Fierce Femmes: Bri Seltzer Designer and Owner of five and two jewelry

Bri Seltzer began her entrepreneurial career at the age of six when she took a leaf from her backyard and pierced a stick through it, trying to convince her friends and family to buy it. Unfortunately, the sales pitch was unsuccessful. However, with some time and an Art degree from Fresno State (and getting business experience in working with Fresno State’s Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship), Bri would go on to create five and two jewelry, a nationally-recognized jewelry brand carried by the likes of Nordstrom, Anthropology and Roxy.

Bri entered the world of jewelry and accessories when she recognized the market’s need for creative hair accessories. She began crafting unique hair clips in high school (made of starfish!), and continued doing so throughout college. After graduation, Bri explained, “I got the vibe from my father that you can’t sell starfish hair clips for your whole life,” so she expanded her company’s inventory. After her husband bought her some crystals on a family trip to Alaska, she was inspired to make jewelry. The crystal accessories “just took off,” Bri said. “People really lost their minds over it.”

It’s safe to say people are still losing their minds over her jewelry.  five and two jewelry currently has showrooms (and staff to support them) in Los Angeles and in New York, and a manufacturer in South Korea to keep up with demand. Bri’s hope is to have five and two jewelry stocked in every US state. Currently, five and two jewelry is in all but two, one being Alaska. Of course, being able to get her jewelry in that crystal store that played a significant role in five and two jewelry’s story would be an awesome nod to her younger self.

So what about the name five and two jewelry? It comes from the Bible’s famous story of Jesus feeding thousands with only five loaves of bread and two fish, in the Gospel of Matthew. The passage reminds Bri that in life, “we have little to give, but God can do a lot with it.”