Elijah and Rhonda Wyman is a wonderful couple hailing from NC. The duo creates earth friendly handmade jewelry and their designing is super cute. They started up back in 2004 and since then, they have been doing a remarkable job.


"We really do care, a lot. For the past couple years we have been making earth friendly changes within our business and personal life.This was not because it was 'the in thing' but because we began to educate ourselves about the state of our earth, and started thinking about raising children. We love our earth and want them to have a chance to appreciate it as we do. So we needed to change a lot, and we have", shares the couple.


More than anything else, I appreciate the effort they put in to come up with awesome designs by not letting our environment suffer. Catch their interview below with an adorable documentary showcasing this couple's small world with 'Figs + Gingers':




Elijah and Rhonda, please introduce yourself to E-junkies.




Hi. We're Elijah & Rhonda Wyman. We are designers in Asheville, NC and make pretty goods under the brand Figs + Ginger. You can find Figs' jewelry and party supplies on our website, through sellers like Uncommon Goods + soon Anthropologie. We also sell to loads of little boutiques and stores worldwide.
































'Figs and Ginger' looks beautiful! We would love to know about its inception.


Rhonda studied metal-smithing at RISD and Alchimia in Florence, Italy, so she was making jewelry that would evolve into Figs through College. I was touring the North East playing songs and studying writing. We met at a music festival I was playing. Ra (Rhonda's nickname) was running an art exhibit. We met when I offered to share my umbrella during a rainstorm. Less than a year later we were married (at 19 yrs old!) and starting businesses together.


We opened a shop, sold jewelry, set up and played shows and worked horrible jobs in the beginning. We bought a crappy house 700 miles away, site unseen, while I was in the hospital getting a kidney transplant (random deadly disease, wtf?!). Ra was working 50+ hours a week nannying, then an extra 15-20 hours a week on Figs while I was too sick to get out of bed, it was pretty nuts. Then we moved to Asheville and quit our jobs. We had 4 months of money saved up before we told ourselves we would start job hunting again. Luckily Figs took off thanks to some great press, the start of Etsy, and a risky move into the Wholesale world. We didn't need to find horrible jobs to supplement our art. Best day of my life. That was 4 years ago. This is obviously really abridged!









































Tell us about the range of products you guys offer at 'Figs and Ginger'.




Totally. We make flora and fauna inspired, sterling jewelry. Our most popular line is a Mother's Necklace that comes with 1-4 baby birds and parent birds. We try to make subtle/sweet everyday wearers that stand out. We've always given all of our sterling a blackened finish. We think it makes it stand out. We also have adorable, tiny studs and rings with hearts, birds, bunnies, whales and more.


























We now have a bunch of new wedding and party goods that were received really well at the NSS 2011. Edwardian inspired bunting, cake toppers, customizable cedar hangars and table cards are a few of the products we're selling at FigsandGinger.com. Some of this stuff has been picked up by Anthro for their site. We're really excited about that. We've wanted to work with them for a long time.







I saw the documentary you've posted on your 'about us' page. It's adorable but it seems a lot of work. Is it sometimes challenging to manage everything?




Ha, yeah. Our dreams are always bigger than our reality. It's loads of work to run Figs + Ginger, but I can't imagine the alternative. Sometimes we get so frustrated and tired with Figs that it doesn't seem worth it, but only for a minute. I'm just grateful that we can work together on things that we make ourselves.



This is a difficult one but we would love to know your favorite creation at 'Figs and Ginger'.




Mine is the Circle Mountain Necklace. I have it tattooed on my forearm. Rhonda favors the Nestling Necklace. It's a good one.




































Why do we call it 'Figs and Ginger'? Would you like to share the reason/story behind it?


Ha...it sounded nice. We were just texting ideas back and forth while Ra was visiting her little brother for Halloween. Ra landed on Figs + Ginger and I thought it sounded good, too.











































Share your fondest memory with 'Figs and Ginger'.




A few years back I got really sick. I needed a kidney transplant and we were so broke. This was just before we moved to Asheville. We were really involved with the Indie Craft scene then and a bunch of folks held benefits for us. They had Etsy sales where artists donated goods and they gave us all of the $. It was really amazing. I'm not sure I ever sent thank you notes to all of those folks. Everything was just so awful then and I'm really bad at that stuff. It really made a difference though.






































What are your dreams/vision for 'Figs and Ginger'?


Oh man, we're totally still trying to define that. I think I'd love to see Figs become a brand that lasts and stays relevant. I guess what I mean is that we put so much love and care into our work that I hope people will love it back.


































Which is the best place from where one can buy your products online?




UncommonGoods.com has made our brand a reality. Seriously. Buy our nestling necklaces there. We love them and they've supported us more than any other company. This winter you can buy bunting and tent cards through Anthropolgie's website. Buying through folks like that helps us just as much as buying directly from us. That said, our website FigsandGinger.com has loads of other designs that you can't find through the shops above. The newest and freshest is always at our site.


Honestly the best thing for us is press (thanks Kanika!), word of mouth and when our customers ask local shops to carry our goods.



What message do you have for our readers?




I also make pop music under the moniker Tiny Mountains. Ra plays with me sometimes, when she has time off from Figs. I've been posting loads of new songs. When I'm not working on Figs + Ginger I spend all my time on this. I'd be grateful if you pressed play. Thanks for the interview!


Oh ya, here's a coupon for 15% for e-junkie readers. Simply type, "ejunkie15" in the coupon code section at checkout of our website.


Here's an adorable video about Figs and Ginger:









Elijah & Rhonda, thanks for such a wonderful interview. You guys are doing a great job and we wish you all the success!


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