VIVA NOLA November 2019

Jewelry quickly became a subject
of contention for a young Cali, who
struggled with the frequent travel that
was a necessity to sustain the business.
“I grew up not wanting to be involved at
all with my family’s business,” muses Cali.
“I resented the business because they
were gone so much, and I didn’t want to
be involved in something that took them
away from me.”
It wasn’t until hurricane Katrina that
things began to shift for Cali. The
business, like many others in the city,
suffered significant losses. Cali’s parents
had sent her away to live with close
friends while they attempted to rebuild.
“I was 15 at the time,” remembers Cali. “I
was so unhappy being so far away from
them, I wanted to help with
the rebuilding process after
Katrina. I essentially begged
them to let me come back. I
would do anything to help.
So, they let me come back
and they put me to work.”
She started working at the store by
sweeping and doing entry-level tasks.
Then her mother started teaching her
to make jewelry. “It was at that point
that I realized the creative aspect of the
business. [Working at the store] went
from being an obligation to appreciating
and understanding how I could contribute
creatively to the business.”
Cali still remembers her first experience
watching one of her designs come to life.
“When I was in high school, I entered an
art competition and created a design of a
fleur de lis with a heart in the middle held
together by two hands, one black and one
white. After Katrina, I really felt a sense of
community, and this piece represented
that for me… My parents had it made into
jewelry and I didn’t know until I walked
into the store one day and saw it.” Cali
shares that the piece will be added to her
own collection in the store this December,
in honor of the store opening.
Seeing people buy that piece and
watching their reaction to something she
Viva NOLA Magazine - Page 19
created made a lasting impression on
Cali. “That just completely changed my
whole life.” Cali developed a vision of what
she could do with jewelry made from her
own designs, a vision that her parents
did not agree with for their business.
She branched out on her own shortly
thereafter.
Today, the very thing she resented as a
child has become one of the things she
is most passionate about. “When you’re
wearing a piece of jewelry, I want it to
remind you of why you’re wearing it,”
she says. “I don’t see it as an accessory,
I see it as an expression of who you are
or something that means something to
you.” Cali doesn’t limit herself to jewelry,
though. She’s constantly looking for ways
to grow the brand, whether through
community partnerships like her breast
cancer awareness campaign with Casting
For Recovery, or through new product
development. “I’m starting to explore
other areas outside of jewelry. I have a
new line of voodoo dolls and I want to
start making handbags, wallets, jewelry
cases, and some other things.”
Her passion for community won’t take a
back seat, either. “[One day, I would like
to] start offering entrepreneurship classes
to women in villages in Latin America to
help them learn to use social media to sell
their goods and help grow their business.
I want to educate and empower.”
Emotional and spiritual healing are
priorities for Cali, especially when it came
to building her store. She credits much
of the project’s success to the help she
received from her parents. “Them helping
me with all of this really made up for all
of the baggage that I felt occurred as a
result of them not understanding my
vision. All of those nights crying because I
felt so misunderstood by my parents. This
project literally helped my family heal.
Business is what created the clash, but
this business also helped us heal.”
Her favorite piece in the store? She
couldn’t possibly choose one. She points
to a necklace she made
herself with watermelon
tourmaline stones and her
Queen of Hearts pendant.
--A one of a kind piece,
something she’s never
going to make again--. She
says these are the pieces she treasures
the most. “I go in my studio. I have my
music on. I do my meditation before I
start. I have my diffuser on, and I have the
dogs next to me, by my feet. And I’m just
in a really good place whenever I make
jewelry. You have to be, because I believe
in energy healing. Someone is going to
be wearing this, so I need to be in a good
place [spiritually] when I’m making it.”
As she hugs me goodbye, I realize that she
doesn’t give herself enough credit. She
takes the same approach in life as much
as in jewelry.