Katie Dudas walked into Cancer Bridges in Pittsburgh’s Strip District realizing she was finding her hair and make-up accomplished. What she did not know was that she’d be invited to product for the spring Sabika Jewelry collection catalog.
Cancer Bridges, formerly Our Clubhouse and Most cancers Caring Middle, delivers absolutely free packages and products and services to these impacted by cancer. Sabika is a corporation owned by females based in Robinson.
Sabika and Cancer Bridges, located in Pittsburgh’s Strip District, partnered to give a working day of splendor and a professional picture session to 20 cancer individuals and their liked kinds.
“The crew from Sabika questioned me if I wished to design, and I was like, you really don’t turn into a design at this age,” said Dudas, 42, of Crafton Heights. “When you go by means of cancer procedure you not only drop your hair, you also get rid of your eyebrows. Most cancers usually takes a toll on your self-esteem and on your overall body, but it felt so superior currently being in the existence of all people women who were hyping up every other. They were being stating, ‘Oh, my God, you glance wonderful!’ I however just cannot imagine it.”
Uplifting gals has been the mission of Sabika given that the initially necklace clasp was mounted, the 1st pair of earrings was hooked and the very first bracelet slid around a wrist. The crystals and stones sparkle. When you see a Sabika piece, it has a unique seem.
But for founder Karin Mayr and her daughters — Alexandra Mayr-Gracik, CEO and head designer, and Miriam Mayr, government director of revenue and marketing — the character of the lady who wears the baubles shines through as very well.
Courtesy of Natalie Morris
Katie Dudas, of Crafton Heights, is a person of the products showcased in the spring Sabika jewellery catalog.
“It’s not about the jewellery,” stated Karin Mayr, an Upper St. Clair resident who launched the line in 2001. “The jewellery is just the software. It is really about producing assurance and pleasure.”
That philosophy was instilled from Day Just one, when Karin Mayr made the decision to commence the enterprise in a instant of money have to have for her spouse and children. She had no investors, just the aid of spouse and children and friends. She told herself that if it was productive, she would fork out it forward.
She has guided it to turn into a multimillion-greenback firm.
Because its inception and together with consultants and corporate donations, the enterprise has lifted extra than $3 million for area and nationwide charities. Via Sabika Pink Social gathering, Sabika has funded extra then 10,000 mammograms.
Their most current endeavor is to donate $5 from every single Electrical Spring Collection item bought in April to Ladies Inc., an group that provides mentoring associations, risk-free areas and proof-based mostly programming for ladies. Electric powered Spring Selection is an exceptional collection of Sabika London chokers, bracelets and earrings in 5 electric powered hues. Beginning April 1, Sabika will have a landing site at www.sabika-jewellery.com/sabika-cares for the partnership.
That philanthropy has been passed down to their daughters, Karin Mayr’s spouse, Konrad Mayr, explained.
“They supply the magnificence for when shoppers glance at by themselves they feel a lot more full and a lot more beautiful,” he reported. “They spend meticulous awareness to how the jewelry appears to be like on a selection of persons with every selection.”
Sabika utilizes parts sourced from vendors throughout Europe. The jewelry is marketed by means of far more than 1,000 consultants, who really do not have to get stock like some other organizations call for.
When the pandemic hit, the small business product switched to selling wholly on line, which was a seamless transition, Mayr-Gracik said. Consultants connect with buyers by way of social media and offer a hybrid of in-individual and online events.
“It’s the finest of the two worlds,” stated Mayr-Gracik.
For the latest collection, natural designs and classic parts performed important roles, claimed Mayr-Gracik, who life in Mt. Lebanon. Each and every piece is hand-crafted by feminine artisans in Austria and Germany.
Sabika is a fusion of the names Sabine and Karin. Sabine’s spouse and children owns the company of the jewelry. She gave Karin Mayr a variety of jewelry to start off. As a thank you, Karin Mayr bundled her in the title.
Sabika collections are made as “stories.” The recent one has 10, these as the Lavender Wellness Tale and the Celery Juice Story.
The spring selection will be available by means of April.
Sabika launches total collections each spring, summer months, drop and winter season, together with two ALMI by Sabika collections, a new sister brand name combining the first letters of “Alexandra” and “Miriam.”
Designs and colors are devised from craze studies researched by Karin Mayr. She mentioned the most recent collection complements “the striking monochromatic shade developments that you see in all the publications and storefront home windows appropriate now.”
“I hope this collection evokes joy for each individual of our one of a kind prospects who will use these items with pride and pass them across generations like sensitive and very affordable heirlooms,” Mayr-Gracik mentioned.
When coming up with, Mayr-Gracik strives to maintain the Sabika favorites, and introduce new shades, textures and factors. It’s about preserving the assortment new, she reported.
“It is challening, but I love a problem,” Mayr-Gracik explained. “The a lot more I am challenged, the much more creativity arrives out. This city has so substantially creativeness listed here. I like operating with classic elements, and appreciate that much more and extra individuals are interested in vintage outfits. It is this kind of a optimistic impression for the natural environment. I want to be able to develop a collection that has a thing that appeals to all people, so they can express themselves.”
Mayr-Gracik and her sister function nicely jointly. Miriam Mayr said Sabika, its items and its small business opportunity are a “light switch” to a woman’s splendor, but it is also the spark to some thing bigger.
“We see this awesome interior change that occurs when a woman begins to really feel her importance, well worth and power in an fully new way,” claimed Miriam Mayr, who lives in the South Hills. “If we can get extra women of all ages to faucet into that strength, we can go mountains.”
With Sabika, it is about genuine neighborhood women showcasing the assortment, Karin Mayr claimed. This yr attributes women of all ages from a multitude of fields these types of as a respiratory therapist, dentistry resident, electronic entrepreneurs and mothers, and demonstrates how the jewellery will work for a variety of seems to be and life.
“These women of all ages provide the selection to life,” Karin Mayr said. “We adore utilizing local gals to model our jewellery for our catalogs and site.”
Supporting a person this kind of as Dudas feels good, Karin Mayr explained.
“You experience on your own when you are dealing with cancer,” Dudas reported. “The Sabika team are girls-owned, and they carry up ladies. It’s challenging to explain, but they produced all of us sense wonderful. They built us all really feel so great about ourselves, since when you meet up with other most cancers clients, it is a shared knowledge. To see my images with all of the other ladies is amazing.”
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop is a Tribune-Evaluate team author. You can speak to JoAnne by email at [email protected] or by means of Twitter .