The Second Interview

Hello everyone!

I hope you all had a wonderful, safe holiday season and New Year. If you feel anything like me, this year has been unbelievably tiring; so, I was in desperate need of my mom’s cooking and some relaxation!

I am back this week with a very exciting blog post - a second interview! I had the opportunity to ask Nano Anderson Swetman some questions about her unique, customizable jewelry line - Cuffed by Nano.

I have always been a huge fan of Nano and Cuffed by Nano. In fact, my senior year of college, I had the opportunity to listen to Nano speak about herself, her journey and Cuffed through an event put on by Wake Forest’s beauty and lifestyle organization, WFU Style - of which I was the President my junior year! She is absolutely amazing - a true girl boss - not to mention she’s got a seriously aesthetic Instagram account - @cuffedbynano.

Go ahead and read this interview, shop the jewelry and feel absolutely inspired! I know I will!

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your journey with Cuffed by Nano.

I started Cuffed in 2016 as a side hustle while working a corporate 9-5 in Retail. It was a creative outlet for me and I didn’t start it with the intention of taking it full time, but as it evolved I did just that!

What is your position/title at Cuffed? What does a day in your life look like (pre-quarantine and/or during quarantine)?

CEO + Founder! We are still a very small team (3 full time and 2 part time), so while we all focus on certain things, I still wear a lot of hats! My main responsibilities are Design, Strategy, Overall Brand / Customer Experience, and Customer Service. Everyday looks almost completely different but typically involves coffee, time planning out calendar + strategy, customer service, reviewing analytics, and other miscellaneous tasks!

How would you describe Cuffed’s brand ethos - its personality?

Positive, fun, socially conscious, and nice!

How does Cuffed view and treat sustainability?

Over the past two years, sustainability has been a guiding focus for us. We make decisions from design to materials to packaging with sustainability top of mind. I believe, in 2021, sustainability is not an option for brands. It’s not a ‘bonus’ if a brand focuses on sustainability, it’s a requirement. That being said, it’s important to acknowledge that we are not perfectly sustainable and that we are constantly working toward becoming a better version of ourselves for the future of our planet!

How does sustainability factor into a jewelry company? What defines a sustainable piece of jewelry?

From a product standpoint, we focus on working with our manufacturing partners to make sure we’re using recycled metals to create our pieces. From an operations standpoint, we offset the carbon footprint of our shipments by investing in carbon reducing projects through a non profit called Cool Effect, which has been a really cool initiative to implement over the past year. We also focus on using recycled + recyclable packaging, and recycling scrap metal at our headquarters.

What is something that you hope to see happen in the sustainable jewelry space?

Not specific to jewelry, but I hope we see a shift in shopping mindsets away from fast fashion / overbuying and toward investing in quality pieces in the clothing, jewelry, and home decor spaces.

What is your favorite thing about Cuffed by Nano?

I love having something that I created from scratch and that is completely in my own control.

If you could give one piece of advice to aspiring independent business owners, what would you say and why?

Success doesn’t happen over night - it’s a million small decisions and efforts that add up over time. Be patient, work hard, and don’t get discouraged!

If you could only pick one item to purchase from Cuffed, what would you pick and why?

14k Signet Ring - it’s so timeless, solid gold so it lasts forever, and is such a cool piece to pass down to a child or grandchild <3

I hope that you felt inspired by this interview - it was such a joy to get to speak with Nano.

I seriously enjoyed learning about what it means to incorporate sustainability into a jewelry business. As Nano said, in today’s times, it is not an added bonus for companies to factor in sustainability - it is an absolute necessity.

Nano - thank you so much for taking time out of your unbelievably busy schedule to give “Is Green the New Black” readers some insight into you, your life and your business. I truly, truly appreciate your kindness!

Bye for now,

McGee