Ellie Hildebrand loves to read, and clearly certain books have impacted her since childhood. She says the names of authors and books she loves with reverence, and her excitement is contagious as she speaks their names: “The Giving Tree”; Wendall Berry”; John Steinbeck”; “Sequoia.” And her face lights up as certain sentences and passages come to her mind.
It’s not surprising that Ellie majored in English, but it is surprising she chose technical marketing as a career and excelled in it. After a very successful career in California as a tech marketer, she and her husband Jay moved to Lookout Mountain with their three children at the same time Ellie was looking for a career change. Like most women, Ellie goes weak at the knees for jewelry, but not many of us can cobble a career in that field.
Ellie confesses that she loves to shop. And, she knows exactly what she’s looking for, at least in the jewelry department. She was searching a special piece of jewelry that called her name, that was meaningful and that she could put on and never take off. Aren’t we all on a similar quest for that perfect piece? She also wanted to find this elusive bauble at the perfect price point, something not so expensive it stayed in the jewelry box, but not so cheap it turned color or broke or worse, caused a reaction on sensitive skin. No matter how far and wide she searched, she couldn’t find what she was searching for. So, Ellie flat out created it. And ended up with an amazing line of jewelry when she did.
With no background in jewelry at all, Ellie downplays her ability to decide to do something and basically just dive right in and do it! “I love fashion and literature,” she says, shrugging her shoulders. “I am my own target audience,” she explained. Sister Homage, her jewelry business, offers what Ellie calls “high quality staples that are low maintenance but have meaning.” But this jewelry is more than that. It speaks. It doesn’t sit in a velvet box and stay in its place on the shelf. No. Her pieces find their way into your hands and as you feel their weight and details and symbols, you hear their stories. As you hold these beautiful things up in the light, you find you connect to that heavy ring, adorned with the birthstones of your children or the Castle ring or the Frida necklace, which pays homage to Frida Kahlo and her poem “You Deserve a Lover.” “You deserve a lover who takes away the lies and brings hope, love and poetry,” Frida writes.
I happen to own a pair of her hydrangea earrings. My daughter-in-law gave them to me, and besides the fact that I am fool for native hydrangea, the description of them on the Sister Homage website reads, “May you live from a place of abundance, beauty and grace.”
Each piece Ellie creates was inspired by words of authors who move her, whether they are living or not. And as you browse her website, sisterhomage.com, you can’t help but find hope and inspiration and words to live by.
By Ferris Robinson
It’s not surprising that Ellie majored in English, but it is surprising she chose technical marketing as a career and excelled in it. After a very successful career in California as a tech marketer, she and her husband Jay moved to Lookout Mountain with their three children at the same time Ellie was looking for a career change. Like most women, Ellie goes weak at the knees for jewelry, but not many of us can cobble a career in that field.
Ellie confesses that she loves to shop. And, she knows exactly what she’s looking for, at least in the jewelry department. She was searching a special piece of jewelry that called her name, that was meaningful and that she could put on and never take off. Aren’t we all on a similar quest for that perfect piece? She also wanted to find this elusive bauble at the perfect price point, something not so expensive it stayed in the jewelry box, but not so cheap it turned color or broke or worse, caused a reaction on sensitive skin. No matter how far and wide she searched, she couldn’t find what she was searching for. So, Ellie flat out created it. And ended up with an amazing line of jewelry when she did.
With no background in jewelry at all, Ellie downplays her ability to decide to do something and basically just dive right in and do it! “I love fashion and literature,” she says, shrugging her shoulders. “I am my own target audience,” she explained. Sister Homage, her jewelry business, offers what Ellie calls “high quality staples that are low maintenance but have meaning.” But this jewelry is more than that. It speaks. It doesn’t sit in a velvet box and stay in its place on the shelf. No. Her pieces find their way into your hands and as you feel their weight and details and symbols, you hear their stories. As you hold these beautiful things up in the light, you find you connect to that heavy ring, adorned with the birthstones of your children or the Castle ring or the Frida necklace, which pays homage to Frida Kahlo and her poem “You Deserve a Lover.” “You deserve a lover who takes away the lies and brings hope, love and poetry,” Frida writes.
I happen to own a pair of her hydrangea earrings. My daughter-in-law gave them to me, and besides the fact that I am fool for native hydrangea, the description of them on the Sister Homage website reads, “May you live from a place of abundance, beauty and grace.”
Each piece Ellie creates was inspired by words of authors who move her, whether they are living or not. And as you browse her website, sisterhomage.com, you can’t help but find hope and inspiration and words to live by.
By Ferris Robinson
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