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Twenty years ago, I was in my mid-twenties, fueled by intense creativity and a healthy dose of blind ambition. I was a young, courageous gal with a hammer, a torch, and a dream. I had no roadmap, no investors, and no idea where this path would take me. What I did have was grit, curiosity, and an unstoppable urge to create.
Two decades later, CMD has grown from my tiny Hayes Valley apartment into a small-but-mighty jewelry business with a team I love, a community I treasure, and designs that still light me up at the bench.
As CMD turned 20, I found myself reflecting on what those years taught me about jewelry and adornment, creativity, running a small business, working with people, and figuring things out as you go. These are 20 of the lessons I’ve carried with me along the way.
CMD was born in a tiny Hayes Valley apartment with a regular desk and some very basic tools. You don’t need a perfect plan, a beautiful studio, or fancy equipment to begin. Sometimes finding the courage to start with what you have is the hardest and most important part.
I’ve said it before: I’d rather make fewer pieces at a higher level of quality than compromise. Incredible craftsmanship, thoughtful design, and integrity matter more to me than cutting corners or making something faster simply because we can.
Whether it’s our tight-knit team, our customers, the makers we work alongside, or the mentors and friends who have shaped me, this business has always been built on relationships. The jewelry matters tremendously to me, but the people are what have made twenty years of doing this meaningful.
My best ideas rarely come when I’m sitting down and “trying” to have one. They inconveniently show up in the shower, on a walk, while cooking dinner, or in the middle of doing something completely unrelated. Inspiration has a wild mind of its own, and I’ve learned to listen when it shows up.
We are four women (and one pup) running CMD across three states. Respect, trust, communication, and shared values make a small team incredibly powerful. We each bring something different to the table, and after all these years, that has become one of CMD’s greatest strengths.
From heirloom redesigns and Reconstruction projects to milestone stacks, jewelry carries memory, meaning, and connection. I’ve watched pieces become markers of marriages, losses, reinventions, birthdays, new chapters, and ordinary days that eventually become memories. That human connection is a huge part of why I still feel so called to this work.
Our annual Metal Madness Sale taught me that customers often love the quirks I once thought were flaws. Handmade objects carry evidence of the people and processes behind them. I’ve learned that perfection isn't nearly as interesting as character.
Hard work matters, and anyone who has built a small business knows there are seasons when you have to dig very deep. But intention matters, too. I want the energy behind what we make to come from creativity, care, and excitement about the work, not from running ourselves into the ground.
Some of CMD’s best systems, ideas, solutions, and creative decisions have come from Ary, Sam, or Kelsey. I’ve learned that leading doesn’t mean having all the answers. It means surrounding yourself with smart, talented people, trusting what they bring to the table, and creating room for everyone to contribute.
Twenty years later, I still believe in making the most of what we have. Rising gold prices have pushed us to think creatively about remnants and offcuts, something I wrote more about in Let’s Get Scrappy. Limitations can be frustrating, but they can also push you toward solutions you might never have considered otherwise.
A handwritten note, a belly rub for Miglia, a long conversation during an appointment, or one of the many hugs I’ve been known to give out often matters more than getting every tiny thing exactly right. People remember how you made them feel. I certainly remember how so many of you have made me feel over the years.
Moving our production to Upstate New York, relocating from San Francisco to Asbury Park, navigating the pandemic, and evolving the business again and again have all asked me to let go of what was familiar. Change can be terrifying, but resisting it doesn't stop it from happening. Learning how to move with it has kept CMD growing.
Every order, every person who walks through our door, every lovely message, every successful new design, and every new customer who discovers us matters. Twenty years can sound enormous when you look backward, but a business is built one ordinary day at a time. The small wins eventually become the story.
CMD is women-owned and women-run, but this business has also been held up by family, friends, mentors, fellow makers, customers, and an extraordinary community that has continued to show up for us. I wrote about that idea when I created It Takes a Village, and I believe it even more now. Very little worth building is truly built alone.
Using our metal thoughtfully, recycling precious materials whenever possible, sourcing responsibly, and making jewelry intended to live with you for years are not side notes to how we work. They’re part of the foundation. As our business has grown, I’ve become even more aware of the responsibility that comes with making physical objects in the world.
I’ve written notes to customers who became friends, danced with clients at concerts, celebrated marriages and birthdays, and cried during conversations about memorial jewelry and the people behind it. I don't know how to separate the personal part from the business part entirely, and after twenty years, I don't think I want to. The relationships are part of the work.
Slow mornings, tub soaks, walks with Miglia, gardening, and trips out west give my brain somewhere else to go. I haven't always been particularly good at putting things down, but I've learned that creativity needs space. Rest isn't separate from making good work; sometimes it's what allows the good work to happen.
From customers who push me toward an unexpected custom idea to team members who see a better way of doing something, I’ve learned to see thoughtful feedback as collaboration rather than criticism. You don't have to take every suggestion, but you do have to remain curious enough to listen. Some of CMD's best changes have started with someone asking, “What if we tried this instead?”
From moving across the country to taking creative risks, making difficult business decisions, and changing course when something no longer felt right, intuition has been one of my most reliable guides. Twenty years of experience has given me more information to work with, but it hasn't replaced that internal compass. If anything, I've learned to trust it more.
Even after twenty years, I still get that kid-on-Christmas-morning spark when I dream up a new design, watch a customer light up while trying on a stack, or see a sketch become something tangible at the bench. The business has changed enormously, and so have I, but that feeling is still there. I think that's how I know I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be.
Two decades in, I still felt like CMD was just getting started. Looking back at this list now, that may be one of the biggest lessons of all. There is always another idea to chase, another problem to solve, another person to meet, another piece to make, and another version of this business waiting to reveal itself.
I’m endlessly grateful for the lessons, the people, and the pieces that brought us here. Thank you, truly, for being part of this story.
Here’s to whatever comes next.
xo,
Colleen
© Colleen Mauer Designs. All rights reserved.
Published: September 15, 2025
Updated: August 26, 2026
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