For jewelry designer Niki Leist (pictured), the birth of her daughter taught her how to become a happier version of herself as an artist.
Leist, a Philadelphia-based independent jeweler, had her daughter in 2021—the same year she quit her role as a corporate project manager. This risk has brought great reward: Leist was recently named a finalist for the 2024 Halstead Grant, a designation she says shows how much her business has grown alongside her creative work.
Leist uses jewelry and its precious materials to tell stories—her own and her clients’.
“Jewelry is a beautiful way to tell both a family’s story and an individual’s story,” she says. “It can be a familiar story, the handing down of pieces from generation to generation, sometimes being remade, but always being cherished by the current wearer. It can be part of a ceremony, marking a special time or memory for the wearer, and that also is part of the wearer’s journey. I’m honored that as a jeweler and maker, I get to be a tiny part of that story.”
Leist grew up in Lopatcong, N.J., where her father was a car salesman and her mother was initially a stay-at-home mom and later a secretary for a developmental center. While Leist was in middle school, her father began coordinating a yearly music festival, and their home became a place for touring musicians to sleep and hang out.
“I got a glimpse of a different kind of life, and I got to see people being creative and working on their crafts,” says Leist.
She took a few jewelry classes in high school, learning to cut and set stones and work with sterling silver, and later graduated from Arcadia University in 2010 with a concentration in painting. Jewelry remained a hobby, but employment to pay off her student debt had to be the priority. A series of jobs, from travel wholesale to software testing to receptionist, followed.
In 2014, Leist took a position in customer service and ended up managing a group of people. She was surprised by how much she enjoyed that work, coming up with systems and procedures. In 2017, she moved into a new career in recruiting, and then project management, for a pediatric therapeutic services company.
“I helped plan events, was part of their marketing team, coordinated webinars, and handled their social media,” she says. “Within my corporate experience, I was exposed to marketing, strategizing, and recruiting processes.… I learned how to build a team, manage employees, and refine processes and policies. All of this knowledge is incredibly valuable when running my own business.”
Leist eventually switched to being an independent contractor for the company where she’d been working. Her goal was to start her own business and family, and her daughter arrived, bringing all of the exhaustion and overwhelming feelings that come with parenthood.
“Becoming a parent forced me to prioritize,” Leist says. “I stayed home with my daughter while doing project management contract work for a company I wasn’t happy with, and that made me miserable. I wanted to commit my work life to something that I felt pride in and brought me joy.”
Her daughter was about 6 months old when Leist applied to and was awarded a spot in NextFab Artisan Accelerator, a program that helped her set up her jewelry business. She also received assistance from Temple University’s Small Business Development Center in creating Niki Leist Jewelry.
Leist’s jewelry features lost-wax casting and keum-boo techniques. She typically hand-carves pieces in wax and then casts them in sterling silver. Inspired by how water and wind change the landscape around them as well as flowing architecture, Leist gives her jewelry movement through its shapes and finishes.
In 2023, Leist was honored with Pennsylvania’s Creative Entrepreneur Accelerator Program Grant. Her pieces are available in boutiques and shops nationwide, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art Store.
“I love meeting with clients, learning about them, and helping them bring their vision of the perfect piece of jewelry to fruition,” Leist says.
(Photos courtesy of Niki Leist)
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