The Women Who Shaped
Colleen Mauer Designs

Long before Colleen Mauer Designs existed, I was surrounded by women who taught me how to work hard, trust my instincts, take care of people and keep moving forward even when the path wasn’t obvious. Some were family. Some were bosses and mentors. Others came into my life through the jobs, places and experiences that eventually led me here.

Looking back, I can see how much of CMD was shaped by those women long before I ever made my first piece of jewelry. Their influence shows up in the way I work, the way I lead, the way I design and the kind of business I’ve tried to build.

The Women I Come From

My Gram, Agnes Higgins, was one of the standout figures in our family. She raised 14 children, built a life around service to other people and somehow seemed to have enough energy left to keep showing up for generations of children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She lived to be 103, and her belief in staying busy and doing for others has stayed with me long after her passing.

My mom, Maureen, shaped me in a different but equally powerful way. She raised three children as a single mother while working in education, went back to graduate school in her 40s and eventually became a vice principal and then a principal. I watched her work incredibly hard, change direction when she wanted more for herself and continue showing up for all three of us through it all.

I’ve written more about both of these women separately, in Ode to My Mom and the Woman Who Shaped Me and The Jewelry I Designed with Gram in Mind, because there really is no way to tell the story of who I am without talking about the women who helped shape me.

A Born Hustler

My childhood wasn’t the easiest and we didn’t have much, but looking back, I can see how much that shaped my relationship with work. I wanted independence early. At 12, I was already begging my mom to let me get a job because I wanted to earn my own money and make sure no one had to worry about me.

By 14, I was working at Pitti Bimi in Deal, New Jersey, a store run by a woman named Helen. She noticed that I was organized, loved my handwriting and trusted me with all sorts of little details, from handwritten tags to steaming clothes, folding merchandise and wrapping gifts in glossy white paper with enormous satin bows. I loved the intricacies of the work and the feeling of being useful.

That combination of work ethic, curiosity and wanting to take care of things for other people never really left me.

Learning Under Strong Female Leaders

As I got older, I found myself working under a number of women who led with confidence, intelligence and their own very distinct point of view. In San Francisco, I worked at Zuni Café under Judy Rodgers and at Greens Restaurant, long associated with chef Annie Somerville.

Those jobs taught me a lot about hospitality, standards, attention to detail and creating an experience that feels thoughtful from beginning to end. I didn’t know then that I would eventually apply so much of that thinking to jewelry, client appointments and the way CMD interacts with the people who find us.

Building a Business in My Own Way

When I eventually started Colleen Mauer Designs, I didn’t have some perfectly mapped-out plan for what the business would become. I knew I wanted to make jewelry, build something of my own and create work that felt deeply connected to the way I saw the world.

Over time, CMD became a small women-led business with a team that has played an enormous role in helping the company grow, evolve and keep moving. The exact roles and faces may shift over the years, which is why you can always meet the current CMD team here, but the spirit of collaboration, resourcefulness and mutual support has remained a constant part of how we work.

The Influence Continues

I think we absorb more from the women around us than we always realize in the moment. Sometimes it’s courage. Sometimes it’s work ethic, humor, resilience, creativity or the ability to keep going when life gets complicated. Years later, those lessons show up in the choices we make, the businesses we build and the way we treat the people around us.

CMD may carry my name, but it has never been shaped by me alone. It is part of a much longer story of women who taught me what strength can look like in all of its different forms.

I’m incredibly grateful to be one link in that chain.

With gratitude,
Colleen

© Colleen Mauer Designs. All rights reserved.
Published: March 5, 2025
Updated: August 25, 2026