Daily Inspiration: Meet Jazmin Erving and Ivy Welburn

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jazmin Erving and Ivy Welburn.

Hi Jazmin and Ivy, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
We are best friends who love to explore nature and rock hounds as a hobby. On one of our adventures with our kids, we encountered a stranded driver in the woods of Mount Shasta who had an unfortunate incident with a deer. He totaled his car and was in desperate need of help. After a 7-hour wait for a tow, we became very friendly. He asked what we were doing there and we casually mentioned their was our rock collection waiting for us at our cabin. He asked – Do you like crystals? We love crystals!! I happen to own crystal mines… Our lives were changed from that moment on.

As a thank you, he invited us to his “happy place” which was five miles up to the top of a mountain -where jewels grow inside. It was the most glorious invitation inside Mother Earth that changed our lives in the most profound way. After looking at all the other mountain tops across Nevada and California, we were suited up and got to stick our hands in the earth. What we pulled out was nothing more than amazing. Hallelujah Junction Mine is known for its near-perfect scepters with Smoky Quartz, Amethyst and Citrine running through the mountain. Leave it to Jazmin to pull out the largest stone of the day on her first try! We were hooked and wanted to share our newfound treasure mountain with the world.

After cleaning our freshly dug jewels in a hotel bathtub, we realized how we could bring a small piece of our mining experience to everyone. BECAUSE I ROCK was born. We bring crystals from our affiliate mines in their original mud. Served up with a toothbrush, bowl and cleaning supplies, The experience allows each recipient to clean or “birth” their own crystal. The crystals are all over 1 million years old and the mud that will be washed off is also prehistoric. It will probably be the oldest thing they will ever hold and then it becomes theirs.

The experience that we bring to events, homes and in to-go kits is always a first time for everyone. It brings everyone closer to the earth and to each other. What we have learned in this amazing mining life is that rocks grow, they have an origin story and we are here to tell it.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
If anyone ever says that the road into any mine is not bumpy, they have never been. We are pioneers in many ways in this industry. We are the first African American women to own a mine. This new legacy was all built because of a small gesture of kindness. It has grown roots in all directions. That being said, being the first of anything is challenging. We have been invited to sit at the most prestigious table in the mineral collecting world, yet we often encounter those that will not accept us because we are new to the industry, we are women and are proudly African American. We walk into the room at the Tucson Gem Show, and it’s like the record stops. We now always enter the room saying, “The girls are here!” and now, they pull out our seats.

Our other challenge is what most new companies go through. Finding the revenue stream that can fund everyday operations and help us grow. We are self-funded and decided to commit every dollar into making BECAUSE I ROCK a new way to crystal. Every day our presence grows and as the experience of cleaning crystals becomes known as the most fascinating activity, our company will live out its true potential.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
We are Crystal Miners. We will go to the end of the earth to be able to crawl inside of it. Mining is the most thrilling life we never knew existed. Every location has its own personality from the team to the weather and always – the landscape.

When we are mining at the Hallelujah Junction mine in Nevada, we scale a mountain 5 miles in a special vehicle and dig through a vein of Smoky Quartz, Amethyst and Citrine that are millions of years old. This mountain is known for its scepters and produces more crystals than you can carry home. Jazmin has a reputation for pulling out the big ones. She found a grapefruit-size Smoky Quartz – on her first pull! Ivy is happy with her pockets filled with gems that cant wait to be washed at the end of the day.

Mining in Georgia (at our mine – the old Tiffany & Co. mine) is done under a lake. Twice a year, it is drained and we get dirty. It is glorious. Amethyst “grow” at the bottom of a lake – just very slowly. All crystals are over a million years old and these are over 50 million years old – that is why we mine them with chopsticks!

Herkimer Diamonds are the oldest known crystal in the world at 450 million years old. Mined in hard rock, this requires hard work but is so satisfying. Imagine gems just falling out of the earth for you to keep forever. Our good friends, Deena & Larry of Diamond Mountain Mining have an amazing bed & breakfast on the grounds. You wake up, eat your eggs and DIG! (DiamondMountainMining.com)

This life of ours is both thrilling and fulfilling. We have a true love for Mother Earth and all of her fruit. She has blessed us with being able to see her insides and share it with the world.

The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
BECAUSE I ROCK was born because of the pandemic. Ivy was a celebrity florist who decked many halls in Hollywood. Spending Christmas as Santa Claus was getting old and in 20 years, she never had her own Christmas, Mother’s Day or Valentine’s Day. Those days are now over. Mining is the only activity that seduced her enough to give it up – for good.

Jazmin ran her own non-profit and coordinated many high-profile events. She was also looking for a change of pace and a way to live life fulfilled. All has been changed because of that stranger waving his arms in the middle of the woods.

Truthfully, we were pretty scared to be in that car together in June 2020, but we all learned a lesson in humanity. He needed help and so we helped. It can just be that simple to change your life.

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Contact Info:

• Website: BECAUSEIROCK.COM
• Instagram: @because_i_rock
• Facebook: Because I Rock
• Twitter: @because_i_rock
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bl4EwaPYKyk
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/because-i-rock-north-hollywood