Amy Maurer Creel - Smart Mom Jewellery
Amy Maurer Creel has suffered panic attacks from childhood - but here she is along with her business partner Kendra LaDuca getting on with business.
Smart Mom Jewellery came about by two gals being observant.
I started suffering from panic attacks when I was only 7 years old. For decades, it completely ruled my life. Every decision I made was through the prism of my disorder. I never thought "Do I WANT to do X?" Only, "CAN I do X?" And most of the time, I would tell myself no. I felt the limitations of my diminished life every single day. It was truly soul-crushing. There were days I could not walk more than one block from my house because I was too terrified. Days I could not stand in line at the grocery store. My world became smaller and smaller with each passing year.
My friend, Kendra LaDuca, approached me about a business idea in 2002. She knew I had a marketing background so wanted to get my thoughts on whether or not I believed it could work.
Kendra and I both noticed that as new Moms we didn't wear any jewelry (since our babies would only grab it, break it, bite it, etc) And we noticed none of our Mom friends did either. I did think it was a good idea in the beginning (although I did not realize it would take
off in the way it has) . Part of me desperately wanted to do it - the other part of me knew it was impossible. So, I hung around the edges of the decision for ages, never fully committing myself but not wanting to close the door completely. The business stalled in neutral.
In December 2005, my sister-in-law, Maria, suddenly collapsed and died 8 days after giving birth to my niece. She had just turned 40 - a year older than I was at the time.
The experience was indescribably jolting. I found myself thinking, "What kind of life am I living? Is this what I want for myself, to be cowering in the corner every day?" By contrast, Maria had always wanted to be a clothing designer so when she was in her 20s, she moved to NYC, not knowing a single person, found a job as a sales associate at an Eileen Fisher store
- and worked nights and weekends for 10 years until finally being promoted to the design department. She went after her dream.
Inspired, I decided to make the Smart Mom business work. Not as simple as it sounds, of course. The hardest part of the process was getting the product made. Because it was completely new, we had to start from scratch. And without any knowledge of product design or development, we were on a very steep learning curve. We had no idea where to begin. It was a lengthy process of trial and error (mainly error in the beginning!) I began intensive cognitive behavioral therapy, started taking medication, created an exercise and diet routine to support my new efforts, cried a lot.... Found myself realizing there are 2 main choices in life. Embrace it or run from it.
Then there was the financial factor. We had to come up with $60k for product development. Kendra had some of the money we needed - I had to come up with the rest. That definitely added to the stress and anxiety. This was money I was taking away from my family funds. So, it was very scary indeed. In addition, we had to ensure the safety of the products so there was extensive lab testing involved, too.
We then suffered a major set-back soon after launching the product. We got a HUGE custom order only to discover the company had created bogus purchase orders (it's a long story! And we're involved in a lawsuit now), after everything has been completed. It was disastrous and almost sunk the business. The stress was intense - those were some very dark days. But we
persevered and have really done a good job moving things forward.
So, I've embraced it. And that's not to say I don't still stumble, don't still have panic attacks, don't still question myself. It's not been a straight line of recovery. 2 steps forward, 1 step back. But I am like a chicken who cannot get back into the egg.
Ever forward from now on.
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