. I can’t do that kind of math in my head, but around 15 years. That’s when I started doing it full time.   Sharon: That’s about as high as I can go when it comes to math without a calculator. I was doing something yesterday and I didn’t have a calculator. It was very simple, but I thought, “Oh my God, what’s going on.” Tell us about your family. You had an interesting childhood.