Second Life Podcast: Maria Dueñas Jacobs

Welcome to Second Life, a podcast spotlighting profitable ladies who’ve made main profession adjustments—and fearlessly mastered the pivot. Hosted by Hillary Kerr, co-founder and chief content material officer at Who What Put on, every episode offers you a direct line to ladies who’re recreation changers of their fields. Subscribe to Second Life on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anyplace you get your podcasts to remain tuned.

Maria Dueñas Jacobs utterly modified the world of kids’s equipment when she launched Tremendous Smalls, a playful, gem-studded equipment model devoted to children. Rapidly changing into essential at youngsters’s birthday events and a beacon of enjoyment for teenagers who dream of adorning themselves with playful but lovely equipment, Tremendous Smalls has elevated youngsters’s equipment in a manner like by no means earlier than. 

The inventive thoughts behind the model, Jacobs began her profession within the style business. With a powerful background that seamlessly blends style, editorial experience, and model improvement, Jacobs has over a decade of expertise as an equipment editor, and later director, for prestigious publications corresponding to Glamour and Elle, and in addition performed a major position in model improvement at Sew Repair. Nevertheless, it was her private life, as a mom to 3 younger daughters, that offered the actual inspiration for Tremendous Smalls. 

The genesis of Tremendous Smalls got here from a easy but profound interplay together with her center daughter, Luna, who was 5 on the time. Luna, like many youngsters, was fascinated by her mom’s assortment of superb jewellery. Recognizing her daughter’s want for lovely equipment of her personal, Luna proposed a deal: She would chorus from enjoying together with her mom’s costly items if she had her personal “subtle” equipment. This negotiation was a lightbulb second for Jacobs, who realized she might mix her skilled experience together with her maternal instincts to create one thing particular.

Drawing on her in depth background, Jacobs got down to develop kid-friendly jewellery that did not compromise on magnificence or the fun of unboxing. She aimed to re-create the posh expertise related to manufacturers like Cartier or Tiffany & Co. for a youthful viewers. The outcome was Tremendous Smalls, a model that launched in 2019 to speedy acclaim. Every bit of jewellery was designed with youngsters in thoughts, from the playful designs to the gorgeous yellow packaging that promised an unboxing expertise harking back to opening a treasure chest.

However Jacobs did not cease at jewellery. Understanding the various pursuits of kids, Tremendous Smalls has expanded into different classes, together with footwear and crafts, catching the eye of main gamers, resulting in collaborations with iconic manufacturers like Disney, and incomes a coveted spot on Oprah’s Favourite Issues checklist for 3 consecutive years. Pay attention to the most recent episode of Second Life to listen to how Jacobs created a model impressed by a mom’s love and crafted with the experience of a seasoned style editor.

Hold scrolling to find Tremendous Smalls’ best-selling merchandise.

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