LEAH L JEWELRY
With delicate detailing and classic combinations Leah L jewelry offers the perfect hint of feminine elegance for your big day.
CBG: Leah, it’s so lovely to meet you! Thank you so much for taking the time to sit down with us. We’ve been living for your new collection and are absolutely dying to know more about you, it, and how it all started. Could you tell us a bit about yourself?
L: I’m originally from China, but I’ve been living in Canada with my growing family since 2017. Prior to relocating, I worked in Marketing and Public Relations for an IT company in Beijing. I also have experience in the wellness industry, and philanthropy. The most memorable time of my professional career was helping Chinese entrepreneurs learn about global development opportunities and how to integrate philanthropy into their businesses.
CBG: That’s incredible. What a neat transition! How did you get from marketing, wellness, and philanthropy to jewelry?
L: When I left China in 2017, I moved to Vancouver where my husband and I spent five years before moving to the Niagara region; my husband's hometown. My focus for the past four years was taking care of our two children, and in 2022 I finally had the opportunity to realize my dream of launching my own jewelry brand – Leah L Jewelry.
CBG: Sensational. And what would you say sparked that dream?
L: Upon becoming a mother I knew I wanted to be there for the important formative years of my kids, but during that time I often thought about my professional career. I remember driving through downtown Vancouver, looking through the windows at all of the young professionals going about their day – I missed that lifestyle a lot. As our first born got older, I started thinking about how I’d resume my professional life. Whether it would be in the traditional sense of an office, or something more creative. Before long, we were expecting another baby and things got put on hold for a second time.
I remember browsing social media and coming across the mother of a ballerina. She handcrafted each of her daughter’s outfits before her performances and I thought to myself, what is holding me back from doing something cool like this? I started thinking back to when I was a little girl and how I’d always wanted to become a Designer. Well, this is my opportunity to make that dream come true. Even if it takes a little bit of extra effort to start and keep it going, while still fulfilling my role and duty in the family.
I want to prove that everyone could be a dreamer, and it’s never too late to start making it come true.
CBG: Never too late indeed! We love how you’re not only making your own dreams come true, but those of the incredible people everywhere who are absolutely loving your pearl based pieces! Tell us Leah, what prompted you to focus on pearls as your main material?
L: I love their natural beauty and uniqueness, you will never find two pieces exactly the same, each one of them has its own life stories, its unique shape, color and glossiness. It’s very different from industrial productions. I want to create something that's naturally beautiful, unique and desirable.
CBG: A true reflection of the beautiful and unique people that they’re for. How charming. Well we have to say you’ve really hit the mark when it comes not only to material, but to design as well. Tell us about the creation process for you.
LP: With freshwater pearls sourced in East Asia, I create unique jewelry pieces where each of them is one of a kind, including necklaces, earrings, bracelets, and rings. While I often create pieces from my own designs, I typically have clients who prefer to choose their own style as well as pearls and accessories specifically. I then work with them to customize the final pieces before handcrafting them in my home workshop.
CBG: We love how much customization is available! Such a unique offering on top of your absolutely stunning collection pieces. What would you say is the focal point that rearlly helps your pieces stand out?
L: While each piece is handmade, one of a kind, the focal point of all of my pieces is fresh water pearls. I also use a combination of 14k gold filled and 925 silver accessories, as well as a variety of other gemstones like shells, the mother of pearls, crystals and other types depending on the preferences of my customers.
CBG: So there really is something for everybody! Now when it comes to designing these various pieces, what does the designing process look like for you?
L: There isn’t a standard process that goes into designing each piece. Typically it just comes naturally, and is influenced by how I’m feeling at any given moment. For instance, the changing of the seasons from winter to spring is currently inspiring me to add a touch of green like the buds on the trees. Or when Valentine's Day was approaching, I started to use more hearts and romantic elements in the pieces I was creating.
CBG: That’s so neat! And when it comes to curating the unique pieces that you do, what’s your favourite part of the process?
L: My favourite part of the designing process is working with my customers directly to create something for them, that they’ll take with them for a long time of their lives.
CBG: Like a legacy piece!
L: Exactly. By designing a piece that is inspired through their choices, the collaboration is truly a special process for me. Sometimes knowing the stories behind the orders helps me to understand them better, and from there I can do a better job making the pieces for them. Like one time, one of my returned customers ordered a pair of earrings, I was choosing the largest size of pearls for her, but after talking with each other, I learned that she was ordering a gift for her student, so I changed the pearls to a smaller size which suites an 11-year-old girl better than the largest ones.
CBG: That’s so thoughtful. We love how it truly is a tailored approach. What about in terms of the options the customers have?
L: I always give my customers alternative options. Once the style is confirmed, I offer varieties of pearls that are similar but have mild differences in details (colors, sizes, glossiness, shapes etc.), that will give them different price options as well.
CBG: Brilliant. We can imagine each order must be so unique. Are there any standout moments or clients that really were memorable for you?
L: My most memorable moment came from my first order after launching the business. It took several days and though I was putting plenty of content online, but not getting very much interest or feedback. Then, a piano teacher from Toronto noticed my work and commented that she liked a particular piece that I created for my mother-in-law as a Christmas gift, which was not for sale back then. She asked if I could make her the same one, and I did. What was so special about it, was that she placed her trust in a brand new entrepreneur and didn’t hesitate based on my limited experience. It was a very smooth process for both of us and she was very pleased with the result, so she became a repeat customer with another order four weeks later!
CBG: Now that is a heartwarming moment! Creating these moments both for people as well as with them must be so rewarding. We can imagine another rewarding aspect is being able to decide how your source materials and and where from. Where do you typically source the beautiful pearls that you work with?
L: All of my pearls are sourced in East Asia, and they’re bred in freshwater for sustainability reasons. This practice helps meet the demand of the pearl market while protecting the ocean’s ecosystem. There is a long history of using pearls as jewelry in Asia, that we can track back to six thousand years ago.
CBG: Wow - that’s incredible!
L: Isn’t it? Asia is also known as the origin of the world's pearl jewelry culture. While 90% the world’s pearls are exported from Asia nowadays, there is also a wide variety of different types we could source from Asia.
CBG: Who knew? That’s wild. We love how knowledgable you are about such this fascinating industry. Aside from enlightening others about the origin of your pearls and the incredible variety that’s available, what else do you love about what you do?
L: There are two other parts of my process that I really enjoy. First, is seeing the idea I have for a special piece come to life. I never really know if a picture on my draft book or even just in my mind will turn out exactly as I imagined it, and there are many times when I’m pleasantly surprised by how a piece may change throughout the process of creating it. Sometimes I need to keep adjusting what I’m doing, but the time, patience and skills I put in, will return me a piece of art that people will actually say wow to. I also really enjoy the packaging process. From the airtight jewelry box I include with every order, that gives extra protection from dust, static and scratch especially while travelling, to the jewelry polish cloth, which is always included as well because I encourage my customers to clean their pieces after use, and other accessories like a soft fabric jewelry bag, I want my customers to feel like they’re opening a special gift for themselves rather than just an everyday product. I put a lot of care into the presentation of each piece.
CBG: And it certainly shows! The unboxing of your pieces is definitely a whole experience and does a great job for setting the tone of appreciation for those lucky enough to wear them!
What we love is how seamlessly you’ve really thought of absolutely every element of this.
From where you source the materials to how much thought is put into the packaging and presentation. While you might make it look easy, we know it most definitely can’t all be, so tell us, what is the most challenging part of the process?
L: Like any business, there are many challenges I am facing but there are a couple for me that have really stood out.
The first is the shipping period. As I am sourcing all the pearls from Asia, I use sea transportation rather than air transportation to control the budget, but that makes the waiting time much longer than the other. Usually I need to know in advance what type of materials I have to restock and how long I can last with my current stock if something happened with the shipment before I have a new solution. Unexpected incidents could occur due to uncontrollable factors like weather conditions, clearance process at the customs or something else. I have run into significant delays and logistical challenges during the pandemic when I first started my business.
The other challenge I’ve been navigating recently is allocating a budget for marketing purposes. Having worked in marketing myself, I’ve always been aware of the challenges, but when it’s your own business, it's difficult to decide when and where to invest in marketing, knowing that I may not see an immediate return on that investment.
CBG: That makes total sense. How useful to have the insight yourself and to be able to reflect and apply that knowledge so well. When it comes to the marketing that you do, is there a particular group or demographic of brides try to cater to? Who do you envision is the perfect bride (or just customer) to be for your pieces?
L: I don't limit the group of my customers because I believe each bride has her own uniqueness and radiance, so does any other person. That perfectly matches the idea of Leah L Jewelry - each piece is unique and beautiful in its own natural way. So there should always be a piece for any person who’s looking for something that glows with them.
CBG: So beautifully said. Any specific goals for Leah L Jewelry?
L: One of my goals with Leah L Jewelry is to bring what has always been a very traditional form of jewelry, and make it attractive for a wider array of customers regardless what stage they are in life. The bride is a perfect symbol of this because my pieces are intended to be elegant, yet modern.
CBG: The perfect combination. So it really is for anyone to enjoy!
L: When I launched the brand, I said Leah L is for those who enjoy all the unique moments we share on the journey through life; we hope to become a small part of your journey, to witness the special moments, and to help you embrace your own uniqueness along the way. With that being said, it would be an honor to have any bride choose a Leah L piece on her wedding day.
CBG: We couldn’t agree more. Thanks so much Leah for taking the time to chat with us! It was such a pleasure having you!
To discover Leah’s full collection head to Etsy and search Leah L Jewelry or click here.
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