Fam， can I tell you a story?

Hi fam,

In 2017 my family was getting evicted, but there was only one thing on my mind - making sure my mom was going to be okay.

I was a senior in High School and had no idea what the future was going to look like.

But ever since I was a kid, I knew I wanted to do something creative like be an actor, artist, or designer.

When I was 6, I begged my mom and she drove me hours to acting auditions because I wanted to be on Disney Channel.

Fast forward back to 2017 and shi** was hitting the fan.

My parents were going through severe issues.

My dad, who was my role model growing up, left our house for a year. Our rent didn't get paid for 14 months and we had to move.

I was 17 during this time and I just got my license back from being suspended.

Feeling desperate, I shamefully asked my grandma to lend me \\$2000 for a car.

She trusted me and lent me the money. I was so grateful to have this opportunity to start fresh on a new path.

It didn’t last long though.

Two months later, a truck ran into my driver's side and totaled my new car.

While I was concussed, an officer came and told me to move the car out of the road.

I asked him “How? The car is completely crushed.”

He told me to just figure it out.

Lunch had recently ended and all my classmates watched as I called my dad for support - he didn’t pick up.

I felt so alone.

Thankfully, my best friend Nick left his school to come pick me up.

I was embarrassed to go back to school, ashamed to tell my grandma the car was totaled, and still felt a deep pit in my stomach knowing my family’s situation wasn’t any better.

After 2 weeks of laying in bed and being depressed, I realized that being sorry for myself wasn't going to help me.

While this felt like rock bottom, something shifted inside of me.

I used to care what people thought about me, but now that I’ve been through what felt like the worst, nothing could phase me.

So I began doing what I could to support myself and my family.

I started asking my brother to drive me to thrift stores so I could find and sell vintage stuff on eBay during computer class and lunch.

I was able to make enough to pay my grandma back.

But while doing this, I knew I had the potential for something more creative.

I stopped hanging out with the social crowds and started hanging out with friends who were also hungry and wanted to be successful.

One day a friend showed me this popular website that was selling a bunch of soft jewelry. At first I didn’t care, until he showed me how much they were selling it for and how many units they sold.

My life changed after this moment. It ignited a fire inside of me that still hasn’t extinguished.\xa0

I realized that the jewelry world was filled with uncreative, unoriginal, and low quality standards.

It felt like the curtain was raised and exposed an industry that lacked soul. I saw this as my opportunity to innovate and create a new standard of good jewelry.

I found out that it doesn’t take a lot to make high quality jewelry, it just takes some time, care, and attention to detail.

Which I guess most people in the industry, to this day, still don't put in. But we do…

After 6 months, I had my first custom piece and started an Instagram with the name Hard Jewelry.

I chose this name quickly because I just wanted people to know what we sold: jewelry that was hard (the opposite of soft jewelry).

It was a bold name, but I knew we had the confidence to back it up.\xa0

My brother and my best friend Nick saw the vision of what Hard Jewelry could become, and quit their jobs to help make it come true.

We quickly became a small business that created content and fulfilled orders out of the basement, having fun every step of the way.

During this time (2018) my family was now fully evicted.

I was making just enough money to stay at my uncle's house and support my mom and 4 year old sister.

Unfortunately, my mother was still struggling and 1 year later she tragically passed away.

I was there when the paramedics came and this became the worst day of my life.

After this, I was completely broken and felt like I was never going to experience happiness again.

My mom was our #1 supporter and my best friend.

If you've ever lost a loved one you know exactly how lost I was.

It feels like you're in a nightmare you can't wake up from.

Through all of this pain and suffering, there was only one thing that made me want to keep going:

Knowing that she’d want me to follow my dreams and NEVER quit.

Hard Jewelry quickly became my creative outlet to express emotions, explore ideas, and bring the community together.

Anytime I'd feel inspired, happy, sad, or confused, I'd let the community know and I'd try to help others going through the same things.

Doing this was like therapy and it genuinely saved my life.

Our supporters witnessed everything via our IG stories, successes and failures, and I let them know about my mom's passing.

The people saw that we weren't perfect, but appreciated that we were always real.

Through all these years, our jewelry has always been a symbol of confidence and originality.

I truly believe our jewelry can change your life.

Whether it’s a big or small difference, I know it works.

Thousands of people just like you have DM’d me saying our jewelry has made them so much more confident, and they now feel like they're a part of a community.\xa0

I want you to know that if you find the right group of people and a good reason to change the world…

You can.

Love,\xa0

Will CEO/Media Guy
Hard Jewelry, Inc.
hardjewelry.com