As someone who struggles with nail-biting and is a certified worrywart, I get great use out of the many stress toys and fidget spinners scattered across my desk. I am also addicted to growing my jewelry collection with no end in sight. Needless to say, CONQUERing feels like it was designed for someone like me. Can you tell us about your inspiration for the brand, and how it feels to work with your son?
CONQUERing connects with those like you who are looking for tangible ways to manage stress, as well as jewelry enthusiasts who appreciate adding pieces that are both beautiful and meaningful. Since our jewelry is interchangeable, the hope is that those wearing our jewelry will pause each morning to consider their day ahead and decide which inspiring message, symbol, or crystal will most help support them in conquering their day – and, you guessed it, that’s where we got our name.
Creating CONQUERing has been a journey close to my heart, inspired by a personal mission to help 3 million people feel empowered in my lifetime. I wanted to craft something beautiful that serves a deeper purpose: to help individuals feel calm, focused, and inspired every day. The idea was to merge style with functionality, allowing people to carry their empowerment on their fingers as a constant reminder of their strength and intentions. And, of course, serve as a discreet fidget anytime they’re feeling stressed or anxious throughout the day.
Collaborating with my son, Jake, on this project has been an extraordinary opportunity. From the design phase to running the business, our work together has brought an extra layer of meaning to CONQUERing. It’s more than just a business; it’s a shared vision and passion that we bring to life every day. Working with Jake, seeing our ideas come to fruition, and impacting lives together have been some of the most rewarding experiences of my career.
Since my previous feature a few years back, CONQUERing has seen significant developments, including the launch of four more ring bands, three new necklaces, your first-ever bracelets and earrings, and hundreds of charms and spinners. How do you feel to have a team that has been able to innovate so quickly, with new styles launching every single week without sacrificing quality?
It has certainly been challenging to maintain this speed of innovation with our small team, but I truly believe this has been one of the biggest keys to our success. To move beyond functionality and fully into fashion, we have to keep up with changing trends and evolving customer needs. Our “SuperFans,” as we call them, have come to expect our weekly drops, hovering on our site waiting for us to load the inventory into our listings, snagging them up before we’ve even sent out emails to our list announcing the new products. They are eager to expand their collections, knowing that every piece they buy is interchangeable with the rest of their collection.
So to answer your question on how I feel, I can sum it up in one word – gratitude. I am grateful for my team because it takes our whole team to pull off this speed of innovation – from those actually creating the designs and manufacturing them all the way to the marketing/e-commerce team for keeping all the photography, product listings, social media, and marketing campaigns rolling to the back-end fulfillment team who has to keep up with (and make room for!) all the changing products. And, of course, gratitude for all our customers who want to keep growing their collections!
One particularly noteworthy milestone is CONQUERing becoming the first fidget ring with scientific evidence indicating its ability to reduce anxiety. Tell us about the significance of this achievement and how it has personally impacted your mission.
When we were contacted by the Abramowitz Anxiety Lab at UNC Chapel Hill and asked if we would be willing to have them conduct a research study on the potential of fidget rings to help reduce anxiety, it was a quick, “YES!” Considering the nearly nonexistent academic research available on the benefits of fidget rings, the study was very much needed, and we were thrilled to have our rings at the center of it.
Our rings are quite different from most other fidget rings that spin or have beads that can be slid back and forth. Our rings can spin but can also be clicked in many ways, and it is this pressure-and-release tactile experience that our customers find so soothing. We’ve been hearing from our customers that our fidget rings help them feel less anxious since the day we started, but we didn’t have proof to back it up until this study. So this study was not only groundbreaking in that it was the first study of its kind but also for us – really validating in “proving” what we already suspected.
Congratulations on being selected for Milan Jewelry Week, on being recognized as one of the “Top 3 Best in Creativity” worldwide, and on celebrating your third consecutive year on Inc. Magazine’s prestigious list of America’s fastest-growing companies. How does it feel to have achieved this well-deserved recognition?
Thank you, it’s quite a journey we’ve been on! From the outset, our mission with CONQUERing was to help people feel empowered by redefining what jewelry can be. Our rings began as a means to provide a little encouraging message and some comfort to those feeling anxious, by providing a discreet yet effective way to manage their stress through fidgeting.
While we always aimed to create stylish pieces that people would want to wear for their beauty and interchangeability as much as they enjoyed them for fidgeting, being selected for the Artistar Jewels Exhibit at Milan Jewelry Week was a moment of validation for us. Milan has been a dream platform for artists across the world, and to have our work showcased there reaffirms our belief in the dual essence of our jewelry – as both a tool for personal wellness and a statement of fashion. It underscored that jewelry can indeed marry functionality with high fashion, and be recognized for it on a global scale.
Tell us about your first-ever pop-up shop in NYC, starting April 1st. Where can we see CONQUERing in the flesh?
We are so excited! Style Hunter Milano, a company that specializes in the promotion and distribution of Fashion, Design, and Innovative companies in the US market, reached out to us after seeing us at Milan Jewelry Week and invited us to participate in their pop-up shop at the beautiful Refinery Hotel, located at 63 W 38th St in New York. CONQUERing will be in store from April 1 – May 31. Since we are sold primarily online at this time, having a physical location (even if for a short time) in one of the four fashion capitals of the world is such an exciting milestone for us.
Hot tip for Beauty News NYC readers: There will be some pieces in the pop-up shop that are not yet available online or anywhere else!
Looking ahead, what are your personal aspirations for CONQUERing in the near future, considering the brand’s rapid growth and ongoing evolution?
We have two big strategic goals this year. First, we’re looking to expand further into retail. While we’ll always be able to offer our biggest selection online, our crystal-loving customers would really love the opportunity to choose the exact crystal they’re buying, which would be possible in a retail setting. Second, we want to explore licensing opportunities. We would love to be able to offer your favorite Disney character or favorite sports team, for example. Besides expanding further into retail and exploring licensing opportunities, we plan to continue releasing new products nearly every week to meet the insatiable appetite of our loyal customers!
Learn more about CONQUERing online HERE.
