Meet Madison Jewelinski | Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Madison Jewelinski and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Madison, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Well… my thought process behind starting my own business was one that took years and years to fully realize. I have been in the arts/a creative my entire life. My mom put my twin sister and I in dance classes when we were little girls and we pursued it all the way through our adolescent years. When we turned 18 we moved to LA to pursue dance professionally and by the time I was 19 I had booked my first world tour. It had been my lifelong dream to be a backup dancer for an artist. I began to travel the world and live out that fantasy but I had this nagging feeling I couldn’t ignore that I was made for more. It might sound bad.. but while on tour I couldn’t help but be bothered by the fact that MY JOB was to further SOMEONE ELSE’S career. At this time in my life my entire identity had been tied to the fact that I was a dancer & suddenly I was feeling my love for that craft drift away. After about a year and a half of traveling and dancing I decided it was time to call it quits. ***Que identity crisis*** Times were hard and confusing for a little bit which led me to look inwards. I looked back at my life and tried to remember all the things I loved growing up that brought me joy. At the top of that list was clothes and fashion. I remembered the days when my mom would let my sister and I ditch school so the 3 of us could go shopping together. I LOVED those days. Thinking back to those times I had an “A-HA” moment. Why not try fashion? While this revelation was happening I was living in an apartment on my own and had bills to pay so I was still taking random gigs as a dancer doing music videos, shows, etc. I got booked for a M.V and showed up to set one day. I happened to get there earlier than everyone else so I walked into the wardrobe trailer with a suitcase full of clothes I was asked to bring as potential options to wear. I opened the suitcase and started to pull out pieces as another dancer walked in. “OH! Are you the stylist?”. Thats what she asked me. I giggled and told her no, but I was flattered she even considered I might be that person. Those 5 words she said to me stuck in my head all day. I took it as a bit of a sign and decided I was going to make friends with the stylist that day and pick her brain a little. Before we wrapped I gave my info to the stylist and told her if she ever needed extra hands I would love to help and learn. Not much time had passed before one day my phone rang and BOOM! I was suddenly interning for one of the biggest celebrity stylists in LA learning the ropes. I was thrown into the ocean. It was stressful, everything moved so fast, I worked insane hours… but I had also never felt so alive and aligned with my purpose. Because of the clientele, I was exposed to a library of clothes I didn’t even know existed in the world. My brain started going a million miles an hour and one thing led to the next and I soon after found a short term fashion design program I could attend for a couple months to learn women’s design. Those were some of the happiest months of my life UNTIL… lockdown. I was a few days from showing my first collection in my first fashion show when the world was shut down. I was devastated. I was hoping to find a job working for some brand as soon as I completed my schooling to continue learning and gaining experience but that clearly wasn’t going to be an option for a long time. That’s when I decided it was finally my time to make MY JOB nothing but trying to further MY CAREER. I utilized that time during covid to put on my entrepreneurial hat and build my first brand. I never looked back! I have come so far and I still have so far to go but I wouldn’t trade this life for anything in the world. It’s a blessing as a creative to be able to carry out your own visions entirely without anyone else telling you what to do or how they want you to do it. I am grateful every day. Even the days that are so incredibly hard, which anyone with their own business knows there are many!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
As an emerging designer I’ve always taken pride in the fact that I’m constantly trying to bring fresh new ideas and concepts into the fashion world. I love being an outside of the box thinker. Social media has played a huge role in why my career is where it is today. Social media can have a certain stigma but it can also be used as a tool to help launch your career forward. Anytime I finish a piece I get so excited to share it with the world but I think the important thing is that any time I do share – I don’t sit around and wait for the world to react or “like” it. Instead I choose to trust that my work will attract the right people’s attention at the right time and while that process is happening I’ve already moved on to the next idea. Believing in my work and trusting that process has led to some amazing opportunities. The most proud I would say was getting to design a couple outfits for Lil Nas X. I will not hesitate to say I was probably not ready for that opportunity… but I chose to trust in myself and my designs the same way the person who discovered my work did and it ended up being such a beautiful and exciting experience that I will be forever grateful for. I learned and grew so much. I really believe that any person in any career needs to say yes to the opportunities that scare them. There is no amount of money worth the lessons you can learn about your craft and yourself in doing so. Sharing my work on social media also presented me with the opportunity of competing in a design competition. That opportunity also felt big and scary but the risk was 100% worth the reward! I was fortunate enough to win that competition which then gave me the opportunity to design my first collaboration with a brand called “Round Two” which will be dropping in November. Again, I learned an invaluable amount during that process that I will carry with me through the rest of my career. I plan on saying yes to the rest of any “big and scary” opportunities that come my way. Life really does start at the end of your comfort zone.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Oh gosh. What ISN’T there to do in LA?! I have lived here for 9 years now and i’m STILL discovering new places to go and things to do. If I had someone come to visit we would probably spend most of our time eating food and shopping. We would start the day with a little drive to Pasadena for breakfast and coffee at Copa Vida (they have the best breakfast burrito in LA in my opinion). After that we would head towards West Hollywood/Beverly Hills to shop. We would stop by many stores but I would make sure to prioritize some of my favorites: H.Lorenzo, H.L.N.R, Maxfield, & Jetrag (always gotta do some thrifting). Next we would grab some smoothies from the farmers market at the grove and walk over to Pan Pacific Park to rest and take in the pretty day. We would end the day with dinner at L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele in Hollywood and then we would head to the Wayferer hotel in DTLA for a nightcap and some live music at their speak easy called the ‘Lilly Rose’. That paints the picture of just one of a million different fun days you could have in LA!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My shoutout goes to my family. They have never once told me that I can not achieve any of my wildest dreams. They have never stopped believing in me, encouraging me and supporting me on my journey.

“You can and you will” as they’ve always said. <3

Website: madisonjewelinski.com

Instagram: madisonjewelinski