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While I may have started AGJ out of the dining room of my Santa Monica apartment over a decade ago, the business has grown vastly since then. I quickly set up shop in downtown LA where the company was able to expand while staying just a stone's throw from our amazing artisan jewelers that help us make AGJ.
But what you may not know is that when I was 8 months pregnant with my second child in 2017, my family and I moved up to the Bay Area for my husband's work, and to be closer to his family.
I thought I could make it work—and do it all. And I did. For almost 5 years. The AGJ team remained in LA and I traveled back and forth, sometimes twice in one week, and more than 35 times in a year, all with brand new baby Mia by my side.
It was a lot.
Then Covid hit and I didn't visit my LA studio for almost 2 years! All that time gave me space to reflect and I realized I had to make some changes. I struggled with the idea of "letting go of my LA identity" but I took a big exhale and internalized that it was within my power to shift a situation that wasn't sustainable for me or for the business.
So I took a leap and relocated the whole AGJ team to Berkeley. I found an amazing building and partnered with architect Anthony Roxas and Woznak Construction to build out the studio and showroom of my dreams.
Don't worry, the majority of our pieces are still made in LA by our same team of jewelers. So we remain made with love in California, true to our LA roots alongside our new studio in Berkeley.
The finished product: Pinch me!
LA has always been such a big pillar of the brand—and part of both my and AGJ's identity—but I needed (and the company needed me) to be closer to my team and a big move would allow just that. So we endeavored to close up the LA office on Hill Street we'd called home for almost 15 years and pack up two trucks to bring AGJ up north.
Starting to clear out our old offices.
It took a village, literally.
And TWO massive moving trucks.
Peace out, L.A. Thanks for the memories😢.
Here I am with the squad the day I got the keys (on my 38th birthday no less)! Please note the heinous / enormous saw blade left behind that we somehow had to remove.
And man, there was oh so much to do.
Side by side with my architect and contractor, we were able to collaboratively create something I absolutely love. The space feels so personal. It's a visual extension of me and the brand and it seems to embody all of the potential I see for AGJ and where I see it growing.
In process...
Not my kind of chaingle.
Thriving.
One of my favorite elements of the customized space, these gorgeous Fireclay Tiles (made in collaboration with my fave LA sisters / doyennes of cool Blockshop). More on these special tiles soon.
Because we gutted the building, we were able to completely customize the interiors to suit exactly what we were looking for, including the happiest "Bunny Nose Pink" painted jewel box of an office for me with scallop millwork (complete with custom art by my girl Sally King Benedict), gorgeous tile in the kitchen and both bathrooms courtesy of Fireclay Tile, light fixtures, and work stations.
I'm also thrilled to now have the space to finally add an in-house jeweler to the team (our cramped DTLA offices never had enough space).
Celebratory pizza party when we moved in as one does!
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Architecture: Anthony Roxas
General Contractor: Woznak Construction
Interior Design: Me
Professional Photographs: Margaret Austin Photography
Prop Styling: Mikhael Romain
