BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT:Local duo goes for it

Newport Beach residents Jude Steele and Frances Gadbois went for it. They started their own jewelry company on a shoestring and they’ve seen explosive growth since its inception.

And now they’ve put out their own book. “Just Go For It” chronicles their successes and missteps as the pair embarked on their journey toward success selling pavé and semi-precious jewelry.

The JudeFrances company is an entrepreneur’s dream. Each woman initially invested only $4,500 into the venture and in their first season were told by buyers they were too late. So they sold to their friends, picking up about $450,000 along the way, which funded their designs for the following year when they were more in tune with the nature of the business. In their second year they raked in more than $2 million and this year they expect to hit $8 million.

“We felt like there was a missing link in the jewelry business,” Steele said. “A lot of designers do good work, but it can cost anywhere from $7,000 to $20,000 for one piece.”

It was hard for a woman to be able to purchase a piece on her own, Gadbois said.

So they set out to make a high-end jewelry line that is more affordable. After putting the kids back in school in September, the women started to pitch their line to buyers, who largely told them they were too late in the season — buyers start collecting for the holiday season during summer. Neiman Marcus did become one of their first accounts, which became a major calling card for the pair. Suddenly, buyers and stores were contacting Steele and Gadbois for their designs.

More recently, Oprah Winfrey has become a fan, mentioning the jewelry to the press and regularly wearing it on her show, Steele said.

JudeFrances’ biggest sellers are charm hoop earrings. The company sells a variety of hoop sizes and the customer can choose from more than 350 charms — ranging from casual to more dressed-up pieces — that can hang from the hoops. The company’s pieces run from in the hundreds of dollars to about $2,000. JudeFrances is also starting a bridal line with engagement rings after receiving so many requests for it, Steele said.

Steele and Gadbois often stray from the traditional, using lots of color and wrapping their stones with others, which means they put diamonds on top of another stone, something most designers won’t do, they said.

After many of their friends quipped that the two should write a book about their adventures traveling around the country showing their jewelry, the two found a ghost writer to help them tell their stories, including a trip to Las Vegas that had the two women in the middle of the airport, late for a flight and jewelry sprawled out across the floor as they searched for airline tickets and identification .

“Usually you’re supposed to be discreet because you’re traveling with thousands of dollars worth of jewelry,” Gadbois said. “We had it all over the floor.”

They ended up being the last ones to make it on the flight after a few other snafus.

But the pair has come a long way and want to share their entrepreneurial spirit with others. The book’s message is obvious, but they have other suggestions for start-ups.

“Find a good partner,” Gadbois said. “It’s much easier to do something with two rather than one. Someone will be up while the other’s down and it’s mentally easier to do anything.”

The jewelry can be found in stores nationwide. For more information, visit www.judefrances.com.