February 18, 2025 • 53 mins
Ep #68:
Jewelry, Tech & Authenticity with Helen with the Gold Teeth
Summary of the episode
Helen with the Gold Teeth is here!
Y’all, this episode is a treat. Helen Harris, aka Helen with the Gold Teeth, shares her incredible journey from engineering to luxury jewelry, proving that sometimes, the best career moves are the unexpected ones.
We dive into her philosophy on accessible luxury, the personal storytelling behind her work, and how she’s redefining what high-end jewelry can be—especially for Black and LGBTQ+ communities.
Helen’s pieces aren’t just jewelry. They’re heirlooms, cultural artifacts, and statements of self-expression. We talk about craftsmanship, pricing, community, and the business of making beautiful things while staying true to yourself.
Get ready for a conversation full of wisdom, humor, and—let’s be real—a little bit of fangirling on my part.
Topics discussed:
- Helen’s journey from engineering to high-end jewelry making
- Jewelry as storytelling—how her pieces become heirlooms
- Luxury, but make it intentional—how Helen challenges exclusivity in the art world
- The tech influence—how her background in engineering shapes her craftsmanship
- Building community in the jewelry world—support, collaboration, and pricing with integrity
Chapters:
• 00:12 - Fangirling with Helen Harris
• 02:56 - Helen's Journey into Jewelry Making
• 11:46 - Transitioning to a Full-Time Job: Balancing Life and Business
• 14:30 - Navigating Work and Personal Life
• 21:23 - The Concept of Luxury
• 29:02 - Navigating Self-Expression and Professionalism
• 36:51 - The Jewelry Community: Insights and Relationships
• 41:06 - Reflections on Growth and Identity
• 43:50 - Navigating Client Relationships and Pricing
• 52:08 - Exploring New Segments in Conversations
Helen’s Bio -
Helen with the Gold Teeth is the brainchild of Helen Harris, born during a pivotal moment as she transitioned from engineer to jeweler. Seeking the structure, security, and personal connection of corporate life—but on her own terms—she quickly incorporated the brand, setting a clear vision for growth.
What started as a personal passion became a movement, drawing in New Yorkers from all walks of life. With a guerrilla spirit, intentional craftsmanship, and a deep love for her work, Helen has built something far bigger than jewelry—she’s creating legacy pieces that tell stories and hold history.
🔗 Resources mentioned
- Helen with the Gold Teeth Official Website
- Helen’s New York Times Article
- Helen’s YouTube Channel
- Helen on Ridculous Little Things
📲 Connect with Helen:
Instagram: @helenwiththegoldteeth
Website: Helen With the Gold Teeth
📲Connect with Stephanie
Instagram: @stephaniegraham
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Hey, friends.
Welcome.
And welcome back to Nosy AFconversations about art, activism,
and social change.
I'm Stephanie, your friend andhost, and today.
Oh, today, my friends, is aday of absolute fangirling, because
on this episode, I'm talkingto Helen Harris, AKA Helen with the
(00:22):
gold teeth, an engineer turnedjeweler whose work is straight up
luxury, straight upintentional, straight up black, and
straight up absolutely beautiful.
Helen's brand has a devotedfollowing, which obviously includes
me, and she's kind of famous, y'all.
And for good reason.
(00:43):
Her handmade jewelry isn'tjust about looking good.
It's about storytelling,spirituality, and making space for
black and LGBTQ communities inplaces that have historically shut
us out.
What the heck, y'all?
What the heck?
Don't shut us out.
It's not nice, and we don'tappreciate it.
(01:06):
But listen, not only is Helenbuilding a legacy for herself, but
her work becomes heirloomsthat families will cherish forever,
which, honestly, a dream.
In this conversation, you'llhear how Helen followed her passion,
the unexpected way she fellinto jewelry making, and how her
business is authentically hers.
I'm just gonna warn you now, Ifully geek out over her craftsmanship,
(01:29):
her aesthetic, and just howmuch I respect the way she moves
throughout this world.
So let's get into it.
I'm so excited to present this conversation.
Here she comes, Helen with thegold teeth.
(01:50):
Gotta get up, get up tell thewhole world you a winner, winner
vision of a star with amission in the cause what you doing,
how you doing?
What you doing and who you areFlex is yourself, impress yourself,
check yourself, don't wreckyourself if you know me then you
know that I be knowing what's up.
Hey, Stephanie.
Graham is nosy.
Helen, welcome to Nosy af.
(02:10):
Thank you so much for having me.
Yeah, I'm so.
I'm so excited to have youbecause I feel like I'm so, like,
fan girlish of you becauseI'm, like, a hobby grills maker.
And so when I see, you know,you who's, like, there, I'm like,
(02:31):
wow, you know, here's what Ican be, you know, especially because
you started out as a hobbyistas well.
So I'm just, like, you know, active.
Like, I love artists that wejump and, like, you know, move through
different boxes.
So I'm just so happy to haveyou here.
(02:51):
Thank you for having me.
Yes.
So, Helen, why.
Why jewelry as an art practice?
Why not, you know, sketching?
Sure.
Well, I just kind of fell into it.
I didn't really plan for it.
I was Going to resign from my job.
(03:12):
I made my mind up about that.
And I was sort of, like,fearful of how I would take care
of myself in the future.
A couple of opportunities camemy way.
One was someone asking me if Iwanted to get involved in jewelry
making.
And the other was doing, like,freelance work in a space I had no
(03:35):
history in.
Like, I took a projectmanagement job, which turned into
a contract later to dostaffing for this project for this
massive corporation.
And I just did everything thatcame my way and did it the best that
I could.
Cause I didn't know if I wouldever get to go back to work.
(03:57):
And that's how I got into jewelry.
Wow.
Who was it that was like, doyou wanna learn jewelry?
Yeah.
So at the time, I had aroommate who was my friend then.
And she and another person whois a jewelry designer, they were
like, really close friends.
Like, best friends.
And what's funny is, like, meand this person, we were, like, really
(04:19):
fast friends.
And I lived alone.
But then I moved in with herand we became roommates instead,
which is wild.
Yes.
Yes.
That is like, who does that?
But one of my closest friendswas really trying to push me and
that person very closetogether because she had hoped I
(04:40):
would get back into making music.
And me and my former roommateand the person who introduced me
to jewelry, we kind of didmusic during the same kind of era
and the same scene, but wedidn't cross paths.
And for years, one of my bestfriends was like, you gotta meet
each other.
You gotta meet each other.
And we hit it off.
(05:00):
So in the beginning of ourfriendship, I was, like, kind of
trying to help her pivot intothe tech field.
And then just somewhere alongthe way, she and her best friend,
who's a jewelry designer, werelike, let's sit down.
Let's talk about this.
Let's start doing grills.
And the second woman, sheworked in the diamond district as
(05:21):
a designer at one of thesereally big companies everyone knows
the name of.
And she wasn't reallysatisfied in her job.
She had an external thing thatwas like her own.
And they wanted to, like, messaround with grills.
So they asked me.
I said yes.
As soon as we got started, thesecond woman was like, I'm out of
here.
I don't have time.
And then the one that was myroommate, the person I knew better,
(05:44):
she decided pretty quickly shedidn't want to be, like, a business
partner to me.
I think I was just like, alittle bit.
I think she pictured me to benot an assistant, but more like,
in the background.
And that's just not the waythat it went because, you know, I'm
me.
And, like, people were intrigued.
(06:06):
You know, the people that shewanted to sell to, who were in her
network, they loved me.
They loved talking to me, theyloved dealing with me.
And I think she was a littlebit like, wait a minute.
And wanted to protect herrelationships and, you know, just
be a little bit more criticalto the business than me.
Because, again, I was verypassive in the beginning.
(06:29):
But once I got it started, acouple of people in my life were
like, oh, yeah, let me do that.
And, you know, word spreadreally quickly.
I was getting my own clientsand referrals, like, through my name.
And it was funny because,like, essentially we had two competing
businesses getting off theground at the same time in the same
(06:50):
apartment.
It was wild, you know.
Wow.
And we lived in this loft inWilliamsburg that made it very easy
to accommodate customers.
Cause it was a very cool space.
And, like, it was residential,but also just felt very different.
So I do have her to thank forthat because, like, I wouldn't have
fallen into grails.
I wouldn't have lived in that place.
(07:11):
Like, it was just kind of likea bunch of unusual things happened
at the same time.
And it's just something thatjust happened.
And I just made the most outof it as it kind of unfolded.
Do you identify as an artist?
I do.
Like, more and more.
Like, in the beginning, I waslike, okay, whatever, guys.
(07:34):
Because I was really just,like, manufacturing grills.
And maybe I would consider itmore, like, styling people's teeth.
Like, I never really calledmyself an artist too comfortably,
because I didn't really have apractice I was dedicated to for,
you know, years and years and years.
(07:55):
Like, my background is inmedia production, video production.
And, like, I started.
I started doing that, like, atuniversity where I'm from, in high
school, and I majored it in.
In college.
I went to graduate school anddid that and dropped out.
So, like, that.
I would say that was always mysort of, like, creative practice
(08:16):
and the thing I feltpassionate about.
I had a stint as, like, amember of this music group that had
really funny, moderate indie success.
A lot of people know me as adj, but I didn't really call myself
an artist.
Now I do, because it's just,like, I'm so much more involved in
(08:38):
it and just, you know,maintain dedicated workspaces and
just feel more comfortableconsidering myself that.
Yeah, that's good, becausethat's how I saw you.
I never thought about jewelryas a Career.
I feel like I ran acrosssomeone who they did like stone appraisal.
(09:00):
Yeah.
And I'm just like, oh, Ididn't know that was a job I never
thought about, you know.
You know, these folks don'tcome to like the high school career
fair, you know.
That's true.
You're right.
One of the things that Inoticed with your work is that it's
so meticulous, you know, it'slike, it's so pristine, which I love.
And it actually would makesense that you have a background
(09:23):
in film, you know, becausethat's very, I feel like meticulous
craft as well.
Did you think being anengineer helped with that?
I would say so.
Because when you come fromsort of like more that tech background,
like particularly the one thatI have, which is more IT and like
systems, it is very much abouthow things work and how things are
(09:47):
supposed to work, workflows,who does what, and standards.
So it was easier for me toaccomplish my goals of making like,
you know, perfect or nearperfect jewelry as I started to,
I guess recontextualize it.
(10:08):
How I think naturally and Ithink I do annoy a lot because they'll
be like, you can't do that.
And I'll be like, youabsolutely can.
And it's because, you know, Isat there and I thought through the
problem and like uncovered adifferent way of approaching something.
I think that that's somethingthat people in tech kind of do.
(10:28):
It's like essentially hacking.
I think that I get on otherjewelers nerves and like the people
whose hands touch the thingsthat I make, because I'm often like,
this isn't supposed to be thisway, it's supposed to be that way.
And it's like I'm reallytrying to hold them to a standard.
I think that comes from thatkind of thinking.
But yeah, and I mean like, youknow, now I'm really fully immersed
(10:54):
in learning how to digitizeeverything and using, you know, the
computer to design, likecoming up with designs, knowing how
to direct someone who ishelping me work on CAD files, doing
the 3D printing, like figuringout the science of like, how do I
(11:15):
make this 3D printed waxbehave like a traditional dental
wax because it's shrinking.
I don't know.
But like I actually literallyam using the tech.
And a lot of people don'trealize this, but like I have a full
time job now, which was nottrue for so many years, and I work
in 3D printing.
(11:35):
So like most days, Mondaythrough Friday, like during the day
that's what I'm up to.
Oh my goodness.
So you have a full time job ontop of your jewelry business?
Yes.
Yeah, but that's newer.
I've been doing that for alittle bit over a year and in the
beginning I think peopledidn't really realize it because
I was still just in New Yorkso much and so available and like
(12:00):
the company I work for when Ifirst started, like they had a very
kind of less defined flexibletime off policy.
So I was making the most of itand frequently gone for like, you
know, 10 days at a time, justhandling my business.
Yeah, yeah.
How do you like the switchfrom, you know, being full time business
(12:25):
to now having your still fulltime business and this job, other
job, you know, I like it.
It makes me really happy.
My business has been reallysuccessful and my life has changed
in like really profound ways.
You know, I had a prettyprivate life in like a very, like
(12:48):
a very quiet private life withnot a lot of attention and interaction
with like strangers.
And it went from that to highvolume interaction with strangers.
People knowing who I am.
Like I have no regrets aboutdoing it the way I have or taking
people up on the opportunitiesthat they gave me.
(13:09):
But I didn't really have timeto mentally prepare for it.
So for me, getting a job, itmade me feel great because, you know,
that's normal to me.
Spending my days, you know,like really just dedicated to tech.
It feels right because thatwas my life plan.
(13:29):
The fact that I was able tomerge the two things, it's unreal.
Like what are the chances, youknow, but like somehow or another
it lined up that way for me.
So I'm loving it.
I have to be a little bit morepicky when I take my clients.
There are people who say to melike, I know that I don't have access
(13:50):
to you like the way thatpeople did before.
I don't care.
It takes as long as it takes.
But then there are others who,when I first got this started, like
I didn't have that worked outyet and they're frustrated and like
as I'm trying to figure outthese new ways of doing things, some
things are taking me much longer.
(14:11):
But like I like it.
It feels really good to me.
And there are enough peoplewho respect my process and then there
are enough people who come tome for very simple things that I
can do real quick as I'm onthese longer term projects.
But I'm very happy having both things.
When I first got started, Iincorporated Helen with the gold
(14:38):
teeth in another business likeBack to back, like, one day to the
next.
So it's like, I had multiplestreams of income when the pandemic
hit and I couldn't sell jewelry.
You know, I had my money from,like, my other company.
Like, I had more money comingin because that work didn't stop.
So I love having a job while Ihave Helen with the gold teeth.
(14:59):
It feels really good to beable to put the money that I get
back into the business insteadof worrying about having to take
care of myself.
And, like, a lot of peopledon't realize it's always been that
way for me, because before,the other thing that I did was my
own.
And it was more flexible,obviously, than working for someone
(15:21):
else.
But I am so much happier nowthat I'm doing both than I was when
I started, like, looking for a job.
They, like, picture you like,Mary Tyler Moore in the middle of
the street, throwing up your hat.
Cause you have it all now.
That's funny.
And it's funny because it'slike, I'll be in my situation at
(15:44):
work, and it's just, like,people don't know what to do with
that.
They're like, what are, like,one of my favorite people.
And it's like, I love regularpeople and being regular.
So to get up and do normalthings feels great to me.
I have no intentions ofstopping what I do or trying to disappear,
(16:09):
but I feel more grounded forwhatever else comes, you know?
Like, I've never had a viralmoment, and I'm so glad for it because
I think I would have gonemental if I did.
But if I have a viral momentand then get to get up and go to
work, that's gonna be so mucheasier for me to do because I won't
be distracted by that.
(16:30):
I'll be at work solving otherpeople's problems and learning, you
know, and that just worksreally well for me.
Do you have, like, with yourcoworkers, like, fun inside, like,
office Y jokes and stuff like that?
We do.
We do.
Like, when I first went back,like, it was a little bit awkward
because, like, people werejust like, what is this girl?
(16:53):
Yeah, she is.
What?
Yeah.
And I think there was, like,some hesitation for some people to,
like, interact with me toomuch or get to know me because I
was, like, very alien and justcome, like, with this baggage of
my, you know, being on socialmedia and, like, living out there.
(17:17):
But as time went on, peoplegot to know me a little bit more
and more and, like, understandhow similar we are and appreciate
those things.
So, like, I have differentkinds of inside jokes, for sure,
with people.
And the people I work with aresuper interesting.
(17:37):
Like, I work in a situationwhere it's like I didn't picture
at this stage of my life Iwould have this job because it's
a job I had when I was wayyounger, less experienced, and it's
like a similar income to whenI did it when I was younger.
And it's a little bit like Ididn't see myself doing that at this
stage of life.
(17:58):
And then like some of mycoworkers would be like, what are
you doing here?
Like, you literally could bemaking so much more money, like during
this period of time thatyou're sitting here compared to when
you're gone.
But I'm not the only one whochooses to do this instead of something
else, like really interestingand impressive.
(18:19):
Like the gentleman who sitsacross from me, he's a little bit
older.
He's like a robotics engineer.
Oh, wow.
And went to Stanford.
And like, we tell, we talkabout like little funny things, about
getting casted for things.
Like he had a stage in likecommercial acting for like, and like
(18:46):
catalog modeling and stuff.
Oh, nice.
You know, but he's just thisreally funny guy who I, I really
enjoy and appreciate.
And I don't think that I'm thefunniest person that I work with.
Like, I'm probably the least funny.
Like, some of the people Iwork with are hilarious.
And I would say outside ofinteracting with the technology,
(19:11):
our favorite thing about workis each other.
So that's a cool situation tobe in.
Absolutely, absolutely.
I was just thinking today I'mnot on like a current like film project.
And so I just wake up and Iwill start maybe checking my email.
Like I don't have a structure,you know.
And I was like thinking like,okay, you need to make sure you have
a routine.
Like in the morning, wake upand like go walk.
(19:34):
You know, like something to like.
I'll try to set theseroutines, but I don't really follow
them also.
But I need, I need to.
I realize like when I'msitting there just sort of like in
like a diz, I'm like, oh yeah,you need to follow a routine.
And having.
Having a job, you know, and Iwould be booked on something, it
(19:54):
is nice because it willprovide that and then anything from
my art afterwards.
It's like, it's go time.
But it just gives me like a structure.
That's how I became such acareer person in the first place.
Having something to anchor meand orient the rest of My life around
that also provides what I needto survive and feel okay in this
(20:16):
world.
And yeah, I think that Helenwith the Gold Teeth, why it happened
and why I got into thesebusinesses things was to have a structure.
Because, like, when I firststarted Ellen with the Gold Teeth,
I had my staff with me on, Iwant to say, Tuesday and Thursday,
(20:38):
and I saw clients on, like,Wednesday and Fridays.
And then I had alone time onthe other days.
And I took Mondays off for themost part.
And I kept it that way for along time.
And it was to have structurein my life because I feel.
I just feel better with that.
(21:01):
Yeah, it's so much better.
Shout out to structure.
So grills, jewelry making.
You know, you have beautifuljewelry on now.
It's a luxury thing.
Yes.
You know, and you know, ourpeople, we love to be fly.
(21:23):
How would you define luxury?
First of all, what do you think?
Luxury, I think it has acertain amount of exclusivity to
it.
There should be quality there.
I think it often has a legacybehind it.
(21:43):
When I was just trying tofigure out how to.
Where to place the bar forwhat I wanna make, I looked at how
other companies operated and,like, what it was that made them
them.
I think there should be a lotof just like, quality control around
stuff.
(22:04):
Sometimes it.
That exclusivity piece is,like, really important.
I've noticed over time, a lotof younger jewelers have picked up
my business model, which is byappointment only, and not everyone
can shop with me.
I think when it's luxury,obviously it should be about the
customer, but it's not justabout the customer.
It's about the brand.
(22:26):
And, like, you know, the idealcustomer gets that.
And they're not going to giveyou a hard time about it because
they're excited that they getto be a part of it.
And when I did, like, a formalbusiness plan and I was trying to
figure out how to scale, myfriend who's a consultant, who helped
me with that, he was like,helen, no, you don't have to do any
(22:48):
of that.
Like, and he explained to me,like, really how luxury brands get
to position themselves andhow, like, the customer cadence,
it's not about just the customer.
Like, it's really about the brand.
And what makes my jewelryluxury, I would say, is just, like,
how much attention goes into it.
(23:09):
Like today a pendant gotdelivered to a client.
I use a courier service.
It's like, no, don't trouble yourself.
This is coming to you.
I had someone who was justlike, so reliable with probably even
higher standards.
Than my own looking at ittoday and took it back for more finishing.
(23:30):
It made it to my customer, andshe was so happy with it, but she
noticed, like, one little nickthat looked like a scratch to her.
We're making arrangements forit to be fixed tomorrow morning before
she hands this gift over to someone.
And it's just, like, reallydoing everything within my power
to make it as good as it canpossibly be and to hand something
(23:54):
to the customer that matchestheir expectations for what kind
of what they picture somethingfor me should be.
Like, yeah, that's.
I get.
I want to ask, like, how couldone be a luxury brand?
Like, I think of.
I like.
(24:15):
I think of luxury, too, as,like, quality, you know, control.
Like, I know, like, even in myphotographs, I try to make them as
pristine as possible, printthem as pristine as possible, and.
But then I also will makethese pins that, like, sell for $15.
Yep.
Is that.
Is that okay to be luxury?
(24:35):
I mean, you know, when I firststarted selling jewelry, like, I
gave some away.
I sold some at cost.
You know, it's like, it didn'thappen, like, overnight for me.
And also, like, I highlysubsidized the cost of manufacturing,
(24:56):
and I continue to, because,you know, it's like, I'm putting
myself in situations where Ican take care of myself, not from
the business.
And it's like, it would bereally tight for me to just spend
that money on stuff I loveand, like, you know, just go to Vegas,
shop a bunch, buy myself crazythings, But I don't.
And it's going back into theproduct that's not luxurious at all.
(25:22):
So I think really, the luxuryis on the customer.
Like, the luxury is felt bythe customer.
More so when I'm thinkingabout that, you know.
Yeah, more of an experience.
Yeah, like, the experienceand, like, the goods they physically
receive.
Like, yes, you know, the pinsmight be $15 today, but who knows
(25:44):
what you'll be able to chargefrom later.
If you're doing everything youcan to make them, like, pretty decent
over time, you'll probablyfigure out ways to improve it.
If you want to become morecompetitive, you'll come up with
ideas about how to do it.
And also, not everything we dohas to be that, you know, like, not
every part of my life has tobe perfect, But I do try to hand
(26:09):
people perfect jewelry.
Yeah, I definitely try to.
The pins, I believe, are veryas perfect as can be now.
And I think the experience isreally good.
And I try to think of it at,like, at that price point, even as
you were talking, I remindedmyself, like, oh, yeah, you do that
for, like, my neighbors, youknow, like, the kids there, they
can buy the $15 pins, you know?
(26:29):
I love your brand.
It's so vibrant and colorfuland quirky.
I love your website.
And I wondered who yourinspirations are.
That's a good question.
I would say.
That's a really good question.
Like, honestly, it's just mejust doing whatever I want most of
the time.
(26:51):
I've tried to work withpeople, I've paid people who I wanted
to take over marketing for meand just be more formal with everything
and just kind of try toconform a little bit more to what
kind of E commerce people aresupposed to do.
(27:11):
But it just hasn't worked out.
Like, my website, when I firstcame up with it, it was just literally
me stoned at the computerdoing it until it was done.
To me, it was good enough theway it was for as long as it was.
And then I was like, okay, letme do a rebrand, so.
Or not a rebrand, but a revampof my website so I can plug in this
web store.
(27:32):
And I made this reallypristine web store that didn't match
my website, and I shut it downpretty quick.
It didn't feel like me.
It didn't look like me.
So, like, who influenced it?
It's hard to say.
It's more like the things thatI like, influence it.
Yeah, that could be inspiration.
Sure.
I love the computer.
(27:53):
I like more kind of likeprimitive graphics.
I've had a lifelong loveaffair with the computer.
And it's like I just remembersitting there in computers class
being like, holy shit.
So, I mean, I like thepixelated art for that reason.
It's just very guerrilla.
(28:15):
Like, being a student of mediastudies, I guess I kind of just like,
learned a lot about multimediaartists in the 70s and the things
that they were doing.
It's probably influenced bythat, but, like, the aesthetic of
the website, it's more likethat kind of stuff.
And then, like, the voice ofthe brand, it is probably just like,
(28:37):
my quirkiness.
Plus, obviously, like, whatever.
I can kind of like the thing,like the way that I present the jewelry
and explaining it.
I'm trying my best to, like,really be serious about that and,
like, sound serious as a jeweler.
Um, and then, like, how I amon Instagram, I'm just a wild person.
(29:00):
I just do whatever I want.
Like, yeah, I.
I like.
Part of me really genuinelywishes I could just like, be a little
bit more formulaic and just dothe thing and, like, you know, capitalize
on the science of it insteadof just do what I feel so that it
could grow more.
(29:21):
But no, it's like, it lookslike personal Instagram still.
And, like, my part of theInternet is really funny, you know,
So I try to put the funnyvideos on there.
My part of the Internet is,like, a lot of, like, Android memes
and hood memes, like, nerd stuff.
So it's like, it's a crossbetween just, like, me trying to
(29:44):
express creativity, seemserious enough as a jeweler, but
also just be the nerd that Iam and just be like, I like this.
Yeah, I can really relate to that.
Cause then my thought was nextis, like, balancing, like, quirkiness
with seriousness.
Because I have this, too,where, like, I'll be like, wah, wah,
(30:08):
wah.
You know, like, so silly.
And then.
But if I'm really talkingabout something, I'm serious, you
know?
Have you ever come up withsomebody being like, whoa, whoa,
Helen.
Okay, dude.
Like, it's not, you know,about being too serious?
Yeah, well, like, I feel like,you know, you'll be silly, but then
when it's time to be for real,it's for real.
But because people mightexperience me, like, in, like, this
(30:28):
humorous way, they're, like.
Shocked, I would say more sothan the humorous way.
It's like, I can be very nice.
Like, I love to lead with nice.
Being a nice person feels goodcaring about what people.
How people feel and whatpeople think.
It feels good.
(30:48):
But I do think sometimespeople mistake my kindness for weakness,
or they actually do catch meat a time when, like, I'm not really
feeling, like, my full self,and I'm not really, like, making
situations more about me whenthey could be.
And, like, people might havean understanding of me that, like,
(31:10):
I'm gonna bend over backwards,like, by default.
And that's just not how that is.
Oopsie.
I think that, like, I've alsogot a lot of vendors who I've overpaid
for things before learning orthat I've chosen to overpay because
I feel they earned that from me.
(31:32):
Like, I'm grateful for whatthey did.
And then it's like, I'll seethem kind of trying to take advantage
of the situation, and it's,like, based on.
They saw me another way, sothey think they can get away with
something, and it's just like,no, that's not how it is.
And, like, I do shock peoplesometimes because they'll be like,
(31:54):
she is so different right now.
And if I am really trying toadvocate for myself or put up a boundary.
Like, sometimes people arelike, whoa, that was too much.
Or they'll think I was mean.
Or sometimes people want meto, like, take them on as a client,
and I'll be like, I'm not available.
And they'll feel a certain wayabout it.
I've had people come to myoffice with an appointment.
(32:16):
I'll be like, I don't thinkthis is gonna work.
And I'll give them a refundfor their consultation.
I have customers whose jewelryI've finished completely, you know,
and I've, like, I've paid forthe cost of making it.
My staff has served them.
Like, I have spent all of themoney that they spent on the jewelry
and in some cases, some moreof my own.
(32:38):
And if something doesn't feelright, I gave them their money back.
So these are different waysthat, like, people were just like,
what, because they experiencedme differently or they heard something
about me and then it didn't gothe way they pictured it.
And it's like, no, I need youto be in the moment with me.
Be present, interact with me,and listen to what I'm saying instead
(33:00):
of, like, something else.
Yeah, yeah, that's good.
And then it's also, like, oneof those things.
Like, that's their problem.
It is, yeah.
It really is.
Afterwards.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I would say, yeah.
The answer to that is I do getdifferent reactions from people if
they pictured me another wayor if they've seen me be another
(33:22):
way.
Yeah, it definitely happens.
You know, I'm curious, like,where did you get the name Helen?
With Goldteith.
Was it just, like, bringing itback to the basics of your love of
BASIC with, you know, like,with the computer of being sort of,
like, straightforward?
I made the Instagram and,like, I had been toying with other
names, and, like, they were funny.
(33:43):
They were, like, all funny.
But then I was like, I'm justgonna do this because, I don't know,
it just had a ring.
I just came up with it.
And then, like, I was just like.
Immediately, I was like, yeah,I want it to look a certain way.
And a friend of mine who's atattoo artist and a graphic designer,
I was like, can you make thisthing for me?
(34:06):
I'll give you whatever.
And it wasn't much.
And he was like, yep.
So he made it for me, and Iwas just like, just make it look
like a emoji, but also make itlook like a cash money cover.
And he was like, got it.
And it was only, like, twodrafts in I was like, great.
Good enough.
And that was it.
Perfect.
Perfect.
Yeah, it looks great.
(34:27):
It looks great.
I aspire to make grills, youknow, like, I've been practicing.
I haven't gotten to the pointof making the metal piece yet.
And I thought to maybe try tosend, you know, to find, like, people
to help me just so I can.
It's expensive, you know, tohave all that equipment.
(34:49):
And so I just wondered if youmight have any advice for, you know,
beginners out there.
Honestly, the most importantpart of making grills is, you know,
getting good impressions anddoing the wax well.
So if you've spent a ton oftime working on that, you're already
ahead and you're ahead of mebecause, like, I hate doing those
(35:09):
things.
And if you want to send itout, just don't cast in gold, cast
in silver, or cast in low goldto spend as little money as possible.
And if after you makesomething, you go and scrap it and
you get part of the moneyback, you can put that towards the
next one you make, you know,So I would say do that.
(35:32):
There are some casters whowill say, you can bring me the medal
and then I'll charge you alabor charge.
Oh, there's a lot of ways.
Yeah, there's a lot of waysyou can approach it.
But I do believe for anyonewho wants to be a jeweler or make
grills, it is absolutely worth it.
Even if you have like a crappytabletop casting machine off Amazon,
(35:57):
get it and do the hands onbecause you will be so much more
advanced way faster.
Because I was so focused on,you know, cultivating a brand, establishing
a business and running abusiness, and it worked out very
well for me.
(36:18):
But, you know, I'm not asindependent as jewelers who started
after me, who just havecapabilities that I don't.
And it doesn't.
How do I say this?
The place where I went tolearn grills was the exact opposite
of where I went to go learn,like jewelry, like bench jewelry.
(36:40):
That guy's just like, itdoesn't matter.
Just these are the cheapestthings you can get.
Here's the links to Amazon.
Get that.
Don't think about anything else.
It's worth it.
Is it a nice community?
The jewelry community?
Is it welcoming?
You know, the jewelrycommunity, I would say, is like pretty
massive.
And I have some really greatrelationships in the jewelry community.
(37:03):
Like in the diamond district.
The people who I enjoy themost, they're just like working folks
who go there, do what theygotta do and go home.
Like they're not a part of,like, any jewelry scene.
They're like, oftentimes like,family men, religious and stuff like
that.
Like, one of my favoritejewelers is just like, this really
nice white lady who is anative New Yorker, and she just likes,
(37:27):
sells to.
She sells, like, like, reallycute jewelry to just, like, I think
white women who have a lot ofmoney, and she's just this really
nice person.
There are a handful of blackjewelers who, when I first got started,
I knew them from real lifebefore jewelry.
And I didn't realize, like,that that's what they were really,
(37:49):
really up to, as deep in asthey were.
But also it might be because Ididn't really understand anything
yet.
So, like, they kind of helpedme get settled in and introduced
me to another one of thejewelers who's been really, really
involved in my growth and,like, development.
My work as a jeweler has,like, really taken over my life in
(38:12):
recent years.
And now it's like.
Like I don't have as much of asocial life as, like, maybe I did
at other points in my life.
And I might not interact withas many people as, like, maybe I
would if I wasn't doing this.
Who knows?
Cause I could also not betalking to people.
(38:33):
But, like, if there's onething you can bet it's that I have
been talking to other jewelers.
So it's like my acquaintance,my acquaintances.
They are my friends now.
Like, if you really want toknow what's going on with me, if
I've been really quiet and youhaven't seen me, they know.
Yeah, some of them know.
(38:54):
Oh, that's very sweet.
That's very sweet.
Yeah.
Well, before I let you go, Ihave this little rapid question game,
if you don't mind.
Sure.
I would love to ask them for you.
If you don't want to, youcould just say skip.
That's fine.
They're so basic.
Okay.
They're so, like.
I think of, like, Hansel andGretel, like, skipping off.
(39:17):
I don't know.
But okay.
So what is your favorite month?
Wow.
Dang.
I never thought of that before.
For my favorite month.
I don't know, maybe September.
No, I'll say October becauseit cools down.
The leaves are changing, youknow, I love slowing down because
(39:38):
it's fall.
I love days getting a littlebit longer.
They're not crazy long yet.
It's not too cold yet.
Yeah, we'll go with October.
October.
Okay, great.
That's my birthday month, so.
I love that you said that.
Your favorite dessert.
I Love sweets, so that'sreally hard.
I love sweets.
(40:00):
If I had to say what myabsolute favorite dessert is, it's
like a giant slice of cakewith ice cream.
But like a lot of ice cream,not like one small scoop.
I sort of wanted to push youto say like a brownie a la mode with
like extra, extra ice cream.
Cause they never give you enough.
But sea salads, brownieAlamotes are good.
I used to always have myfriends come over to make them hot
(40:21):
fudge brownie sundaes and likemake homemade caramel and stuff.
But I'm not a big brownie person.
But like definitely like apiece of like cake from magnolia
or oh nice.
Or like a piece of yellow cakewith chocolate frosting or a piece
of German chocolate cake witha lot of ice cream.
(40:42):
Vanilla ice cream.
That's my favorite.
Sweet.
When I was young, my friendJames mom would make us those like
little Debbie brownies thatyou can get in the cellophane.
The mom would break em out andput in the microwave and put ice
cream on it.
So.
And it was good.
It was.
I'd never seen it before.
I was like wow.
Yeah, no, that's really good.
(41:02):
Would your 12 year old selfthink you are cool?
That's a funny question.
Honestly, like I live to likefeel like myself and I think that
at certain points in my life Iwould say especially so when I'm
very successful I'm consciousof that and it helps me enjoy my
(41:25):
life more.
I think that's why I insist ondoing the technology piece.
That's why I insist on likebeing friends with my middle school
friends specifically.
Cause I feel like that's whenyou start to really come into yourself.
I feel like that's like such a.
(41:45):
You're such a human whenyou're 12.
So like I truly do veryintentionally try to feel like someone
who is the same person as my 8year old self or my 12 year old self.
And sometimes I'll just belike that's.
I'll just be like, I'll juststart cracking up.
(42:06):
I'll be alone and I'll juststart cracking up.
Or like I went into my officethe other day and I've got like the
framed thing of like the Timesarticle and I just started cracking
up because I could not haveplanned for this.
But if there's one thing Iknow, it's pretty cool.
So.
(42:26):
Yeah, that's cool.
I love that you have friendsfrom middle school still.
That's really special.
Yeah, especially now, youknow, it's like For a couple of years.
It's just like I'm dealingwith so many people off the Internet,
day in and day out doing thisthing, you know, like, really being
out there.
So it really helps me.
(42:48):
And like, you know, beforeHelen with the gold teeth, when I
was really, really deep intocorporate life and the hustle and
bustle of, you know, midtown,like, big tech business, it's just
really humbling to, like, havepeople around you who already knew
you, already loved you.
(43:08):
Don't need anything from youexcept for you to be yourself and
to have a good time and tokeep being friends.
It rules.
I love that.
Yeah, that does really rule.
You're right.
And then my last question is,what is the best non curse word?
Insult.
What's your favorite?
What's your go to?
Ooh, my favorite insult.
(43:31):
That's not a cuss word.
That's hard because, like, Igot, you know, that's not a cuss
word and an insult.
Worsome.
Yeah, I would say it's worsome.
That's really good.
That's a good one.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Oh, my gosh.
Well, Helen, anything else youwant to share before we call this
(43:53):
conversation complete?
I really, really appreciatetalking to you.
I would say for anyone whowants to shop with me, yes, fill
out the form on my link treebefore you email me and like, really
answer the questions on there because.
(44:13):
Oh, that's right.
If there are complete answers,I'm more compelled to respond.
Don't send me photographs oflike, really like ornate designs
telling me your budget is like$100 or $200.
Please don't do that because Iwill ignore you.
(44:33):
And I am interested in makingthings that are not teeth.
And I turn around those ordersreally, really fast.
So come see me about those things.
And you'll definitely getpriority over people who want teeth.
(44:54):
I love that.
And then is it okay to ask,like, what?
Like, what would someone haveto save up, you know, or have in
the pocket to even think aboutworking with you, or should they
just try you and see?
It depends.
Yeah, like, if I'm seeing alot of clients in a day and you want
to come in and get one or twoplain gold teeth, I don't care.
I let them come in in betweenthe others.
(45:17):
But gold is at an all timehigh, which a lot of people don't
realize.
It's really, really, really expensive.
My labor expenses are veryhigh, I think.
Like, if you want to shop withme, I would say, you know, save a
thousand dollars.
If you want something verysimple, like Something special but
(45:39):
a little bit more simple.
Something that is true aboutme is that like I often over deliver.
So that's kind of like why Ilike to keep minimums.
Like for instance this thingon my desk that I'm looking at, she
asked for kind of like earthystones and I ordered like all these
(46:02):
humanely mined things from theUnited States.
They were too big.
I also made the metal and itdidn't look like it was going to
fit right.
I made that again, you know,and it's like to land what she wanted
to see, I ended up switchingto like diamonds, pink sapphire,
yellow sapphire.
So I like to have wiggle roomso that like my customers can cover
(46:26):
those expenses instead of me.
So save a little bit of moneybut also never hesitate to ask for
a quote when people fill outthat form.
Yeah, it is to establish acadence with me, not necessarily
to start shopping right away.
(46:46):
So like things are reallyexpensive to make.
So like have some respect for that.
I heard that if you arecurious and just like not informed,
don't be shy.
I'm happy to like givereferences for like what something
cost when I sold it before.
And like I try my best to makeit so when a customer goes and they
(47:08):
tell someone what they paid, Ilike for it to be as uniform as possible
or I'd like for them toexplain why they paid as much as
they did.
If I gave them a big discount.
I want them to keep theirmouth shut really.
But yeah, like if you want toshop with me for gold teeth, like
save a little bit of money orcome and ask me what you want to
(47:31):
save based on what you wantand something really interesting
that I've been doing lately.
And it's like I can't do thisfor everyone but like I have long
term followers who they paidin chunks instead of like buy outright,
which is my policy.
Like you have a consultationwith me, you owe me 100% of the balance
(47:53):
is how it normally goes.
But I have these very longtime followers and supporters who
were never customers and I'veseen them that whole time.
I've appreciated them thatwhole time.
So when they see me it's likethey don't pay the consultation fee.
They're not gonna stand me upfor that appointment because like
they haven't stood me up as alike fan, you know, and I'll have
(48:17):
them pay in chunks and put iton a payment schedule and then you
know, most of the time oncethey hit like 100% paid, I start
that labor.
But like you know, Like, Ihave people who have more than one
set of teeth for me who'venever paid me anything.
You know, I have people who Ido a lot of work for who just never
(48:41):
paid me anything.
It's different for everyone.
So I would just say berespectful and, you know, ask questions
about things you don'tunderstand and, like, be patient
with me and I can bringclarity and probably serve you.
That's really, really nice andgenerous and thoughtful and very
(49:06):
on business.
I love this consultation form.
It's also like, you know, letme see.
Make sure you're not crazy.
Yeah, it can't be.
It used to be like, you know,you'd fill out a thing, form and
a deposit, and then like,someone on my team would be like,
okay, these are the people whoare coming today, and I would, like,
literally not know who they were.
And then it's like back toback, I'm seeing like five or eight
(49:28):
strangers who I literallydon't know who they are.
And thank God, so often thatworked out very well.
And they were people who Ilike, adore and have relationships
with now, like, they've becomemy friends or I'm a fixture in their
life, you know, and that's awesome.
(49:49):
But then the flip side of itwas some of them, it didn't go so
great.
So I've got these things toinsulate myself and get more experience
with people.
But, like, you know, when I'mtrying to do a lot of work real fast
or do a batch of jewelrytogether, sometimes I'll just throw
(50:11):
the booking link up and say,hey, you guys, grab your slots.
And then once the people arebooked, I'll call em on the phone,
talk to em a little bit, andthen approve it.
And then the calendar willbook them and it will take that deposit.
It will turn that deposit froma pending transaction to an actual
deposit.
So, yeah, and it also dependson the capacity I have.
(50:35):
Like, if my social battery isreally charged, I can move like that.
But if it's not, you know, andI have to protect my energy, it might
be a little bit harder to,like, get me to do something.
But once you're my client, I'mgoing to take care of the jewelry
and it's going to be probablybetter than what you imagine.
Yes.
Your work is truly, truly beautiful.
(50:55):
Thank you.
It really is.
Yeah, thank you.
I appreciate that.
Helen is so multifaceted, right?
Engineer, jeweler artist, dj.
I love a girl who has it all.
Also, can we talk about howsmooth Helen's voices?
Seriously, go ahead and playthis Episode again when you're about
(51:17):
to take a nap.
Helen, if you're listening,what's up?
What's up with the ASMR collaboration?
I'm just saying it could besomething with some lush gardens,
some diamonds, some clouds,and just you and I whispering the
word like over and over again.
Mixing in gold, luxury, legacy.
What a dream that would be.
(51:38):
What a dream that would be, y'all.
Also, I would love if youwould let me know what you thought
about my nosy round of questions.
If you listen often, you wouldnotice that that was something new.
And this is actually somethingthat I've been doing in a lot of
my interviews and I even madea whole beat for it and I still have
(52:00):
it figured out how to placethis segment within my conversations
without really messing up theflow of the show.
So I'm gonna have to figure itout and I'll present it to you one
day.
One day.
One day.
Hopefully soon.
So I hope you love thisconversation as much as I did.
I've included a bunch of linksabout Helen, including how to inquire
(52:22):
about her jewelry and grills.
But as Helen said, you need tocome correct.
Okay.
And last thing, shout out toher Stanford robotic engineer coworker
who somehow had time to be acatalog model.
I just love that so muchbecause clearly we all contain multitudes.
So go ahead and explore everyone of your interests, because why
(52:45):
not?
Alright, that's it for today, y'all.
Thank you so much forlistening to Uzi up and I'll catch
you next time.
This has been another episodeof Nosy af.
I'm your host, Stephanie Graham.
What did you think abouttoday's conversation?
I would love to hear your thoughts.
Head over to the Nosy AFwebsite for all the show notes related
(53:06):
to this episode.
You can also find me on Instagram.
Tefanie Graham, what would you know?
Or online@missgraham.com whereyou can sign up for my newsletter
where I share exclusiveupdates about my studio production
practice as well as this podcast.
Until next time, y'all staycurious and take care.
Bye.
Hey, friends.
Welcome.
And welcome back to Nosy AFconversations about art, activism,
and social change.
I'm Stephanie, your friend andhost, and today.
Oh, today, my friends, is aday of absolute fangirling, because
on this episode, I'm talkingto Helen Harris, AKA Helen with the
(00:22):
gold teeth, an engineer turnedjeweler whose work is straight up
luxury, straight upintentional, straight up black, and
straight up absolutely beautiful.
Helen's brand has a devotedfollowing, which obviously includes
me, and she's kind of famous, y'all.
And for good reason.
(00:43):
Her handmade jewelry isn'tjust about looking good.
It's about storytelling,spirituality, and making space for
black and LGBTQ communities inplaces that have historically shut
us out.
What the heck, y'all?
What the heck?
Don't shut us out.
It's not nice, and we don'tappreciate it.
(01:06):
But listen, not only is Helenbuilding a legacy for herself, but
her work becomes heirloomsthat families will cherish forever,
which, honestly, a dream.
In this conversation, you'llhear how Helen followed her passion,
the unexpected way she fellinto jewelry making, and how her
business is authentically hers.
I'm just gonna warn you now, Ifully geek out over her craftsmanship,
(01:29):
her aesthetic, and just howmuch I respect the way she moves
throughout this world.
So let's get into it.
I'm so excited to present this conversation.
Here she comes, Helen with thegold teeth.
(01:50):
Gotta get up, get up tell thewhole world you a winner, winner
vision of a star with amission in the cause what you doing,
how you doing?
What you doing and who you areFlex is yourself, impress yourself,
check yourself, don't wreckyourself if you know me then you
know that I be knowing what's up.
Hey, Stephanie.
Graham is nosy.
Helen, welcome to Nosy af.
(02:10):
Thank you so much for having me.
Yeah, I'm so.
I'm so excited to have youbecause I feel like I'm so, like,
fan girlish of you becauseI'm, like, a hobby grills maker.
And so when I see, you know,you who's, like, there, I'm like,
(02:31):
wow, you know, here's what Ican be, you know, especially because
you started out as a hobbyistas well.
So I'm just, like, you know, active.
Like, I love artists that wejump and, like, you know, move through
different boxes.
So I'm just so happy to haveyou here.
(02:51):
Thank you for having me.
Yes.
So, Helen, why.
Why jewelry as an art practice?
Why not, you know, sketching?
Sure.
Well, I just kind of fell into it.
I didn't really plan for it.
I was Going to resign from my job.
(03:12):
I made my mind up about that.
And I was sort of, like,fearful of how I would take care
of myself in the future.
A couple of opportunities camemy way.
One was someone asking me if Iwanted to get involved in jewelry
making.
And the other was doing, like,freelance work in a space I had no
(03:35):
history in.
Like, I took a projectmanagement job, which turned into
a contract later to dostaffing for this project for this
massive corporation.
And I just did everything thatcame my way and did it the best that
I could.
Cause I didn't know if I wouldever get to go back to work.
(03:57):
And that's how I got into jewelry.
Wow.
Who was it that was like, doyou wanna learn jewelry?
Yeah.
So at the time, I had aroommate who was my friend then.
And she and another person whois a jewelry designer, they were
like, really close friends.
Like, best friends.
And what's funny is, like, meand this person, we were, like, really
(04:19):
fast friends.
And I lived alone.
But then I moved in with herand we became roommates instead,
which is wild.
Yes.
Yes.
That is like, who does that?
But one of my closest friendswas really trying to push me and
that person very closetogether because she had hoped I
(04:40):
would get back into making music.
And me and my former roommateand the person who introduced me
to jewelry, we kind of didmusic during the same kind of era
and the same scene, but wedidn't cross paths.
And for years, one of my bestfriends was like, you gotta meet
each other.
You gotta meet each other.
And we hit it off.
(05:00):
So in the beginning of ourfriendship, I was, like, kind of
trying to help her pivot intothe tech field.
And then just somewhere alongthe way, she and her best friend,
who's a jewelry designer, werelike, let's sit down.
Let's talk about this.
Let's start doing grills.
And the second woman, sheworked in the diamond district as
(05:21):
a designer at one of thesereally big companies everyone knows
the name of.
And she wasn't reallysatisfied in her job.
She had an external thing thatwas like her own.
And they wanted to, like, messaround with grills.
So they asked me.
I said yes.
As soon as we got started, thesecond woman was like, I'm out of
here.
I don't have time.
And then the one that was myroommate, the person I knew better,
(05:44):
she decided pretty quickly shedidn't want to be, like, a business
partner to me.
I think I was just like, alittle bit.
I think she pictured me to benot an assistant, but more like,
in the background.
And that's just not the waythat it went because, you know, I'm
me.
And, like, people were intrigued.
(06:06):
You know, the people that shewanted to sell to, who were in her
network, they loved me.
They loved talking to me, theyloved dealing with me.
And I think she was a littlebit like, wait a minute.
And wanted to protect herrelationships and, you know, just
be a little bit more criticalto the business than me.
Because, again, I was verypassive in the beginning.
(06:29):
But once I got it started, acouple of people in my life were
like, oh, yeah, let me do that.
And, you know, word spreadreally quickly.
I was getting my own clientsand referrals, like, through my name.
And it was funny because,like, essentially we had two competing
businesses getting off theground at the same time in the same
(06:50):
apartment.
It was wild, you know.
Wow.
And we lived in this loft inWilliamsburg that made it very easy
to accommodate customers.
Cause it was a very cool space.
And, like, it was residential,but also just felt very different.
So I do have her to thank forthat because, like, I wouldn't have
fallen into grails.
I wouldn't have lived in that place.
(07:11):
Like, it was just kind of likea bunch of unusual things happened
at the same time.
And it's just something thatjust happened.
And I just made the most outof it as it kind of unfolded.
Do you identify as an artist?
I do.
Like, more and more.
Like, in the beginning, I waslike, okay, whatever, guys.
(07:34):
Because I was really just,like, manufacturing grills.
And maybe I would consider itmore, like, styling people's teeth.
Like, I never really calledmyself an artist too comfortably,
because I didn't really have apractice I was dedicated to for,
you know, years and years and years.
(07:55):
Like, my background is inmedia production, video production.
And, like, I started.
I started doing that, like, atuniversity where I'm from, in high
school, and I majored it in.
In college.
I went to graduate school anddid that and dropped out.
So, like, that.
I would say that was always mysort of, like, creative practice
(08:16):
and the thing I feltpassionate about.
I had a stint as, like, amember of this music group that had
really funny, moderate indie success.
A lot of people know me as adj, but I didn't really call myself
an artist.
Now I do, because it's just,like, I'm so much more involved in
(08:38):
it and just, you know,maintain dedicated workspaces and
just feel more comfortableconsidering myself that.
Yeah, that's good, becausethat's how I saw you.
I never thought about jewelryas a Career.
I feel like I ran acrosssomeone who they did like stone appraisal.
(09:00):
Yeah.
And I'm just like, oh, Ididn't know that was a job I never
thought about, you know.
You know, these folks don'tcome to like the high school career
fair, you know.
That's true.
You're right.
One of the things that Inoticed with your work is that it's
so meticulous, you know, it'slike, it's so pristine, which I love.
And it actually would makesense that you have a background
(09:23):
in film, you know, becausethat's very, I feel like meticulous
craft as well.
Did you think being anengineer helped with that?
I would say so.
Because when you come fromsort of like more that tech background,
like particularly the one thatI have, which is more IT and like
systems, it is very much abouthow things work and how things are
(09:47):
supposed to work, workflows,who does what, and standards.
So it was easier for me toaccomplish my goals of making like,
you know, perfect or nearperfect jewelry as I started to,
I guess recontextualize it.
(10:08):
How I think naturally and Ithink I do annoy a lot because they'll
be like, you can't do that.
And I'll be like, youabsolutely can.
And it's because, you know, Isat there and I thought through the
problem and like uncovered adifferent way of approaching something.
I think that that's somethingthat people in tech kind of do.
(10:28):
It's like essentially hacking.
I think that I get on otherjewelers nerves and like the people
whose hands touch the thingsthat I make, because I'm often like,
this isn't supposed to be thisway, it's supposed to be that way.
And it's like I'm reallytrying to hold them to a standard.
I think that comes from thatkind of thinking.
But yeah, and I mean like, youknow, now I'm really fully immersed
(10:54):
in learning how to digitizeeverything and using, you know, the
computer to design, likecoming up with designs, knowing how
to direct someone who ishelping me work on CAD files, doing
the 3D printing, like figuringout the science of like, how do I
(11:15):
make this 3D printed waxbehave like a traditional dental
wax because it's shrinking.
I don't know.
But like I actually literallyam using the tech.
And a lot of people don'trealize this, but like I have a full
time job now, which was nottrue for so many years, and I work
in 3D printing.
(11:35):
So like most days, Mondaythrough Friday, like during the day
that's what I'm up to.
Oh my goodness.
So you have a full time job ontop of your jewelry business?
Yes.
Yeah, but that's newer.
I've been doing that for alittle bit over a year and in the
beginning I think peopledidn't really realize it because
I was still just in New Yorkso much and so available and like
(12:00):
the company I work for when Ifirst started, like they had a very
kind of less defined flexibletime off policy.
So I was making the most of itand frequently gone for like, you
know, 10 days at a time, justhandling my business.
Yeah, yeah.
How do you like the switchfrom, you know, being full time business
(12:25):
to now having your still fulltime business and this job, other
job, you know, I like it.
It makes me really happy.
My business has been reallysuccessful and my life has changed
in like really profound ways.
You know, I had a prettyprivate life in like a very, like
(12:48):
a very quiet private life withnot a lot of attention and interaction
with like strangers.
And it went from that to highvolume interaction with strangers.
People knowing who I am.
Like I have no regrets aboutdoing it the way I have or taking
people up on the opportunitiesthat they gave me.
(13:09):
But I didn't really have timeto mentally prepare for it.
So for me, getting a job, itmade me feel great because, you know,
that's normal to me.
Spending my days, you know,like really just dedicated to tech.
It feels right because thatwas my life plan.
(13:29):
The fact that I was able tomerge the two things, it's unreal.
Like what are the chances, youknow, but like somehow or another
it lined up that way for me.
So I'm loving it.
I have to be a little bit morepicky when I take my clients.
There are people who say to melike, I know that I don't have access
(13:50):
to you like the way thatpeople did before.
I don't care.
It takes as long as it takes.
But then there are others who,when I first got this started, like
I didn't have that worked outyet and they're frustrated and like
as I'm trying to figure outthese new ways of doing things, some
things are taking me much longer.
(14:11):
But like I like it.
It feels really good to me.
And there are enough peoplewho respect my process and then there
are enough people who come tome for very simple things that I
can do real quick as I'm onthese longer term projects.
But I'm very happy having both things.
When I first got started, Iincorporated Helen with the gold
(14:38):
teeth in another business likeBack to back, like, one day to the
next.
So it's like, I had multiplestreams of income when the pandemic
hit and I couldn't sell jewelry.
You know, I had my money from,like, my other company.
Like, I had more money comingin because that work didn't stop.
So I love having a job while Ihave Helen with the gold teeth.
(14:59):
It feels really good to beable to put the money that I get
back into the business insteadof worrying about having to take
care of myself.
And, like, a lot of peopledon't realize it's always been that
way for me, because before,the other thing that I did was my
own.
And it was more flexible,obviously, than working for someone
(15:21):
else.
But I am so much happier nowthat I'm doing both than I was when
I started, like, looking for a job.
They, like, picture you like,Mary Tyler Moore in the middle of
the street, throwing up your hat.
Cause you have it all now.
That's funny.
And it's funny because it'slike, I'll be in my situation at
(15:44):
work, and it's just, like,people don't know what to do with
that.
They're like, what are, like,one of my favorite people.
And it's like, I love regularpeople and being regular.
So to get up and do normalthings feels great to me.
I have no intentions ofstopping what I do or trying to disappear,
(16:09):
but I feel more grounded forwhatever else comes, you know?
Like, I've never had a viralmoment, and I'm so glad for it because
I think I would have gonemental if I did.
But if I have a viral momentand then get to get up and go to
work, that's gonna be so mucheasier for me to do because I won't
be distracted by that.
(16:30):
I'll be at work solving otherpeople's problems and learning, you
know, and that just worksreally well for me.
Do you have, like, with yourcoworkers, like, fun inside, like,
office Y jokes and stuff like that?
We do.
We do.
Like, when I first went back,like, it was a little bit awkward
because, like, people werejust like, what is this girl?
(16:53):
Yeah, she is.
What?
Yeah.
And I think there was, like,some hesitation for some people to,
like, interact with me toomuch or get to know me because I
was, like, very alien and justcome, like, with this baggage of
my, you know, being on socialmedia and, like, living out there.
(17:17):
But as time went on, peoplegot to know me a little bit more
and more and, like, understandhow similar we are and appreciate
those things.
So, like, I have differentkinds of inside jokes, for sure,
with people.
And the people I work with aresuper interesting.
(17:37):
Like, I work in a situationwhere it's like I didn't picture
at this stage of my life Iwould have this job because it's
a job I had when I was wayyounger, less experienced, and it's
like a similar income to whenI did it when I was younger.
And it's a little bit like Ididn't see myself doing that at this
stage of life.
(17:58):
And then like some of mycoworkers would be like, what are
you doing here?
Like, you literally could bemaking so much more money, like during
this period of time thatyou're sitting here compared to when
you're gone.
But I'm not the only one whochooses to do this instead of something
else, like really interestingand impressive.
(18:19):
Like the gentleman who sitsacross from me, he's a little bit
older.
He's like a robotics engineer.
Oh, wow.
And went to Stanford.
And like, we tell, we talkabout like little funny things, about
getting casted for things.
Like he had a stage in likecommercial acting for like, and like
(18:46):
catalog modeling and stuff.
Oh, nice.
You know, but he's just thisreally funny guy who I, I really
enjoy and appreciate.
And I don't think that I'm thefunniest person that I work with.
Like, I'm probably the least funny.
Like, some of the people Iwork with are hilarious.
And I would say outside ofinteracting with the technology,
(19:11):
our favorite thing about workis each other.
So that's a cool situation tobe in.
Absolutely, absolutely.
I was just thinking today I'mnot on like a current like film project.
And so I just wake up and Iwill start maybe checking my email.
Like I don't have a structure,you know.
And I was like thinking like,okay, you need to make sure you have
a routine.
Like in the morning, wake upand like go walk.
(19:34):
You know, like something to like.
I'll try to set theseroutines, but I don't really follow
them also.
But I need, I need to.
I realize like when I'msitting there just sort of like in
like a diz, I'm like, oh yeah,you need to follow a routine.
And having.
Having a job, you know, and Iwould be booked on something, it
(19:54):
is nice because it willprovide that and then anything from
my art afterwards.
It's like, it's go time.
But it just gives me like a structure.
That's how I became such acareer person in the first place.
Having something to anchor meand orient the rest of My life around
that also provides what I needto survive and feel okay in this
(20:16):
world.
And yeah, I think that Helenwith the Gold Teeth, why it happened
and why I got into thesebusinesses things was to have a structure.
Because, like, when I firststarted Ellen with the Gold Teeth,
I had my staff with me on, Iwant to say, Tuesday and Thursday,
(20:38):
and I saw clients on, like,Wednesday and Fridays.
And then I had alone time onthe other days.
And I took Mondays off for themost part.
And I kept it that way for along time.
And it was to have structurein my life because I feel.
I just feel better with that.
(21:01):
Yeah, it's so much better.
Shout out to structure.
So grills, jewelry making.
You know, you have beautifuljewelry on now.
It's a luxury thing.
Yes.
You know, and you know, ourpeople, we love to be fly.
(21:23):
How would you define luxury?
First of all, what do you think?
Luxury, I think it has acertain amount of exclusivity to
it.
There should be quality there.
I think it often has a legacybehind it.
(21:43):
When I was just trying tofigure out how to.
Where to place the bar forwhat I wanna make, I looked at how
other companies operated and,like, what it was that made them
them.
I think there should be a lotof just like, quality control around
stuff.
(22:04):
Sometimes it.
That exclusivity piece is,like, really important.
I've noticed over time, a lotof younger jewelers have picked up
my business model, which is byappointment only, and not everyone
can shop with me.
I think when it's luxury,obviously it should be about the
customer, but it's not justabout the customer.
It's about the brand.
(22:26):
And, like, you know, the idealcustomer gets that.
And they're not going to giveyou a hard time about it because
they're excited that they getto be a part of it.
And when I did, like, a formalbusiness plan and I was trying to
figure out how to scale, myfriend who's a consultant, who helped
me with that, he was like,helen, no, you don't have to do any
(22:48):
of that.
Like, and he explained to me,like, really how luxury brands get
to position themselves andhow, like, the customer cadence,
it's not about just the customer.
Like, it's really about the brand.
And what makes my jewelryluxury, I would say, is just, like,
how much attention goes into it.
(23:09):
Like today a pendant gotdelivered to a client.
I use a courier service.
It's like, no, don't trouble yourself.
This is coming to you.
I had someone who was justlike, so reliable with probably even
higher standards.
Than my own looking at ittoday and took it back for more finishing.
(23:30):
It made it to my customer, andshe was so happy with it, but she
noticed, like, one little nickthat looked like a scratch to her.
We're making arrangements forit to be fixed tomorrow morning before
she hands this gift over to someone.
And it's just, like, reallydoing everything within my power
to make it as good as it canpossibly be and to hand something
(23:54):
to the customer that matchestheir expectations for what kind
of what they picture somethingfor me should be.
Like, yeah, that's.
I get.
I want to ask, like, how couldone be a luxury brand?
Like, I think of.
I like.
(24:15):
I think of luxury, too, as,like, quality, you know, control.
Like, I know, like, even in myphotographs, I try to make them as
pristine as possible, printthem as pristine as possible, and.
But then I also will makethese pins that, like, sell for $15.
Yep.
Is that.
Is that okay to be luxury?
(24:35):
I mean, you know, when I firststarted selling jewelry, like, I
gave some away.
I sold some at cost.
You know, it's like, it didn'thappen, like, overnight for me.
And also, like, I highlysubsidized the cost of manufacturing,
(24:56):
and I continue to, because,you know, it's like, I'm putting
myself in situations where Ican take care of myself, not from
the business.
And it's like, it would bereally tight for me to just spend
that money on stuff I loveand, like, you know, just go to Vegas,
shop a bunch, buy myself crazythings, But I don't.
And it's going back into theproduct that's not luxurious at all.
(25:22):
So I think really, the luxuryis on the customer.
Like, the luxury is felt bythe customer.
More so when I'm thinkingabout that, you know.
Yeah, more of an experience.
Yeah, like, the experienceand, like, the goods they physically
receive.
Like, yes, you know, the pinsmight be $15 today, but who knows
(25:44):
what you'll be able to chargefrom later.
If you're doing everything youcan to make them, like, pretty decent
over time, you'll probablyfigure out ways to improve it.
If you want to become morecompetitive, you'll come up with
ideas about how to do it.
And also, not everything we dohas to be that, you know, like, not
every part of my life has tobe perfect, But I do try to hand
(26:09):
people perfect jewelry.
Yeah, I definitely try to.
The pins, I believe, are veryas perfect as can be now.
And I think the experience isreally good.
And I try to think of it at,like, at that price point, even as
you were talking, I remindedmyself, like, oh, yeah, you do that
for, like, my neighbors, youknow, like, the kids there, they
can buy the $15 pins, you know?
(26:29):
I love your brand.
It's so vibrant and colorfuland quirky.
I love your website.
And I wondered who yourinspirations are.
That's a good question.
I would say.
That's a really good question.
Like, honestly, it's just mejust doing whatever I want most of
the time.
(26:51):
I've tried to work withpeople, I've paid people who I wanted
to take over marketing for meand just be more formal with everything
and just kind of try toconform a little bit more to what
kind of E commerce people aresupposed to do.
(27:11):
But it just hasn't worked out.
Like, my website, when I firstcame up with it, it was just literally
me stoned at the computerdoing it until it was done.
To me, it was good enough theway it was for as long as it was.
And then I was like, okay, letme do a rebrand, so.
Or not a rebrand, but a revampof my website so I can plug in this
web store.
(27:32):
And I made this reallypristine web store that didn't match
my website, and I shut it downpretty quick.
It didn't feel like me.
It didn't look like me.
So, like, who influenced it?
It's hard to say.
It's more like the things thatI like, influence it.
Yeah, that could be inspiration.
Sure.
I love the computer.
(27:53):
I like more kind of likeprimitive graphics.
I've had a lifelong loveaffair with the computer.
And it's like I just remembersitting there in computers class
being like, holy shit.
So, I mean, I like thepixelated art for that reason.
It's just very guerrilla.
(28:15):
Like, being a student of mediastudies, I guess I kind of just like,
learned a lot about multimediaartists in the 70s and the things
that they were doing.
It's probably influenced bythat, but, like, the aesthetic of
the website, it's more likethat kind of stuff.
And then, like, the voice ofthe brand, it is probably just like,
(28:37):
my quirkiness.
Plus, obviously, like, whatever.
I can kind of like the thing,like the way that I present the jewelry
and explaining it.
I'm trying my best to, like,really be serious about that and,
like, sound serious as a jeweler.
Um, and then, like, how I amon Instagram, I'm just a wild person.
(29:00):
I just do whatever I want.
Like, yeah, I.
I like.
Part of me really genuinelywishes I could just like, be a little
bit more formulaic and just dothe thing and, like, you know, capitalize
on the science of it insteadof just do what I feel so that it
could grow more.
(29:21):
But no, it's like, it lookslike personal Instagram still.
And, like, my part of theInternet is really funny, you know,
So I try to put the funnyvideos on there.
My part of the Internet is,like, a lot of, like, Android memes
and hood memes, like, nerd stuff.
So it's like, it's a crossbetween just, like, me trying to
(29:44):
express creativity, seemserious enough as a jeweler, but
also just be the nerd that Iam and just be like, I like this.
Yeah, I can really relate to that.
Cause then my thought was nextis, like, balancing, like, quirkiness
with seriousness.
Because I have this, too,where, like, I'll be like, wah, wah,
(30:08):
wah.
You know, like, so silly.
And then.
But if I'm really talkingabout something, I'm serious, you
know?
Have you ever come up withsomebody being like, whoa, whoa,
Helen.
Okay, dude.
Like, it's not, you know,about being too serious?
Yeah, well, like, I feel like,you know, you'll be silly, but then
when it's time to be for real,it's for real.
But because people mightexperience me, like, in, like, this
(30:28):
humorous way, they're, like.
Shocked, I would say more sothan the humorous way.
It's like, I can be very nice.
Like, I love to lead with nice.
Being a nice person feels goodcaring about what people.
How people feel and whatpeople think.
It feels good.
(30:48):
But I do think sometimespeople mistake my kindness for weakness,
or they actually do catch meat a time when, like, I'm not really
feeling, like, my full self,and I'm not really, like, making
situations more about me whenthey could be.
And, like, people might havean understanding of me that, like,
(31:10):
I'm gonna bend over backwards,like, by default.
And that's just not how that is.
Oopsie.
I think that, like, I've alsogot a lot of vendors who I've overpaid
for things before learning orthat I've chosen to overpay because
I feel they earned that from me.
(31:32):
Like, I'm grateful for whatthey did.
And then it's like, I'll seethem kind of trying to take advantage
of the situation, and it's,like, based on.
They saw me another way, sothey think they can get away with
something, and it's just like,no, that's not how it is.
And, like, I do shock peoplesometimes because they'll be like,
(31:54):
she is so different right now.
And if I am really trying toadvocate for myself or put up a boundary.
Like, sometimes people arelike, whoa, that was too much.
Or they'll think I was mean.
Or sometimes people want meto, like, take them on as a client,
and I'll be like, I'm not available.
And they'll feel a certain wayabout it.
I've had people come to myoffice with an appointment.
(32:16):
I'll be like, I don't thinkthis is gonna work.
And I'll give them a refundfor their consultation.
I have customers whose jewelryI've finished completely, you know,
and I've, like, I've paid forthe cost of making it.
My staff has served them.
Like, I have spent all of themoney that they spent on the jewelry
and in some cases, some moreof my own.
(32:38):
And if something doesn't feelright, I gave them their money back.
So these are different waysthat, like, people were just like,
what, because they experiencedme differently or they heard something
about me and then it didn't gothe way they pictured it.
And it's like, no, I need youto be in the moment with me.
Be present, interact with me,and listen to what I'm saying instead
(33:00):
of, like, something else.
Yeah, yeah, that's good.
And then it's also, like, oneof those things.
Like, that's their problem.
It is, yeah.
It really is.
Afterwards.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I would say, yeah.
The answer to that is I do getdifferent reactions from people if
they pictured me another wayor if they've seen me be another
(33:22):
way.
Yeah, it definitely happens.
You know, I'm curious, like,where did you get the name Helen?
With Goldteith.
Was it just, like, bringing itback to the basics of your love of
BASIC with, you know, like,with the computer of being sort of,
like, straightforward?
I made the Instagram and,like, I had been toying with other
names, and, like, they were funny.
(33:43):
They were, like, all funny.
But then I was like, I'm justgonna do this because, I don't know,
it just had a ring.
I just came up with it.
And then, like, I was just like.
Immediately, I was like, yeah,I want it to look a certain way.
And a friend of mine who's atattoo artist and a graphic designer,
I was like, can you make thisthing for me?
(34:06):
I'll give you whatever.
And it wasn't much.
And he was like, yep.
So he made it for me, and Iwas just like, just make it look
like a emoji, but also make itlook like a cash money cover.
And he was like, got it.
And it was only, like, twodrafts in I was like, great.
Good enough.
And that was it.
Perfect.
Perfect.
Yeah, it looks great.
(34:27):
It looks great.
I aspire to make grills, youknow, like, I've been practicing.
I haven't gotten to the pointof making the metal piece yet.
And I thought to maybe try tosend, you know, to find, like, people
to help me just so I can.
It's expensive, you know, tohave all that equipment.
(34:49):
And so I just wondered if youmight have any advice for, you know,
beginners out there.
Honestly, the most importantpart of making grills is, you know,
getting good impressions anddoing the wax well.
So if you've spent a ton oftime working on that, you're already
ahead and you're ahead of mebecause, like, I hate doing those
(35:09):
things.
And if you want to send itout, just don't cast in gold, cast
in silver, or cast in low goldto spend as little money as possible.
And if after you makesomething, you go and scrap it and
you get part of the moneyback, you can put that towards the
next one you make, you know,So I would say do that.
(35:32):
There are some casters whowill say, you can bring me the medal
and then I'll charge you alabor charge.
Oh, there's a lot of ways.
Yeah, there's a lot of waysyou can approach it.
But I do believe for anyonewho wants to be a jeweler or make
grills, it is absolutely worth it.
Even if you have like a crappytabletop casting machine off Amazon,
(35:57):
get it and do the hands onbecause you will be so much more
advanced way faster.
Because I was so focused on,you know, cultivating a brand, establishing
a business and running abusiness, and it worked out very
well for me.
(36:18):
But, you know, I'm not asindependent as jewelers who started
after me, who just havecapabilities that I don't.
And it doesn't.
How do I say this?
The place where I went tolearn grills was the exact opposite
of where I went to go learn,like jewelry, like bench jewelry.
(36:40):
That guy's just like, itdoesn't matter.
Just these are the cheapestthings you can get.
Here's the links to Amazon.
Get that.
Don't think about anything else.
It's worth it.
Is it a nice community?
The jewelry community?
Is it welcoming?
You know, the jewelrycommunity, I would say, is like pretty
massive.
And I have some really greatrelationships in the jewelry community.
(37:03):
Like in the diamond district.
The people who I enjoy themost, they're just like working folks
who go there, do what theygotta do and go home.
Like they're not a part of,like, any jewelry scene.
They're like, oftentimes like,family men, religious and stuff like
that.
Like, one of my favoritejewelers is just like, this really
nice white lady who is anative New Yorker, and she just likes,
(37:27):
sells to.
She sells, like, like, reallycute jewelry to just, like, I think
white women who have a lot ofmoney, and she's just this really
nice person.
There are a handful of blackjewelers who, when I first got started,
I knew them from real lifebefore jewelry.
And I didn't realize, like,that that's what they were really,
(37:49):
really up to, as deep in asthey were.
But also it might be because Ididn't really understand anything
yet.
So, like, they kind of helpedme get settled in and introduced
me to another one of thejewelers who's been really, really
involved in my growth and,like, development.
My work as a jeweler has,like, really taken over my life in
(38:12):
recent years.
And now it's like.
Like I don't have as much of asocial life as, like, maybe I did
at other points in my life.
And I might not interact withas many people as, like, maybe I
would if I wasn't doing this.
Who knows?
Cause I could also not betalking to people.
(38:33):
But, like, if there's onething you can bet it's that I have
been talking to other jewelers.
So it's like my acquaintance,my acquaintances.
They are my friends now.
Like, if you really want toknow what's going on with me, if
I've been really quiet and youhaven't seen me, they know.
Yeah, some of them know.
(38:54):
Oh, that's very sweet.
That's very sweet.
Yeah.
Well, before I let you go, Ihave this little rapid question game,
if you don't mind.
Sure.
I would love to ask them for you.
If you don't want to, youcould just say skip.
That's fine.
They're so basic.
Okay.
They're so, like.
I think of, like, Hansel andGretel, like, skipping off.
(39:17):
I don't know.
But okay.
So what is your favorite month?
Wow.
Dang.
I never thought of that before.
For my favorite month.
I don't know, maybe September.
No, I'll say October becauseit cools down.
The leaves are changing, youknow, I love slowing down because
(39:38):
it's fall.
I love days getting a littlebit longer.
They're not crazy long yet.
It's not too cold yet.
Yeah, we'll go with October.
October.
Okay, great.
That's my birthday month, so.
I love that you said that.
Your favorite dessert.
I Love sweets, so that'sreally hard.
I love sweets.
(40:00):
If I had to say what myabsolute favorite dessert is, it's
like a giant slice of cakewith ice cream.
But like a lot of ice cream,not like one small scoop.
I sort of wanted to push youto say like a brownie a la mode with
like extra, extra ice cream.
Cause they never give you enough.
But sea salads, brownieAlamotes are good.
I used to always have myfriends come over to make them hot
(40:21):
fudge brownie sundaes and likemake homemade caramel and stuff.
But I'm not a big brownie person.
But like definitely like apiece of like cake from magnolia
or oh nice.
Or like a piece of yellow cakewith chocolate frosting or a piece
of German chocolate cake witha lot of ice cream.
(40:42):
Vanilla ice cream.
That's my favorite.
Sweet.
When I was young, my friendJames mom would make us those like
little Debbie brownies thatyou can get in the cellophane.
The mom would break em out andput in the microwave and put ice
cream on it.
So.
And it was good.
It was.
I'd never seen it before.
I was like wow.
Yeah, no, that's really good.
(41:02):
Would your 12 year old selfthink you are cool?
That's a funny question.
Honestly, like I live to likefeel like myself and I think that
at certain points in my life Iwould say especially so when I'm
very successful I'm consciousof that and it helps me enjoy my
(41:25):
life more.
I think that's why I insist ondoing the technology piece.
That's why I insist on likebeing friends with my middle school
friends specifically.
Cause I feel like that's whenyou start to really come into yourself.
I feel like that's like such a.
(41:45):
You're such a human whenyou're 12.
So like I truly do veryintentionally try to feel like someone
who is the same person as my 8year old self or my 12 year old self.
And sometimes I'll just belike that's.
I'll just be like, I'll juststart cracking up.
(42:06):
I'll be alone and I'll juststart cracking up.
Or like I went into my officethe other day and I've got like the
framed thing of like the Timesarticle and I just started cracking
up because I could not haveplanned for this.
But if there's one thing Iknow, it's pretty cool.
So.
(42:26):
Yeah, that's cool.
I love that you have friendsfrom middle school still.
That's really special.
Yeah, especially now, youknow, it's like For a couple of years.
It's just like I'm dealingwith so many people off the Internet,
day in and day out doing thisthing, you know, like, really being
out there.
So it really helps me.
(42:48):
And like, you know, beforeHelen with the gold teeth, when I
was really, really deep intocorporate life and the hustle and
bustle of, you know, midtown,like, big tech business, it's just
really humbling to, like, havepeople around you who already knew
you, already loved you.
(43:08):
Don't need anything from youexcept for you to be yourself and
to have a good time and tokeep being friends.
It rules.
I love that.
Yeah, that does really rule.
You're right.
And then my last question is,what is the best non curse word?
Insult.
What's your favorite?
What's your go to?
Ooh, my favorite insult.
(43:31):
That's not a cuss word.
That's hard because, like, Igot, you know, that's not a cuss
word and an insult.
Worsome.
Yeah, I would say it's worsome.
That's really good.
That's a good one.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Oh, my gosh.
Well, Helen, anything else youwant to share before we call this
(43:53):
conversation complete?
I really, really appreciatetalking to you.
I would say for anyone whowants to shop with me, yes, fill
out the form on my link treebefore you email me and like, really
answer the questions on there because.
(44:13):
Oh, that's right.
If there are complete answers,I'm more compelled to respond.
Don't send me photographs oflike, really like ornate designs
telling me your budget is like$100 or $200.
Please don't do that because Iwill ignore you.
(44:33):
And I am interested in makingthings that are not teeth.
And I turn around those ordersreally, really fast.
So come see me about those things.
And you'll definitely getpriority over people who want teeth.
(44:54):
I love that.
And then is it okay to ask,like, what?
Like, what would someone haveto save up, you know, or have in
the pocket to even think aboutworking with you, or should they
just try you and see?
It depends.
Yeah, like, if I'm seeing alot of clients in a day and you want
to come in and get one or twoplain gold teeth, I don't care.
I let them come in in betweenthe others.
(45:17):
But gold is at an all timehigh, which a lot of people don't
realize.
It's really, really, really expensive.
My labor expenses are veryhigh, I think.
Like, if you want to shop withme, I would say, you know, save a
thousand dollars.
If you want something verysimple, like Something special but
(45:39):
a little bit more simple.
Something that is true aboutme is that like I often over deliver.
So that's kind of like why Ilike to keep minimums.
Like for instance this thingon my desk that I'm looking at, she
asked for kind of like earthystones and I ordered like all these
(46:02):
humanely mined things from theUnited States.
They were too big.
I also made the metal and itdidn't look like it was going to
fit right.
I made that again, you know,and it's like to land what she wanted
to see, I ended up switchingto like diamonds, pink sapphire,
yellow sapphire.
So I like to have wiggle roomso that like my customers can cover
(46:26):
those expenses instead of me.
So save a little bit of moneybut also never hesitate to ask for
a quote when people fill outthat form.
Yeah, it is to establish acadence with me, not necessarily
to start shopping right away.
(46:46):
So like things are reallyexpensive to make.
So like have some respect for that.
I heard that if you arecurious and just like not informed,
don't be shy.
I'm happy to like givereferences for like what something
cost when I sold it before.
And like I try my best to makeit so when a customer goes and they
(47:08):
tell someone what they paid, Ilike for it to be as uniform as possible
or I'd like for them toexplain why they paid as much as
they did.
If I gave them a big discount.
I want them to keep theirmouth shut really.
But yeah, like if you want toshop with me for gold teeth, like
save a little bit of money orcome and ask me what you want to
(47:31):
save based on what you wantand something really interesting
that I've been doing lately.
And it's like I can't do thisfor everyone but like I have long
term followers who they paidin chunks instead of like buy outright,
which is my policy.
Like you have a consultationwith me, you owe me 100% of the balance
(47:53):
is how it normally goes.
But I have these very longtime followers and supporters who
were never customers and I'veseen them that whole time.
I've appreciated them thatwhole time.
So when they see me it's likethey don't pay the consultation fee.
They're not gonna stand me upfor that appointment because like
they haven't stood me up as alike fan, you know, and I'll have
(48:17):
them pay in chunks and put iton a payment schedule and then you
know, most of the time oncethey hit like 100% paid, I start
that labor.
But like you know, Like, Ihave people who have more than one
set of teeth for me who'venever paid me anything.
You know, I have people who Ido a lot of work for who just never
(48:41):
paid me anything.
It's different for everyone.
So I would just say berespectful and, you know, ask questions
about things you don'tunderstand and, like, be patient
with me and I can bringclarity and probably serve you.
That's really, really nice andgenerous and thoughtful and very
(49:06):
on business.
I love this consultation form.
It's also like, you know, letme see.
Make sure you're not crazy.
Yeah, it can't be.
It used to be like, you know,you'd fill out a thing, form and
a deposit, and then like,someone on my team would be like,
okay, these are the people whoare coming today, and I would, like,
literally not know who they were.
And then it's like back toback, I'm seeing like five or eight
(49:28):
strangers who I literallydon't know who they are.
And thank God, so often thatworked out very well.
And they were people who Ilike, adore and have relationships
with now, like, they've becomemy friends or I'm a fixture in their
life, you know, and that's awesome.
(49:49):
But then the flip side of itwas some of them, it didn't go so
great.
So I've got these things toinsulate myself and get more experience
with people.
But, like, you know, when I'mtrying to do a lot of work real fast
or do a batch of jewelrytogether, sometimes I'll just throw
(50:11):
the booking link up and say,hey, you guys, grab your slots.
And then once the people arebooked, I'll call em on the phone,
talk to em a little bit, andthen approve it.
And then the calendar willbook them and it will take that deposit.
It will turn that deposit froma pending transaction to an actual
deposit.
So, yeah, and it also dependson the capacity I have.
(50:35):
Like, if my social battery isreally charged, I can move like that.
But if it's not, you know, andI have to protect my energy, it might
be a little bit harder to,like, get me to do something.
But once you're my client, I'mgoing to take care of the jewelry
and it's going to be probablybetter than what you imagine.
Yes.
Your work is truly, truly beautiful.
(50:55):
Thank you.
It really is.
Yeah, thank you.
I appreciate that.
Helen is so multifaceted, right?
Engineer, jeweler artist, dj.
I love a girl who has it all.
Also, can we talk about howsmooth Helen's voices?
Seriously, go ahead and playthis Episode again when you're about
(51:17):
to take a nap.
Helen, if you're listening,what's up?
What's up with the ASMR collaboration?
I'm just saying it could besomething with some lush gardens,
some diamonds, some clouds,and just you and I whispering the
word like over and over again.
Mixing in gold, luxury, legacy.
What a dream that would be.
(51:38):
What a dream that would be, y'all.
Also, I would love if youwould let me know what you thought
about my nosy round of questions.
If you listen often, you wouldnotice that that was something new.
And this is actually somethingthat I've been doing in a lot of
my interviews and I even madea whole beat for it and I still have
(52:00):
it figured out how to placethis segment within my conversations
without really messing up theflow of the show.
So I'm gonna have to figure itout and I'll present it to you one
day.
One day.
One day.
Hopefully soon.
So I hope you love thisconversation as much as I did.
I've included a bunch of linksabout Helen, including how to inquire
(52:22):
about her jewelry and grills.
But as Helen said, you need tocome correct.
Okay.
And last thing, shout out toher Stanford robotic engineer coworker
who somehow had time to be acatalog model.
I just love that so muchbecause clearly we all contain multitudes.
So go ahead and explore everyone of your interests, because why
(52:45):
not?
Alright, that's it for today, y'all.
Thank you so much forlistening to Uzi up and I'll catch
you next time.
This has been another episodeof Nosy af.
I'm your host, Stephanie Graham.
What did you think abouttoday's conversation?
I would love to hear your thoughts.
Head over to the Nosy AFwebsite for all the show notes related
(53:06):
to this episode.
You can also find me on Instagram.
Tefanie Graham, what would you know?
Or online@missgraham.com whereyou can sign up for my newsletter
where I share exclusiveupdates about my studio production
practice as well as this podcast.
Until next time, y'all staycurious and take care.
Bye.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.