| Tina Bowe, a Bremerton resident, has been making jewelry since age 8. For a long time, she designed jewelry for friends and family. More than a decade ago, she opened Kristina Marie Designs, but tabled the idea after thinking she would need to mass market her creations.
So she went back to making jewelry items as gifts — until one day she showed off some bracelets to some moms at a food bank where she regularly donated food.
“I had an epiphany,” after the women had a lot of interest in the bracelets, that maybe there is a different way to market her designs, she said.
Bowe is a full-time mom and a musician, having a flexible, home-based business complements her busy schedule.
Plus, her production is 100 percent portable, and it’s not unusual for her to be working at her friend’s house.
“Not everybody gets to have an office in the back yard,” she said. Her daughter, who will be 10 in September, and her 7-year-old son make jewelry as well. Bowe said the design process gives her energy because she feels she’s connecting with part of her purpose, using her creativity to “make beautiful pieces that people enjoy.”
She doesn’t use a specific style so she doesn’t get bored, and likes to mingle natural components, sterling silver and handmade beads into the designs.
Her husband, Todd, also runs his own business from home. Database Decisions was established in 2000. He’s worked the database- driven Web design business on the side while working in Seattle — but in July, took the plunge to go into self-employment full-time.
“We do have ‘his’ and ‘her’ space,” she said. But it’s not unusual for them to sit someplace together, each working on their own project. The couple worked more collaboratively previously. Before Tina started her design company, she did things like bookkeeping for him. Now, they have embraced separate paths.
“We let each other do our own thing, and that works well,” she said. |
