Today we’d like to introduce you to Sierra Jeong
Hi Sierra, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
JOOHWA Archives is named after my father Joe Joohwa Jeong who started his jewelry business in 1988 in Honolulu on the island of O’ahu, where I was born and raised. The name is a quite literal interpretation of the jewelry that we carry, as most of our pieces are from my parents’ jewelry business’ back stock inventory. Though it was never my intention to start a vintage jewelry business, the idea was planted in my head by a few friends of mine after I brought a ring box for them to browse through for fun. A tin box that once held my favorite ‘ebi senbei,’ or Japanese shrimp crackers, had found itself morphed into a container of sterling silver rings from my father’s original collection of inventory that he purchased in the late eighties. He had sold these styles of rings at his very first kiosk called ‘Gold Kingdom’ in Waikiki, but after five years here he found himself at his first permanent retail location in 1993 at Waikiki Beach Hotel rebranding his business as ‘Kobe Jewelry.’ The name he chose for his business was the result of the booming tourism industry catering to Japanese tourists at the time, and he and my mother continue to operate their jewelry business of 36 years under this name.
Growing up I was immersed in the world of jewelry from visiting my parents’ shop daily to joining my father on wholesale runs to the various offices on island to browsing my mother’s jewelry box. Every moment of exposure to these shiny little objects left me in awe and wonderment of the beauty encapsulated in such small forms. Though I was always fascinated with jewelry, as a second-generation child of immigrants, there was a sense of responsibility and duty to heavily pursue academics. Pursuing business or something creative was never actively presented as an option or discussed, because of the unspoken understanding and agreement that I would pursue a career of more financial stability and academic prestige.
Fast forward to 2020, like many around the globe, the pandemic forced me to confront and think a lot more about the direction of my life and what I really wanted to explore. It just so happened that during this time, I had also returned to Hawai’i from my very short-lived attempt (of two weeks) to move to Los Angeles (the first time around) before the COVID-19 lockdowns. When the lockdowns were announced, my parents needed to pack up all the inventory in their store and so I went along with them to help. It was then that I came across even more than that aforementioned shrimp cracker silver ring box. In three different drawers, there were Hawai’i tourist pendants from the 80’s, jade pieces from the 90’s and Swarovski acrylic rings from the early 2000’s gently tucked away and forgotten. And as we kept packing up more of the shop, I continued to find more. Up until that point, I had never realized how much inventory my parents’ still had from their previous shop locations and collections from the past.
With the approval of my parents who had little interest in the inventory from decades past, I gathered the pieces that I personally loved, packed them up and brought them home. As the world began to slowly open up in early 2021, I chose to do my very first pop-up on island with a well-curated local market of artisans and small businesses called Art + Flea. And following that market, I not only continued to do markets monthly, but also was presented the opportunity to collaborate with another AAPI female-owned brand The Consistency Project courtesy of the founder and owner Natasha Halesworth who was also born and raised in Hawai’i like myself.
In late 2021, I decided to try once again to move to Los Angeles, and have continued doing pop-ups and markets both in LA and Honolulu ever since. And now JOOHWA has evolved into a business that not only carries pieces of my parents’ past inventory, but also other AAPI-owned businesses. My objective with this business is to support other small local AAPI businesses, while curating a selection of jewelry that I am confident my existing and loyal customer base finds interesting and fun to peruse through.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I don’t believe in an easy, paved path towards anything truly worthwhile. Even paved roads eventually weather over time and it’s about being mindful and wary of the timing of when it is appropriate to either address the road itself or find an alternative way to still arrive at the destination of your choice. Struggle builds character and not only widens but strengthens perspective and empathy.
Some character-building, perspective-widening and empathy-strengthening I’ve journeyed through include but are not limited to the intense anxiety I have felt pre-markets during market prep (it has gotten better in increments), questioning my choice to pursue a path that veers quite far from the degree I graduated from university with/my own ego associated with this, and the consistency in showing up for the business outside of markets from consistent social media engagement and updating the online shop. As of 2024, I experienced my very first negative sales day at a market, and market days where I just broke even, and it made me question whether or not doing this is actually sustainable.
There are many fears around putting myself out there too – “Who cares about this?” “What kind of value am I bringing to the table?” “Is what I’m doing anything that special?” – there are so many thoughts and questions of self-doubt that run through my mind, but I’ve realized that the only way to address these thoughts is to first, talk to people you trust and secondly, put things into action. Having people you trust, who can hold space for you and encourage you is so crucial to getting through the feelings of fear and being in a rut. And there’s only so much that happens when you continue to have never ending internal dialogues with your own thoughts, so you need to have forward momentum. Something that I constantly have to remind myself of time and time again is to “just take one step forward.”
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
We specialize in curating a collection of jewelry pieces from the 80’s through the early 2000’s primarily from AAPI-owned small businesses. I really take pride in my ability to find pieces that align with the aesthetic of JOOHWA that I’ve cultivated over the past 4 years – though it really is just an extension of my own personal style. From sterling silver to 14k yellow gold, we have an assortment of jewelry from bracelets, rings, earrings, anklets, chains and pendants to additional accessories such as money clips, cufflinks, tie clips, brooches and lighters. We also have pieces with amber, turquoise, ruby, sapphires, emeralds, pearls, black coral, black onyx and more. An additional specialty of ours is in our offering of a selection of rings for those with ring sizes smaller than a size 5, as small as a size 1 but more commonly between sizes 2-4, and are now starting to source more rings for those size 12 and up as well. If you are looking for specific sizes and styles, I ask customers to send me a DM because when I source I keep a look out for those special requests and love when I’m able to find people something that is special and perfect for them.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
The Artist Way by Julia Cameron (book/workbook)
Mindset by Carol S. Dweck (book)
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck Podcast by Mark Manson (podcast)
How I Built This with Guy Raz (podcast)
The School of Greatness by Lewis Howes (podcast)
Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess by Dr. Caroline Leaf (podcast)
Brené Brown: The Call to Courage on Netflix
Ali Abdaal on YouTube
Contact Info:
- Website: https://joohwaarchives.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joohwa.archives
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joohwa.archives
Image Credits
Amber Mallouf (@mountainspirit)
Alice Choi (@aliceyechoi)
Kristine Andrada (@krisupreme)
Natasha Halesworth (@theconsistencyproject)
