Lauren Neal doesn't want to help women feel cool. She wants to help them feel strong.
"Personally and in my business, I'm not concerned with trends," says the Minneapolis-based jewelry designer. "My designs are about making women feel powerful in what they choose to do."
Neal made her own strong choice a decade ago when she swapped out a career in social work to become a jewelry designer. She'd always been interested in the creative arts.
"I took a lot of after-work classes, from sewing to candlemaking to guitar," says Neal. When she signed up for a jewelry repair and maintenance class at Minneapolis Community and Technical College, she expected it to be just another diversion. "The class wasn't even about jewelry design," she says. "It was to teach people to repair jewelry so they could go work for Kay or something." But a design class was being taught in the back of the studio and "I couldn't pay attention [to my class] at all because I became fascinated by that process."
Within a week, Neal had ditched her day job and enrolled in MCTC's full-time jewelry design program — a surprising decision for an avowed ruminator. "I toiled over my college career for years, and I graduated later than others because I'd think things over for weeks and months," says Neal. "But this decision just felt right, so I went for it. It was very uncharacteristic of me."
During school, Neal worked as a waitress to pay the bills and spent all her free time in the studio making jewelry for herself. She never planned to start her own business, but the universe conspired against her. "My customers at the restaurant would buy jewelry off my body," says Neal.
The rest happened organically. It was 2008-2009, right at the beginning of the makers movement and shop owners were eager to showcase local artisans in their stores.
As the business took off, she branded the line Carrier Pigeon. But as her aesthetic evolved she wanted a name that could evolve with it, and Neal was born. (Also, as her designs hit stores on the East and West coasts, she discovered that a lot of people don't like pigeons.)
Today, she's influenced by nature, architecture, and art — specifically female furniture designers, like Florence Knoll. "My jewelry is modern yet organic, bold but also nuanced," says Neal. "I want women to feel like 'this is a ring made by a person whose values align with mine and I can feel good about that.' "
