WHAT SHE SAID: 5 Minutes with Jewelry Designer Valerie Madison

Valerie Madison is the owner and Creative Director of Valerie Madison Fine Jewelry. As a Black Latina designer, she brings a unique and modern perspective to the traditional fine jewelry landscape. In 2009, Valerie started making jewelry as a hobby and selling it at local farmer’s markets. By 2014, she officially launched turned her side hustle into a full-time gig and jumped in with both feet. Today, Valerie Madison operates a storefront in Seattle’s Madrona neighborhood and manages a growing e-commerce business that continues to surprise and delight its growing community of customers.

Since launching her brand, Valerie has been featured by a variety of national media outlets including The Zoe Report, Vogue, Refinery 29, and National Jeweler. Earlier this year Elle magazine named her as one of the jewelry designers to “watch in 2022”. And it’s clear that Valerie Madison is just getting started.

We recently caught up with the designer to learn more about her fashion journey and how she keeps herself organized as she continues to grow her brand.

How did you get your start?

I started making jewelry as a hobby, selling my pieces as a means of recouping costs and being able to purchase fun and fancy tools that allowed my technique to improve and my range of designs expanded. I didn't have a plan, I just had fun but eventually, I realized there was potential to grow something big.

FUN FACT: Valerie has a degree in environmental science and originally wanted to be a marine biologist.

What do you wish you knew when you got started?

I wish I understood the value of hiring sooner versus doing everything myself. For a long time I thought that I could do everything myself, for cheaper, but everything costs something and it took me a while to realize that costs are sometimes much more than monetary.

What do you think customers would be surprised to know about Valerie Madison (the company)?

That there are 12 of us, all women, working here at VM. That we have no investors. That we have bootstrapped our entire journey thus far.

What are your favorite personal productivity tools to use for business?

We use ClickUp which has been really great for project management in small (or large) teams. It has made sure that we are on the same page which can be a challenge when you have many people involved.

Early bird or night owl?

Sometimes both, unfortunately.

What are you reading right now?

Burnout by Emily and Amelia Nagoski

If you could share one bit of advice for a new business owner, what would it be?

Oprah once said, "I believe luck is preparation meeting opportunity. If you hadn't been prepared when the opportunity came along, you wouldn't have been 'lucky.'" For so long I considered myself lucky and that it just came down to my timing being good. But, I have to give myself more credit and equate it more to being prepared and open for those opportunities to have happened in the first place.

Valerie was featured on stage at the What She Said Women in Fashion Event at W Bellevue on October 13th. Check out more information about that event here.