Erica Wiener Fly Earrings, $25

Was there a eureka moment when you realized it had become your career?
It was probably this one big order we got from Anthropologie. They were sending scouts out into the craft world and picking up big orders from small designers. They placed an order over $100,000 and considering I had an empty bank account, it was huge. Suddenly, it was real, and everything from that moment on was all about meeting deadlines and making the jewelry.

At what point did you start to build a staff?
Every year that I’ve been in business I think I’ve added one staff member. The first year it was Lindsay. She was basically my drinking buddy in 2004, and she had just graduated school and was working in a bar and wasn’t sure what to do with her life. Then that Anthropologie order came in, and I was like, “Hey can you help me? I can teach you how to make a necklace and pay you in beer.” Here we are a couple years later.

What’s the process of making the jewelry like?
It’s all made by hand right here in New York. Sending things abroad just scares us a bit; there’s a major process you have to go through with factory owners that just doesn’t appeal, and I didn’t want to do that. But also, we design stuff that is purposely simple and quick. This also allows us to keep prices pretty low.

How much do you follow fashion and trends?
I absorb it, but don’t really research it. I don’t know when fashion week is anymore. The girls who work with me are so stylish. I guess I follow this small subculture of women who dress for themselves. I see the way fashion trends trickle down based on what people are wearing on the streets or what’s in the shops. Sometimes I’ll design something that I think is completely out of nowhere, but some of my peers do the same thing at the same time. It happens a couple of times a year, so there must be something in the air.