Meet Jennifer Hurless and Jennifer Noonan of A Token Of in Agoura Hills

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Hurless, Jennifer Noonan.

A Token Of was developed as a passion project by two creative women entrepreneurs who saw a void in the jewelry market for an affordable modern locket. Jennifer Noonan and Jennifer Hurless came together after working on several branding and design collaborations to develop a product that someone could buy that was meaningful to them while also giving back.

“My sister collects lockets and when I looked for one as gift for her, the only ones I could find were either vintage, looked vintage or were in an unaffordable price range for the average consumer.” – Jennifer Noonan, co-founder of A Token Of. “I spoke to a business partner of mine, Jennifer Hurless, about collaborating on designing a modern locket. One of the things she brought up was the difficulty people have of actually putting a photo into the locket. Together we decided that we would design a modern locket and a tool that would make it easy for people to get a photo to the right size to put into the locket.”

To develop the lockets, A Token Of founders, Jen Noonan and Jennifer Hurless, spent months in development to create a locket that had a meaningful virtue ( symbol ) and worked on functionality and aesthetics. It was important to them that all production and design was to happen in Los Angeles. Coming from a design and technical background, Jen Noonan, was able to build the website, as Jennifer Hurless, with a marketing and design background, created the social media channels and digital marketing strategy. The website allows customers two easy options for photo insertion; self-upload and print option or A Token Of will do it for them.

A core part of the company’s mission to be a charity based company, the founders partnered with charities they believe in to help bring awareness and raise funds.

Currently, A Token Of features eight traditional style modernized lockets and one new style that is based on the religious vintage slide locket. All lockets give 10% of the proceeds back to their partnered charity.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The biggest struggle is learning to work together to move forward to achieve our common goal. Fortunately, we both have run successful businesses in the past and know how to recognize our talents and shortcomings. “Being in business with someone is a lot like a marriage, you have to know how to compromise and communicate in order to be successful. ” – Jennifer Hurless

One of the things that we have learned, especially in the design process, is to ask each other, “how important is this to you?” In almost every decision, one of us has a stronger opinion than the other, so we move forward in that direction. I also believe that we are both very good at decision making, and in any business, you have to be able to make a decision and commit to it. And, we have made wrong decisions that have set us back, but both us are able to understand that is a normal part of growing a business; learning from mistakes and moving forward.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with A Token Of – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We are a specialty jewelry company that not only provides a sentimental piece of jewelry like a locket but a piece of jewelry that also gives back. It completes a full circle of giving both to yourself and others in a personalized way. One of the biggest problems people have had in the past with lockets is being able to get a photo to the correct size to fit into the locket. We have solved that with a photo resizing tool on our website. We offer to put a photo into the locket or someone can do it at home themselves. It’s really easy.

To be able to give as much as possible, A Token Of uses a direct to consumers method, selling online to be able to offer a more affordable price point, allowing more people to be able to purchase and ultimately be able to increase donations to selected charities. When selecting a locket, a person can select based on symbol (virtue), color or charity. It’s what speaks to them. Each locket has a diamond on the back to wear close to your heart.

As a company, I believe we are most proud of the fact that we have everything made locally in Los Angeles and most of our selected charities are based in Southern California. It means a lot to both us to be able to give back to not only our charities but also to our community.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Our plans for the future include refining our brand to be able to design and create a locket for any charity that needs help with fundraising. It’s nice to design a beautiful piece of jewelry that becomes personalized when someone puts a photo in it of something they love. We’d love to be at a point where we see people wearing our lockets and be able to ask them if they put a photo in it and why that photo and talk to them about the charity they gave back to by purchasing the locket. That would be a great moment.

Contact Info:

• Address: 28914 Roadside Dr. Suite 204
  Agoura Hills, CA 91301
• Website: www.atokenof.shop
• Phone: 818-579-9980
• Email: hello@atokenof.shop
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/atokenoflockets
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/atokenof
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/atokenoflockets

Image Credit:
Mike Azria (models), BingBuen Images (product)

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.