While many industries were getting hit hard during the 2020 pandemic, a few lucky ones reaped the benefits of people working from home and attending Zoom meetings. Co-Owner and CEO, MJ Carlson, partially attributes its success because so many were buying jewelry to uplevel their sweatpants game at home during Zoom meetings.
The company’s success, however, can be attributed to so much more than that. Each piece of jewelry is handmade at its Hoboken office, using high-quality metals and materials at attainable prices. Several known fashion influencers, such as Melissa Wood, and local, Caitlyn Warakomski, have been seen rocking many of Electric Pick’s designs, further enhancing the company’s popularity and reputation. Read on to learn more about local jewelry company, Electric Picks, and to take a behind the scenes look inside where the magic happens at their Hoboken office.
About Electric Picks
{Photo credit: @electricpicks}
Co-Owner and CEO, MJ Carlson, always had an entrepreneurial spirit from an early age. As a young girl in the 90s, MJ would make friendship bracelets for her friends and started taking orders at school. Flash forward 20 years, MJ started an event planning company in Miami.
“I thought it was my dream job,” MJ explained. “But then one night I had this super vivid dream about jewelry. In the dream, I punched holes in a guitar pic, and made a bracelet with the guitar pick and beads.”
From then on, a fire was lit inside MJ. She started watching YouTube videos and taught herself how to make jewelry. She continued to do this while running her event company, but slowly, she found herself spending more of her time doing jewelry. MJ eventually moved to New York, started taking night classes at FIT, and in 2011, Electric Picks was founded. Now MJ lives in Jersey City Heights and opened her Hoboken location of Electric Picks in June of 2020.
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{Photo credit: @electricpicks}
Chantel, MJ’s business partner, and best friend was a part of Electric Picks from the beginning. The two met through mutual friends while in Miami. “She would help with the design, and was always involved, so after about a year and a half, she came to me and wanted to be a part of it,” MJ explains.
Now, the two entrepreneurs run their companies from opposite sides of the country. Chantel is the creative director and lives in LA, while MJ runs the business with her small team from Hoboken and NYC. “It is incredibly important to us to be locally made here in the US,” MJ explains.
The Jewelry
The Electric Picks assortment includes necklaces, cast vintage coins, earrings, bracelets, and anklets. All of the gold pieces are either gold-filled, gold-plated, or gold vermeil, and those that are plated are coated five times the average level. Electric Picks also has a lifetime guarantee on its jewelry, to ensure ultimate satisfaction.
Quality and customer service are MJ and Chantel’s top priority. The team also works with a metalsmith in New York City to make many of the metals and chains which are then sent to the Hoboken Studio. Each piece of jewelry is hand-assembled, packed, and shipped from Hoboken.
At Electric Picks, it’s not just another gold chain. MJ and Chantel love sourcing vintage coins from shops and flea markets around the world, then casting them for the necklaces. The two best friends built the brand with the idea that jewelry holds stories, and lives our experiences with us.
Each piece is curated with thought and crafted with love. With each piece of cast vintage jewelry, a special paper tag is included that explains the story behind the coin, what century it is from, where it has traveled, and what it symbolizes.
Prices for necklaces range from $68 to $198. Bracelets and anklets are $58 to $218, and earrings are $58 to $98.
Where to Shop Electric Picks
{Photo credit: @electricpicks}
Customers can find more information and shop online at Electric Picks on the website www.electricpicks.com. Locals can also shop Electric Picks in person at Brooke and Bel, and Drip Studio.
