A lifelong learner fueled by color, curiosity, and community. Founder Dee Berkley’s love-affair with creating goes all the way back to when she was seven years old and would remove the spiral plastic binders from her siblings’ notebooks, cut the rings apart, color them with crayons, and sell them as rings. A true creative with an innate knack for knowing which designs people are drawn to, Dee continued on to build an impressive career in the jewelry industry until she launched her own personal line in 2003 after her daughter Maddie was born. Since its launch, Dee Berkley Jewelry has grown from a living-room-run business to a wave-making, head-turning line of hand-crafted gemstone designs and creative fine-jewelry collections. Both Dee’s designs and her undeniably magnetic energy are inspired by her mom, an industrial designer and landscape architect by trade who designed everything from iconic logos to zoo enclosures. From placing sapphires in window sills to see if she could alter their hue to learning jewelry CAD design in her 80s, Dee’s mom remained curious and creative to her last day—and Dee carries on that same energy today as a lifelong learner who believes it’s never too late to start something new (and who is never afraid to kick a societal standard to the curb). The notion of what you’d wear with a plain white t-shirt is the canvas for each new piece of jewelry Dee designs—and it’s her goal to create heirloom-quality pieces that don’t break the bank (stuffy, stale, and serious need not apply). Above all, every piece of Dee Berkley Jewelry is light, airy, and infused with meaning and happiness. Her favorite part of crafting jewelry that spreads smiles? It gives her the opportunity to give back to charitable causes. Philanthropic efforts are at the core of her female-owned and female-operated business—and nothing makes her happier to come into work every day than knowing she’s built a brand that gives back. Dee believes few things in this world are as impactful as positive energy and playfulness—both of which you’ll find buzzing in the air at her studio as shoppers sip champagne and she and her tribe of talented women design jewelry. (Seriously—you have to check it out.) A people person through and through, she believes in the power of a good tribe (some of her favorite pieces are named after her friends), a great stack of beaded bracelets, and an always-messy desk (hers is usually covered in beads, wire, and coffee-stained sketches). When she’s not dreaming up designs or collaborating on new pieces, you can find Dee watching her daughter ballroom dance (or taking to the dance floor herself), spending time with her amazing husband and her wild (and endlessly supportive) extended family, or soaking up fresh air with friends. The one piece you’ll never catch her without? A bracelet with her daugher’s birthdate on it—she wears it daily as a reminder of what it was that inspired her to launch this bold brand in the first place.
