DANA ASHMORE of Gratitude Collaborative

Dana is the founder of Gratitude Collaborative, a boutique gifting studio with the mission of giving gifts that give back.  The sale of every gift box sold through Gratitude Collaborative helps provides meals to those in need. Since it’s inception in 2014, Dana’s company has contributed an extraordinary 35,300 and counting meals!  In addition, Dana is also a highly accomplished TV Producer, who worked her way up from intern on the Ryan Seacrest Show in Atlanta to Producing Partner of Frank Darabont (creator of the Walking Dead). She is also expecting her first child and already mom to Lucky and Faith two of the cutest little pups around.

You know when you meet someone for the first time and they just make you feel so comfortable, it’s instantly like you’ve known each other for years? Dana is one of those people! She’s warm, open, and funny, and a hardworking lady after our own heart with a no-nonsense attitude. Dana’s jewelry is a mix of everyday heirlooms, old and new, and changeable fun fashion pieces, she doesn’t have to worry about losing. We can relate to it! 

WHAT DOES “KEEPSAKE” MEAN TO YOU? WHAT PIECE OF JEWELRY COMES TO MIND WHEN YOU THINK OF KEEPSAKES?  

Keepsakes are ways to hold onto memories of people you care about. A constant reminder of love. I have three things that mean the world to me, a pussy willow from my dad, cotton from my family’s farm in Georgia, and my grandmother’s wedding rings. These are the only items I would grab if my house was on fire, besides my husband!

FIRST JEWELRY MEMORY? 

       My dad gave me a 2 faces ring he got on a trip and said I would have a job in entertainment. I loved it, but it was sterling silver and broke pretty quickly. I’ve never been that sentimental so I don't remember being upset about it.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PIECE IN YOUR JEWELRY BOX?

My engagement ring. I was actually one of the top wrestlers in my high school and I remember wanting to have an engagement ring that I could wrestle with, something really sturdy and low. I saw one at Tiffany’s and it was so perfect, I told my dad that if any guy ever purposed that’s the ring I wanted. Fast forward several years, when my husband asked my dad for his blessing, my dad remembered the ring and told him the exact one to get. Obviously, I no longer wrestle, but I still love the ring and the story behind it!

ANY JEWELRY SUPERSTITIONS OR RITUALS?

      No superstitions, but my husband does have a nice ritual of buying me a new pretty stacking ring for every anniversary he’s out of town. Does that count?

WHAT ARE YOUR EVERYDAY PIECES OF JEWELRY?

      A pair of studs, my grandmother’s wedding bands, my wedding bands, currently I’m too pregnant to wear my engagement ring but usually that and a simple necklace. I’ve been wearing a Hamas that I found on ground thought would bring me luck. When I found it, I’d been trying to have a baby for two years and was always looking for things to give me good luck. And I am excited to wear my new Starling solitaire.

ANY FAVORITE ANTIQUE PIECES?

 My grandmother’s wedding band and engagement ring, actually I wear them every day. She was married during the depression and there was not a lot of money, so they are just plain simple gold bands. My grandparents had such a long and loving marriage, the rings remind me that true love isn’t about anything material.

WHAT JEWELRY HAVE YOU BOUGHT RECENTLY?

   Earrings from Anthropologie! I never buy expensive earrings, because I always lose them and sterling silver breaks on me, I don’t know why! So Anthropologie has super cute cheap earrings.

HOW MANY JEWELRY BOXES DO YOU OWN?  

Ha – not really any. I have lots of little boxes and a pillow for my earrings, but I’m so pregnant going up and down the stairs is a real hassle so currently everything is in my TV stand drawer.

FAVORITE STARLING DESIGN? 

I keep coming back to the moon and star necklace, it’s so sweet. I imagine my son as my star and me being his moon.

TELL US THE STORY OF GETTING YOUR EARS PIERCED!

I was a baby and I don’t remember at all. It was just what everyone did in Georgia. I think they did it tell the difference between girls and boys because we all had the same hair cuts and hand-me-down clothes.

Thank you, Dana and Lucky! And many congrats on little boy Ashmore coming any second now!!

xoxo

Chelsey & Tracy