A Hobby Becomes a Business

I am the founder and CEO of my own company, Dayna Designs. We design and manufacture sterling silver and natural gemstone jewelry. I started the company while finishing my MBA at the University of Maryland's Smith School of Business, where I was on the entrepreneurship track. I had expected to take over the family business, but after much deliberation, I decided to start my own company instead.

I love jewelry and had taken up jewelry-making as a hobby. Following a warm reception to my designs by family and friends, I realized the hobby could be a business and began Dayna Designs in April, 2004, with DAYNA, a designer division of boutique jewelry for professional women.

After presenting the business in one of my MBA classes, I was approached by several peers requesting terrapin jewelry to commemorate their time at Maryland. I developed a line—including necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and rings—using natural stones like red coral and onyx to celebrate the university's red and black colors, and sterling silver turtle charms to honor Testudo, the university's mascot. Not only did my friends love their jewelry, but the college and alumni stores loved the line as well. The Dayna U collegiate mascot jewelry division was born!

Here's what a typical work day looks like for me:

8:00 a.m.—Since our offices are in my home in Beltsville, Md., I wake up at 8 and am "at the office" by 9. Each employee who works for me sets his/her own schedule, so several employees are already at their desks and working when I'm just getting up.

9:00 a.m.—The first item on the agenda is to say good morning to my team of four here at HQ. Then I hop on e-mail to see if any orders have come in overnight or if our employee out in L.A. has written any news.

9:30 a.m.—Today I have a sales call with the Alumni Association at the University of Maryland, one of our very first wholesale customers for the collegiate mascot jewelry division. I spend the next hour preparing a packet of information that includes their past sales, samples of our current line of Terrapins Jewelry, and new promotional marketing materials we've developed since their previous annual order in July, 2005...

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