Editor’s note: Made in Tarrant is an occasional Q&A series on small businesses started in Tarrant County. Submit your business here.
Wanda Hise’s leap from fashion merchandising graduate to municipal court judge may sound atypical, but the reason was simple.
She and her then-husband moved to the West Texas town of Kermit in the early 1980s, and related opportunities in the area were scarce. Hise found herself working as an attorney’s assistant, a role that eventually led to her judgeship.
When they later moved to North Texas, she decided not to return to the bench, instead choosing to travel and watch her daughter play her final two seasons of collegiate golf. To stay busy while at home, she took beading classes, and her love for designing jewelry was born.
Now, Hise is the owner of Ruby Jewelry, and she sells pieces inside area shops as well as online.
She spoke with reporter McKinnon Rice about how she threaded her hobby into a small business.
The interview has been edited for clarity and space.
Contact information:
Website: https://www.ruby-jewelry.com/home
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rubyjewelrytx
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rubyjewelry
McKinnon Rice: Can you tell me about your business and how it got started?
Wanda Hise: I was a municipal judge for 13 years out in West Texas, and 15 years ago, I took early retirement. My husband was in oil and gas at the time, and this was a hot area for the drilling, and so we moved to this area, and I didn’t want to go back to work and be a judge anymore. I wanted to take some time off because my daughter was playing her last two years of college golf, and I wanted to be free to go watch her play and travel.
But I needed something to do whenever I was at home, so I took some beading classes and just fell in love with designing. That’s how it all came about. It started out as a hobby and turned into a small business.
Rice: Where do you sell your jewelry?
Hise: I sell it at The Market at Ridglea in Fort Worth, I sell at Piccolo Boutique that is located in Salons of Volterra off Team Ranch Road in Fort Worth, and I sell at Sisters Boutique and Two Sisters Teahouse in Aledo. I sell online and on Instagram, and I just started a website for Ruby Jewelry.
Rice: Can you tell me a little bit about the kind of jewelry that you make?
Hise: I like to stay up with the trends. When I first started making jewelry, I loved turquoise so I made a lot of Western type pieces. I still do, but I try to stay up with the trends, and I like to make wearable fashion art.
Rice: About how many pieces do you sell per month?
Hise: Well, let’s see. Of course, I make collegiate jewelry. TCU is one of my big customers. In August, I sell quite a few pieces of the Horned Frog jewelry.
I would think, probably on an average at The Market in Fort Worth, I sell probably about 25 to 30 pieces every month.
Rice: Do you run the entire operation yourself?
Hise: Yes, I do. I pick out all of the jewelry. I go to different venues for my beads and for all — I call them notions — for my pendants and my charms. I come home and I sit at my dining room table and listen to music and create. So, yes, I make everything myself.
Rice: About how long does each piece take you to make?
Hise: Well, it depends on if I have a clear vision and when I string beads if it comes together really quickly. Sometimes it’ll take me two minutes to string something, and sometimes it takes me a couple of days. It just all depends.
Rice: How did you choose the name Ruby Jewelry?
Hise: I am a July baby, and ruby is the stone for July, and red is my favorite color. And actually, Ruby is a nickname. A lot of my friends call me Ruby, so I was searching for a name, and I thought, well, I can remember that, and it’s easy to identify, so I’m just going to call it Ruby Jewelry.
Rice: From where do you draw your inspiration?
Hise: Well, I actually have a fashion merchandising degree, and I go to the Dallas Market Center a lot with a very good friend of mine. She is a designer and also has a boutique, and so I stay up on all the color trends when the different seasons roll around.
And then I just get inspirations. I see something on TV, somebody in a movie that has a unique piece of jewelry, and I’ll take a picture of that, or in a magazine.
Sometimes I just see something, like if I go antiquing, I see something in an antique store, and I see a pendant and I bring it home, and I just think what kind of beads would look good with it.
So there are just different inspirations that I come across sometimes that help me design my jewelry.
Rice: Do you have a favorite piece of jewelry that you’ve made that sticks out in your memory?
Hise: Yes, one of the first pieces that I ever made, and I actually kept it, and every time I wear it, I have people offer me money. It is a turquoise piece.
The turquoise pieces are called sticks, and they’re kind of pointy. You run the string through the top of it, and in between each piece, I put a unique silver spacer with gold on each side.
I like to mix gold and silver together so people will feel comfortable wearing whatever color they want of metals.
That’s my favorite piece. I have restrung it two different times because I’ve had it since 2012. I’ll never give it up. That’s going to be my piece.
McKinnon Rice is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at mckinnon.rice@fortworthreport.org.
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