Rachel Weber & Traci Adams Our People, Their Stories

If you had told us four years ago that our crafting hobby would become a successful jewelry business sold in nine stores across the state, we never would have believed it. In fact, if you had told us that we would become such close friends, we probably wouldn’t have believed that either.

Rachel: In November of 2020, we had been running a 24-hour childcare facility for months and were starting to feel the burnout from pouring into everyone else’s cups but our own. Traci came in to work one morning and shared a hat she knit over the weekend; it was so cute, so I asked her to teach me how to knit. She told me, “It’s easy, you’ll learn quickly” – it was not easy. But it did help us discover our shared love for working with our hands and crafting. We eventually found jewelry making to be a way to make sure our own cups were full, so we could continue bringing our best selves to work during the pandemic.

Traci: The first year we were making earrings, we set up a booth at a few craft shows and made for our friends and family, but it was still mainly a hobby. We kept expanding by opening an Etsy store, launching a website and selling to local businesses and coffee shops. After a year, we decided to officially become business partners and watched our hobby become Twig & Rue Boutique, LLC.

Rachel: Growing into a business has been a surreal experience. Earlier this year, I was at a Valentine’s dance at my daughter’s school, and I passed by a woman wearing a pair of our earrings. I had to stop and introduce myself. She was so sweet, telling me, “They’re my favorite pair!” People also come up to our booth at craft shows saying they’ve been looking for us – we’ve kind of built a fan base!

Traci: I think one of the greatest parts of starting this business together has been showing our daughters that women are strong and can do anything. We work together well, build each other up and hold each other accountable. We also do our best to give back to other passionate women – nearly all our materials come from small, woman-owned businesses. I hope our daughters are inspired by us channeling our creativity and turning it into something bigger.

Rachel: I wouldn’t want to be in business with anyone else. When we first met nearly six years ago at the Meriter Children’s Center, we never imagined becoming business partners. I’m a little messier and spicy and Traci is more thoughtful and organized, but we bring out the best in each other.

Traci: Especially from a business standpoint, we tend to balance each other out – Rachel creates looks books and handles finances and I do the photography and manage our Etsy site. Some relationships might not be able to survive becoming business partners, but we have a special friendship; we’ve been there for each other through some really difficult times, and we’ve only come out stronger.

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Rachel Weber, Child Care Center Manager and Traci Adams, Child Care Center Supervisor, share their experience channeling COVID-19 burnout into a successful jewelry business in Our People, Their Stories. Read other team member stories at Our People, Their Stories.

Find Twig and Rue Boutique on Facebook and Instagram @Twig & Rue Boutique .