A self-proclaimed art history nerd, Rachel Albright immersed herself in Pre-Columbian and Spanish Colonialism while studying abroad in Peru. But when she was accepted to graduate school to do a deeper dive into the subject, she turned the opportunity down…and she’s not entirely sure why. “At the time, I didn’t really know what I was doing,” she recalls.

Instead of pursuing what she thought was her passion, she kept on making jewelry—a hobby she’d been at for years. She was more or less forced to take her work (which she describes as “big and weird”) seriously when her creations caught the attention of Need Supply Co., the way-cool Richmond, Virginia, retailer that now employs her as a copy editor and blogger. The first big steps toward going pro were giving the thing a name—Academy Jewelry—logging phone orders, and reveling in the speed at which she found a following. As she says, “The internet is a crazy place!” One of her early admirers: an Anthropologie buyer who discovered her on a blog and ended up placing a huge order. “It completely took over my life for a few months,” Rachel says. “I didn’t sleep for four or five weeks, I think!” But, then, her alternative grad-program path would have required pulling plenty of all-nighters, too. —olivia seely

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