Rachel Sherwood and Christee Nabor, founders of Bonded Bracelets, have been friends since childhood. For several years they looked for a permanent way to commemorate their friendship without the commitment of a tattoo. When their search didn’t turn up anything that fit what they wanted, the idea for Bonded Bracelets was born.
Made to last with 14-carat gold and sterling silver, Bonded jewelry is an original way to remind the wearer of someone special, a significant life event, or a commitment they’ve made. The one-of-a-kind jewelry is permanently bonded together, so there’s no clasp. Bonded Bracelets was the first permanent jewelry company in Utah and is rapidly growing worldwide.
What started as a passion project for Sherwood and Nabor quickly became a full-time business, and both women had to make sacrifices to ensure the growth and success of their company. When they started Bonded, Nabor was working a full-time job and did real estate on the side. Sherwood was busy with three children and decided to go back to school. They started by devoting only a few hours a week to their business venture to accommodate their involved lives.
“Starting small is one piece of advice I would give to all female entrepreneurs in Utah,” said Sherwood. “If you have to start by doing most of the work by hand yourself, do it! Don’t feel you have to have things professionally manufactured or outsourced immediately.”
When their business started to outgrow the duos’ limited free time, they realized that if they wanted the business to grow, Nabor would have to quit her marketing job, and Sherwood would have to spend less time at home with her kids.
“I realized that my efforts were paying off,” Nabor said.“ I decided to take a leap of faith and put all of my efforts into the business and see how big it could get,”
For Sherwood, decreasing her time at home was intimidating. “You have to have a little bit of faith in yourself and you can’t doubt,” she added, “Then you have to have faith in yourself so you can ask for help from others.”
The Bonded Bracelet founders said the one word that best describes them is dedicated. “We sacrificed a lot to dedicate ourselves to growing our business and its reputation,” Nabor said. “Building our brand has consumed our lives in ways we never knew it could, but we’re so proud of it!.”
Bonded Bracelets continues to grow and flourish with two permanent studio locations — in Kaysville and Millcreek. They also frequently set up pop-ups at markets.
Visit Bonded Bracelets and @bondedbracelets for additional information or to schedule an appointment.