REBECCA GRUBER (continuation)

If there are any challenges to Rebecca’s jewelry business, it’s making money, just like other businesses. She is aware that the market is saturated and many people like to dabble in this type of business. So according to her, she needs to have an edge, be different from what other people are trying to do and try to find a different angle. She achieves this with her use of vintage materials and by doing customized pieces. If someone brings a piece to her that belonged to their grandmother, she can rework it but it will still have the components that will make the person feel good about wearing her grandmother’s piece. You will truly feel special that you are wearing a one-of-a-kind jewelry that nobody else has. For women with a particular sense of style, a Rebecca Gruber design may be exactly what you want - wearing the one and only piece created just for you.

The recent highlights of Rebecca’s career as a jeweler are quite remarkable. She designed the jewelry that Canada’s top model, wore at the Pink Bedroom Event (gala for breast cancer) at the Liberty Grand on October 12, 2007. High Strung Designs was also featured among the ‘15 Top Shops’ of Where Magazine’s May and June 2007 issue. Rebecca also had the great honor of working with one of Canada’s famous award winning designers, Pat McDonagh, during the ‘Iceberg Collection’ at the L’Oreal Fashion Week produced by the Fashion Design Council in Canada where some of her jewelry designs were featured. This was held in March 15, 2007 at the Liberty Grand Entertainment Complex in Toronto during the 40th Anniversary Fall 2007 Iceberg Collection.

Right now, Rebecca is getting a lot help from the Toronto Fashion Incubator (TFI) (www.fashionincubator.com) a non-profit organization that helps new designers in the fashion world break into different markets. She invites others who may be interested in the fashion industry to consider membership to TFI. They help with getting contacts and learning how to promote themselves as designers. The membership is very reasonable and according to her, what you will get is amazing.  In fact, she got the Canada’s next top model fashion event through a tip from TFI. They have a library where you will find fashion forecasts for the next year and they help with marketing and promoting your business. Currently, Rebecca is trying to decide how to expand her business. Now that she has a name in the market, people go to her home for custom orders.  She also does trunk shows three times a year. She plans to get a publicist that will go out and sell her jewelry, get into trade shows and promote her business. She is also thinking to continue what she’s doing now, that is, to build up her retail clientele. Her designs can be found at two shops, The Blue Dot Gallery at the Distillery Historic District at 55 Mill St. Building 47 and at Maxine’s, Hazelton Lanes, 87 Avenue Road in Yorkville. These are both high-end shops, which is very good for her business to get exposure to the right clientele that will help the business. 

With everything going on in her life and career, I asked Rebecca how she copes. She says that her husband helps a lot. He has a more stable working environment, which she said is very helpful. Her children are older too. What she likes about her jewelry business is that she can work from home. She wants to be there for the children when they come home from school. She may be working at her workshop but she is there for them when they need her. It makes it a lot easier to have older kids as you don’t have to be physically there all the time, unlike when you have younger kids. One more thing that she really had to say is that because they are Jewish, they observe the Sabbath day, which is a Saturday, where they do absolutely no work. This day is specially set for family and friends. In their religion, they are forced to stop and rest on a Saturday but they are grateful for it. She thinks this makes a huge difference; otherwise, they’ll just be going all the time.  There has to be that element of spirituality and that helps a lot. What’s nice about the Saturday is that the pace is completely different. Another thing that she may have found as a ‘culture shock’ was the very fast pace of life here. If people could go on for 24 hours a day without sleep, they could and nothing ever stops. Now that she’s older, she lives for the Sabbath day and looks forward to it every time.

From a notable woman such as Rebecca, she gives her words of advice for someone who may want to endeavor to do what she does. For any business, she said the most important thing is passion and commitment. Once you’re committed, things can happen. You have to want it, you have to believe in it, and you have to be committed to trying. You have to plan carefully, know what kind of money you have to put in and when you can expect return on your investment. You have to be very realistic, but it has to be a combination of both passion and realism. She recalls what someone said to her, a businessperson, and she quotes, “if you are going to be in business for yourself, you will work just as hard whether you’re successful or not successful, so you might as well set your goal to become very successful.” She said there is no point in saying, ‘if I do okay, that’s enough for me.” If you’re working just as hard, you may as well say you want to be very successful. There’s no doubt these words can apply to all of us, whether it is your own career or your own business.

If you would like to see more of Rebecca’s designs, visit her website at www.highstrungdesigns.com. You may just find something you want for yourself, or perhaps to give someone as a holiday gift.

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