After refining her homemade jewelry craft in the pressure chamber of the American school system, Anna Dragun ‘27, founder of gemz4brainz, has brought her expertise to Lafayette College’s entrepreneurial scene.
“I like to collect things spontaneously and then make them into jewelry,” Dragun said.
Dragun has an extensive collection of supplies to create her art with, including beads, gems and other materials that she has gathered from various places over the years. She said she is often inspired by individual pendants that she comes across for new pieces.
“Sometimes I go off of one piece or the color of the pendant,” she said, although she added that she takes different approaches depending on the piece. “Sometimes I go off of just throwing stuff together.”
Dragun mostly sells her work while tabling at in-person on-campus events and takes custom requests through her Instagram account @gemz4brainz. She said she hopes to create a website before graduating from Lafayette.
The art progressed from a hobby to a business with the beginning of her first year of college, Dragun said. She described that her favorite part of the job is hearing about the confidence boost her customers receive from wearing her pieces.
Adrian Santopatre ‘26, who has purchased three necklaces from Dragun, said they admired her craftsmanship.
“She will not just sell something to you because she wants to sell something,” they said. “She will try to pick up the thing that is most your vibe.”
Santopatre said that they also respected Dragun’s reasonable prices and close attention to detail.
“She’s always steered me in the right direction,” Santopatre said. “I’ve always appreciated that about her.”
Dragun said she considers many factors when pricing her products.
“It depends on the time that it takes me to make certain pieces, and also how much the materials cost,” she said.
While there’s a lot to love about the business, Dragun said that it can be difficult to handle the constantly changing market for her products.
“The fluctuation in sales, sometimes selling out, and then other times, only selling a couple pieces,” Dragun explained.
She is most proud of a choker that she crafted out of ribbon and other supplies that she had in her collection.
“That was something that was totally new to me,” said Dragun. “That took me so long, but when it was finished, it was like, this is awesome.”