Identical twins Margaret and Ellen Hinrichs are the dynamic duo behind Geoflora Jewelry. The sisters combine their talents and training in metalwork and jewelry making to create statement adornments inspired by nature. In addition to their jewelry business, both sisters hold down full-time jobs, yet still found a spare moment to talk to us about Geoflora.
How did each of you individually become interested in crafting jewelry?
We both have an arts background cultivated by our mom from a young age. We grew up doing art classes all throughout school, as well as attending art camps. When we went off to college, we each fell in love with jewelry making.
How did each of you end up in CLT?
We’re natives! We moved back after graduating from ECU and have made it our home.
How would you describe Geoflora’s aesthetic?
We make bold, unique, statement jewelry. Our designs are wearable art at an accessible price.
How did your company begin and what made you want to start a business?
We started our business in college as an exercise in making our designs on a smaller scale. We loved selling on campus and decided to open our online shop after we had a couple pop ups under our belts.
How have the jewelry designs at Geoflora changed from when the company first opened?
We used to make enormous, sometimes not wearable statement pieces. Reminder: we were art school weirdos! We used lots of mixed media such as resin, cement, wood, and powdercoat in our initial designs. Now we use more conventional materials such as brass, sterling silver, and gemstone. Our current designs are still statement pieces but all wearable.
What is your day-to-day work like?
Every day is different for us. We both still work full time but make our business a priority. We do anything from making the jewelry; designing new collections; coordinating photo shoots, pop ups and markets; teaching through Skillpop, to answering emails.
Where do you source inspiration?
Our current collection is a return to our roots and heavily inspired by nature’s forms.
What are some of your personal favorite types of jewelry and accessories?
We both heavily gravitate towards earrings and they are always the starting points of our collections. Ellen loves to wear large hoop style earrings while Margaret prefers anything large and flashy.
What is the biggest reward in having your own business? Biggest challenge?
The biggest reward is a tie between the relationships we have with our customers and the moment we see our collections come to life. Our biggest challenge is definitely a good work-life balance.
How do you make the pieces?
We hand-make every aspect of our jewelry, cutting shapes from sheet metal, forming the metal, soldering, polishing, and setting stones. It’s a very loud and messy process but so much fun!
