The Beginning
From the start, Marcia Maizel-Clarke, Dogeared’s Founder, Owner & all around Creative Force was intuitively capturing special moments and turning them into something more. Although it wasn’t a clear path to creating Dogeared, moments of her childhood forged a powerful idea of connection and it was something that would stick with her.
“Some of my earliest and fondest memories involved jewelry,” she recalled and “as a girl, my grandfather owned a pawnshop in downtown Las Vegas, near the Golden Nugget. We would go there, look around and try stuff on. This was Vegas in the olden days, so there were some treasures! Such great exposure to so many unique things, the memories I have of that time make me smile.”
After graduating from UC Santa Barbara, working as a retail buyer at a major department store and then working in wholesale, she developed an understanding of what women want to wear and what makes an unforgettable gift. Marcia began making accessories as a creative outlet and started selling handcrafted designs at local flea markets.
Making The Connection
“It was never just about jewelry,” she notes and adds, “for me, Dogeared stems from the meaning behind the jewelry. A lot of times you’re writing a card for a gift and you can’t figure out what to say…Dogeared is all about giving people a voice.”
Marcia believes jewelry has a significant role in peoples’ lives. She says its “shown up in my life in many ways. From the age of 13 to Sweet Sixteen and my first boyfriend…you get what I’m saying. It’s that connection and those pieces – they’ve helped create my story.”
Make A Wish
One of Dogeared’s first and still most successful collections was based on a wish concept. Marcia and Merlin, her husband, had gone back and forth about this idea, where the charm is made to eventually fall off of its silk necklace. The meaning behind it is that when it does fall off, your wish should come true. They didn’t know if people would buy jewelry that wasn’t meant to last forever, but decided to try it! Marcia believes that “ultimately, it’s been a success because it has the power of belief behind it. When you make a wish, you’re putting your energy towards something… to have that as a reminder is really powerful.”
The Next Beginning
“So, as you can tell,” Marcia laughs. “I’ve always believed in this stuff. I think everything has meaning and energy.” This is the core of her creative process. Marcia elaborates, ”Your journey will unwind and unfold to you, but the key is forward motion. After 23 years, I still believe good things happen.”
