Gild Collective
Think of it like girls night meets Pinterest. That’s the idea behind Gild Collective, a brand new business developed by the Brandery’s first-ever all-female founding team. Keep reading to see how this locally launched business is fostering creativity, confidence and community one super cute craft at a time.
Whether you’re an expert DIY-er, or just want something different to do for your next girls night, look no further than Gild Collective.
As CEO Jessie Deye explains: Think of it as a more creative jewelry party. You pick the project, place and friends. They provide all the supplies and instruction you need. “Instead of buying a new necklace [or home decor item], you follow step-by-step instructions to create an awesome DIY project,” she explains.
In addition to creating a one-of-a-kind piece of jewelry, women can support and encourage one another while building confidence of their own in a new creative skill. According to Deye, that support and encouragement is key to Gild Collective parties, and it’s also what inspired the business concept.
Three friends — Deye, Rachel Bauer McCreary and Kelsey Pytlik — teamed up to bring their passion for fostering creativity, confidence and community in women to fruition. Deye says the business was “an idea on a napkin” in May of this year, and it came from wanting to change up the girls night routine and bar scene to give women a new reason to get together and build each other up. In addition to solving the problem of the girls night routine, they also wanted to help those of us who have many Pinterest boards of craft projects that we’ll never actually do.
“We’re solving both of those problems with Gild Collective,” says Deye. “A fun reason to get together with your girlfriends, and an easy way to complete an awesome DIY project. It’s like the wine and paint concept, only with Gild, you’re creating an on-trend project that you’ll proudly wear or display. Oh, and we’ll come to your home, so you don’t even have to change out of your PJs.”
After they were selected to join this summer’s cohort of companies at the Brandery (as the first-ever all-female founding team!), they started moving at a quick pace and officially launched in mid-June.
The main offering from Gild Collective is parties, where party-goers design awesome craft projects from the curated project kits. One of the benefits of being a host is that your project kit is free. You also don’t have to worry about collecting any money at the party as fees are handled directly through Gild Collective’s site.
Before your party, all the project kits are delivered directly to you, and you have the option of either an in-person instructor or following along with a detailed step-by-step video and photos. In addition, Deye says, every project kit that’s available for a party can be purchased individually for you to do on your own if you’d rather tackle it alone.
When asked what it is that she enjoys most about running Gild Collective, Deye says she loves that the concept is completely their own, which helps them be 110 percent passionate about the project. “We decide how to best fulfill our mission and goals, and we are able to affect every step of our process,” she adds. “Each of us is able to work in an area we care deeply about and we’re able to celebrate each others’ strengths every day. There is nothing better than being able to love what you do.”
Deye says that Gild Collective will be releasing a new project collection this summer that they’re all three very excited about. They’re also adding more jewelry and home decor pieces.
As for the long term, they have several huge ideas that they’ll chase down eventually, but for right now, they plan to focus on the customer and perfecting user experience. “We want to nail that, and then start putting those big dreams into action,” Deye says. “Baby steps.”
To learn more about Gild Collective, visit gildcollective.com. There, you can find information on all of the projects and learn how to sign up to host a party. Deye says that for a limited time party hosts not only get their kit for free but they get Gild Credits to use toward purchasing additional project kits.
Deye and her team are also documenting their journey up on their blog where they talk about both the craft/DIY side of what they do as well as the ups and downs of being a startup. “We love our blog because it’s where we really show our individual personalities and passions,” says Deye.
Additionally, you can follow along with Gild Collective on Facebook and Instagram, where they’ll soon be hosting giveaways.
