Empowering Women Through Forging Purposeful Connections – Ever Afther Jewelry
After two corporate layoffs in 2020, Julie Sloan was looking for inspiration. She had spent decades in her corporate career building teams and empowering women. How could she put a little sparkle back into the world and continue to empower other women while in this healing process?
She reflected on her past and looked to the future. When had she personally felt empowered and supported by other women? As an Alpha Gamma Delta - Delta Beta alumna she reflected to her college days in the 1980s, where the sorority sister community was her first experience with women supporting women in a “sisterhood”. There was so much symbolism surrounding sorority sisterhood, including keepsake jewelry from those days that meant a lot to Julie.
Instead of returning to a corporate job, Julie started making small-batch handcrafted jewelry with meaning and symbolism of the bond between women. She launched her jewelry brand, Ever Afther in 2021.
Today, Julie’s brand Ever Afther is a licensed sorority jewelry vendor for 20 national sororities across the U.S. and Canada.
Her brand supports sorority sisterhood events, raises money for philanthropies, and does pop-ups around the U.S. There are 26 national sorority chapters, in 670 colleges that support “Greek life” in North American colleges and universities. Each year hundreds of thousands of young women become members of Greek organizations and remain active members through their college years. Upon graduation they stay connected as life-long alumnae.
“Just like matching outfits or tattoos, women feel connected through wearing special jewelry. Be it a wedding ring, a bracelet or a pendant that shares a meaning for the wearer. Jewelry connects people and creates a sense of belonging.”, explained Julie.
Ever Afther goes beyond selling jewelry online. Julie has curated a unique jewelry bar experience. Through these fun events, Ever Afther brings the spontaneous fun of permanent jewelry to sorority sisterhoods, philanthropy events or girl's night outs. “The wearers can design their own jewelry. They can make it permanent with our safe 'zap' welding process or add a clasp. These experiences make the connection even more special,” she elaborates.
For Julie, Ever After is so much more than jewelry. It’s about the connection between women and her ability to leverage her business to empower others.
In the past year, Ever Afther raised over $10,000 in partnership with women inspired nonprofit organizations. Due to her sorority connection, she mostly works with Panhellenic Council teams at colleges around the U.S. to raise money for their philanthropy, Circle of Sisterhood. This non-profit foundation is on a mission to remove barriers to education and improve the lives of women and girls worldwide.
Since 2010, the Circle of Sisterhood Foundation has removed barriers to education in 30 countries on four continents! There are 213 sorority campus communities and 27 sorority alumnae organizations supporting Circle of Sisterhood with their fundraising efforts.
Julie sees this as a movement that elevates women around the world. “There is a ripple effect of impact. It starts with one person putting a thought into action. This helps other people see we can really build each other up while on our own journey to find purpose”, summarizes Julie.
About Impactika Consulting
We at Impactika Consulting help do-gooders do better through purpose-propelled® consulting. We are a digital marketing, strategy, and social change consulting firm. We help for-purpose organizations take on the world’s toughest challenges in digital rights, social and economic justice, education, and more.
As an advocate for both business and doing good, Impactika is a women-led team committed to helping organizations around the world find impactful and meaningful ways to market their purposes and connect with others. We don’t do memes. We will never buy followers. We will not create spam. We believe in creating and spreading the word about purpose-propelled people and businesses.
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