East grad makes mark in jewelry industry
Wausau Daily Herald, WI
For those who knew her when she was growing up in Wausau, it’s no surprise that Tracey Mayer has become a top jewelry designer.
It’s taken about eight years for the 1977 graduate of Wausau East High School to develop a reputation as both a designer and producer of high- end jewelry. Her creations for men and women have been spotlighted on the Home Shopping Network and in magazines such as People Espanol and Cosmopolitan. She has a line of men’s jewelry sold at Nordstrom, and she expects two other major retailers to begin selling her work in fall 2008.
None of it has come easy for Mayer, 48, now of Chicago, but an artistic bent with a stubborn business temperament has brought her this far.
Baby steps
“It just takes so much perseverance to try to get somebody to take notice,” Mayer said. “In my case, we’ve taken many baby steps as we’ve grown.”
She really took the first steps here.
“I got interested in fashion when I was 10 or 12 years old. I don’t know why or how it happened,” Mayer said.
She started sewing. She begged her parents to take her to Madison to shop for clothes, so she could develop her own sense of style.
“When Tracey was growing up, she always had a flair for looking good,” said Wendi Hall-Gonzales, 48, of Lutz, Fla. Hall-Gonzales, now an attorney, has been friends with Mayer since they were in first grade at Longfellow Elementary School. “She always had a love of jewelry. And nice stuff.”
After graduating from high school, Mayer earned a degree in fashion merchandising and business from the University of Wisconsin-Stout.
She moved to Chicago, and through the years has worked in retail and advertising. She has taught at the Illinois Institute of Art.
Cultural inspiration
But travel in Asia spurred her to design her own line of jewelry. She’s married to a native of India, and the colors and style of the region inspire her.
“My design ideas come from many sources, however, the underlying sense of peace I find while visiting Indonesia and India promotes a great deal of creativity,” Mayer said.
Her jewelry is “big and bold. Everything I do is big and bold,” Mayer said. “It’s not for everybody. … It’s for someone who doesn’t want to blend in with everybody else.”
It’s for someone such as the Porsche-driving Hall-Gonzales. “It’s big, bold and gaudy, like me,” Hall-Gonzales said. “I like statement clothes, statement jewelry. … And her jewelry makes a statement.”
Mayer uses raw materials such as high quality silver, native Asian stones, pearls and antique coins to produce the work. Asian artisans make her jewelry. It all means she has had to develop a reliable international business network. That’s not an easy task.
“When you see the finished product, (it’s like) ‘Oh, this is so beautiful.’ You have no idea what it takes to get it (there.) It’s extremely difficult,” Mayer said.
Persistence pays off
Marketing the product in the United States required just as much persistence. “I have busted my rear end for the last eight years, pounding the pavement,” Mayer said. “I’ve attended major trade shows throughout the country.”
Like the love of fashion, Mayer’s business drive had its roots in her childhood, too.
“She was always very independent. She sets high goals for herself, and she doesn’t stop until she reaches those goals. … I kind of marvel at her myself,” said her mother, Gail Mayer, 72, who still lives in Wausau. “I do remember her telling me, I’m never going to work for somebody else. I’m going to work for myself.”
For Mayer, it’s a matter of striving to provide something that people love to wear.
“That’s what keeps me going, people coming back to me, saying how much they like it,” Mayer said. “That’s what really energizes me, keeps me going and makes me want to create more.”
