Brianna Schatt channels early 2000s childhood into beaded jewelry business

Senior documentary and peace studies double major Brianna Schatt started her jewelry business when she was alone in her room one summer to make people feel empowered by their own style and personality. Photo by EMILY HEWITT, features & entertainment staff writer

As a child, Brianna Schatt would make accessories for her American Girl Dolls’ houses out of cardboard and paper. She would ensure they were well-fed by making them food and stylize them through handmade plastic jewelry. Her favorite doll was Rebecca, which is also Schatt’s middle name. 

Now, as a senior documentary and peace studies double major, Schatt creates beaded jewelry for real people and sells it on her Etsy store, which has had 73 sales, and at Chapman University events, such as the Flower Moon Festival and concerts at Bodhi Leaf Coffee Traders. 

Photo courtesy of Brianna Rebecca

Her brand is called By Brianna Rebecca, and she told The Panther she sells a variety of jewelry, including bracelets, anklets, necklaces and rings in an assortment of colors, patterns and sizes.  

During the summer of 2021, Schatt had moved back to Orange and was alone in her college house since her roommate was back home in Los Angeles for the summer. Although she enjoys her alone time, she needed something to keep her busy, so she went to Michaels and left with a couple strands of beads. 

It wasn’t long before she started stringing different patterns together. 

“I gifted a couple of little necklaces to my friends, and they were like, ‘This is so cute, you can actually sell these. I think people would love to wear these,’” Schatt said. “So that's when the epiphany moment happened.”

With the colorful early 2000s aesthetic taking over Schatt’s Pinterest boards during the COVID-19 lockdown, she was inspired to take her business’ aesthetic in that eye-catching direction. 

“After such a dull period of time, like the pandemic, I think we were lacking vibrancy, so when these trends started to pop up, I felt like it was my wake-up call to help cultivate those trends, bring them to life and help people express themselves in a way that maybe was in hibernation while the whole pandemic was going on,” Schatt said.

While on a trip to Hawaii for a documentary course in January 2022, Schatt came across several bead shops that had fresh water pearls and tropical pendants featuring turtles and flowers that she had ever seen. She then started incorporating these elements into her jewelry for a more sophisticated feel so people of all ages could enjoy her creations. 

“Beaded jewelry can appeal to younger kids and give off Claire's vibes, but there are pieces my mom would wear too, so some of the necklaces got more sophisticated than maybe just your average beaded necklace,” Schatt said.

Her most popular necklace is the Brynn, named after her friend and roommate who wears neutral colors. It features various shades of brown beads, split up by pearls to give it an elegant look that can go with a variety of outfits from an everyday jean and white t-shirt combo to a classy trouser and corset ensemble. 

Schatt’s grandfather is from Turkey, so she also incorporates the evil eye in several of her pieces because it comes from Turkish culture and is meant to ward off the negative energy and keep your surroundings pure. 

Elif Narbay, a senior biochemistry major and one of Schatt’s biggest supporters, highly appreciates the evil eye jewelry Schatt makes because Narbay also comes from Turkish lineage. 

“It's a really good thing to wear evil eyes,” Narbay said. “It brings good energy and protects you from the bad energy. I think all of her jewelry is beyond just aesthetics. It has good energy.” 

At events where Schatt sells her jewelry, she decorates her table with crystals and flowers to add to the good energy surrounding her jewelry. When she mails off Etsy orders, she includes a couple of stickers from other small businesses on Etsy to pass along support to fellow creators. 

“By supporting my small business, you're supporting other girlies’ small businesses,” Schatt said. 

Schatt’s pieces are made-to-order, which means she gets busy making the orders right away. The necklaces with smaller beads often take her 20 to 30 minutes to make, the bracelets take her 10 to 15 minutes and the rings take about five minutes. She said she sees jewelry-making as relaxing because the rest of her day is often very stimulating. 

“I typically listen to music in the car, and I'm interacting with people all day,” Schatt said. “So I feel like when I sit in my bed and make my jewelry, it's like my me-time. It's usually silent. I just let my imagination run wild and see where it takes me with the patterns.”

When Schatt first started her business, she would receive two to three orders a week because she would advertise a lot through Instagram ads and post on her page. The biggest order she ever received was around 20 necklaces from a girl who was going to Spain and wanted to give them out to her friends, which took Schatt several days to finish. 

Although she’s slowed down due to her busy schedule, she hopes to get back to this pace once she graduates. She also wants to expand to making earrings. 

As a fashion lover, Schatt recommends pairing her more colorful jewelry, like her Sage necklace, with a white tank or corset and groovy pants that match the jewelry's color. With a simpler necklace, Schatt recommends wearing a wilder patterned dress or skirt that the necklace can simply compliment. 

“I think the cool thing about this jewelry is it's so versatile,” Schatt said. “You can wear a funky fun (necklace) with a basic outfit or a more toned-down but still stylish one with a pop of color outfit.” 

Schatt preaches to follow your own style though and not to be afraid of individuality. 

“I think what you wear, in general, is just a fun means of expressing yourself and promoting your individuality,” Schatt said. “With my jewelry, I hope that you can put it on and feel empowered to be yourself.”

Schatt emphasized that she makes all her jewelry with love and her goal is to make people smile on the harder days. 

“I hope they put on (my jewelry) and get an instant serotonin boost because it matches their hair accessories or their outfit, radiates a little bit of sunshine and also expresses their personality," Schatt said.