LoveToKnow recently had the pleasure of interviewing one of Hope Paige Designs' founders, Shelly Fisher, about their jewelry for charity. Hope Paige Designs is one of the nation's leading awareness jewelry and fashionable medical alert bracelet designers. Each piece of jewelry has an awareness message and purchases proceeds go to specific charities.
Hope Paige Design first started as a breast cancer awareness jewelry designer in 2003, which quickly expanded to create jewelry for other causes. The company founders and designers, Shelly "Hope" Fisher and Lisa "Paige" Hobyak, work with charitable organizations to design both custom pieces and awareness jewelry lines. The company strives to design fashionable jewelry for charity in a variety of styles for all ages. Hope Paige Designs currently offers eight lines of awareness jewelry which includes Hershey's Licensed Jewelry, Medical Emergency Bracelets, Make a Wish Foundation, Ronald McDonald House, Juvenile Diabetes Awareness, Child Safety Bracelets, Young Survival Coalition and Sports ID Bracelets.
Jewelry for Charity: Hope Paige Designs Interview
LoveToKnow (LTK): What is the founding story of Hope Paige Designs?
Fisher: Hope Paige Designs started as a hobby that grew into a company. We both loved making jewelry and made our first piece of jewelry as a gift for Lisa's mother, a breast cancer survivor. Lisa's mother and her friends loved the bracelet so much that we realized that many illness survivors and their loved ones would appreciate awareness jewelry. We then founded Hope Paige Designs, designed breast cancer awareness jewelry and sold it online.
Over the past six years, we grew to include contemporary medical alert bracelets and awareness jewelry for a number of other causes. Today we design jewelry that supports a number of charities including The Make A Wish Foundation, Ronald McDonald House Charities and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
LTK: How did the jewelry for charity vision expand beyond the original breast cancer awareness line?
Fisher: We realized that our awareness jewelry inspired illness survivors and their loved ones. We started partnering with other charities to offer more options to support a cause through jewelry.
LTK: Please describe your current awareness jewelry lines.
Fisher: We currently do custom manufacturing for Ronald McDonald Houses across the country. We custom design what they need, for example if they need a pin or item for a specific house event. We manufacture to support Juvenile Diabetes awareness and research along with breast cancer. We also are the licensed direct to charity jeweler for The Make A Wish Foundation.
LTK: How does Hope Paige Designs work with charitable organizations to spread awareness for a cause? What types of organizations do you work with?
Fisher: We work with all kinds of charities. We can custom design an item for any charity. We do not charge any design fees or creative fees that are normally charged. For the national charities we also offer consignment. We keep a large inventory in house and as they have special events we will send them merchandise to sell. They pay us low cost wholesale and then sell the items for retail. This gives the charity the biggest donation possible without any cost except manpower. We are the only corporation that offers this service to charities. We also have been told over and over that we offer the best prices and quality for charities.
LTK: Your medical alert jewelry provides a fashionable alternative to traditional utilitarian medical alert bracelets. How did Hope Paige Designs start designing medical alert jewelry?
Fisher: The idea for designing medical alert bracelets began when a friend's teenage daughter would not wear her traditional, clunky medical bracelet. This was not good because going without a medical alert bracelet could possibly endanger her life. Our friend asked us if we could design a fashionable medical alert bracelet that her daughter could wear without embarrassment. We designed a stylish medical bracelet that she now proudly wears.
We now design, manufacture and sell a line of fashionable medical alert bracelets that can be worn by any one of any age who does not like traditional medical bracelets.
LTK: Your Cure Diabetes Child Charm is the most popular awareness symbol for the fight against juvenile diabetes. How did the charm become a universal symbol?
Fisher: The Cure Diabetes Child Charm came about from a meeting at the Philadelphia Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation offices a number of years ago. It was discussed that at the time there were no "cheerful and uplifting" awareness items. The need was to create a logo/pin that when worn it would not only make the owner enjoy wearing it, but it would be noticed and remembered. The bright colors and crystal accents were done on purpose to accentuate children and hope. Since that time the popularity has soared and a mascot of the child charm has been created. This mascot has been worn at a number of walks and special events around the country.
LTK: Do you both design the jewelry? What inspires the designs of your jewelry?
Fisher: Lisa and I both design the jewelry along with input from others in our company. We try to come up with things that are different and make people feel good. We listen particularly to the young people when it comes to creating medical bracelets. We want those styles to reflect something they actually like to wear.
We don't go with the common trends as they move through the industry. For example, I promise you there will never be a skull head design coming out of our offices.
We were the first company that Hershey allowed to put a design on the face of the Hershey Kiss. That move allowed us to create the Hershey Fun line, a very popular new line of ours. One of those kisses, the Pink Ribbon Kiss benefits the Young Survival Coalition Charity.
LTK: What are the future plans for Hope Paige Designs?
Fisher: Right now we are coming out with virtual jewelry applications for the iPhone, Facebook, My Space and Bebo. We hope the future success from these cutting edge models will be able to be utilized by many of the charities we service.
LTK: Where can customers purchase Hope Paige jewelry?
Fisher: Hope Paige Designs' products can be purchased online at their website along with other online stores and various retail specialty stores across the country.
LoveToKnow would like to thank Shelly Fisher for the interview. We wish Hope Paige Designs much success in their future endeavors.
