All that glitters
Jerika Henderson turns jewelry making hobby into a sparkling business success
Jerika Henderson has turned a passionate hobby into fulltime work and couldn’t be happier.
The 24-year-old from
Truro runs Jerika’s Jemz – a jewelry making business she operates from her home that specializes in handmade bracelets, necklaces, and resin earrings.
“I’ve been making jewelry ever since I was a little girl,” says Jerika, who grew up in Bridgewater. “As long as I can remember I was always doing something with my hands, making jewelry, just like little gifts for family and friends.”
Jerika has lived in Truro for about two years with her husband Alex. She worked at a local grocery store while continuing to craft on the side before taking her hobby to a business level about six months ago.
“Last year I kind of worked at it a bit more and then I kind of realized, ‘yeah, I could turn this into a business,’” she says.
“My husband really wanted me to pursue my dreams of being an entrepreneur because that was always my dream my whole life … so he definitely encouraged me to take the plunge.”
Jerika says her love for making jewelry came as a young girl when she would visit retail stores with her mom.
“And I would look at all the jewelry and I’d go, ‘oh that is so nice.’ But then my mom wouldn’t buy it for me and I’d be disappointed. But then I’d be like, ‘you know what, I’m gonna make it myself.’ So I’d go home and I’d scrounge up my old costume jewelry that I had and I’d be taking it apart trying to make new jewelry and repurposing stuff, so definitely, that’s where a lot of that came from.”
Her creativity came to the forefront at about the time her older sister, Cherakee, attended the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD University) in Halifax.
“We’d just sit down at the kitchen table and do some painting or whatever she was working on for school and I’d just do that with her.”
Jerika sells her creations on Etsy and at the Truro Farmers’ Market.
“I’ve definitely been getting a lot of support from local people here in town and I have some frequent customers down home in Bridgewater that have always been buying stuff from me since the beginning and lots of people here since the beginning, so overall, a lot of support,” she says.
Most of Jerika’s resin earrings include plenty of sparkle “because I’m obsessed with glitter, so there has to be lots of glitter,” she laughs.
“I find people are really intrigued with the resin earrings,” she adds. “They’re like, ‘what is that material, did you make that yourself?’ They just are in awe about it because it’s just peculiar; you don’t really see resin too much, so people are really attracted to it because the sparkles really draw them in.”
Her natural stone bracelets are also popular with those who stop by her vendor table at the market.
Jerika’s other hobbies include gardening, bicycling, and spoiling her cat, Nikka.
“I’ve definitely been getting a lot of support from local people here in town and I have some frequent customers down home in Bridgewater that have always been buying stuff from me since the beginning and lots of people here since the beginning, so overall, a lot of support.”
Jerika Henderson