Made in St. Louis: Jewelry designer's grace trumps controversy - STLtoday.com
Lady Grey Beads
Lynnae Tanner Ruff, owner and creator of Lady Grey Beads, poses for a portrait for Made in St. Louis on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016. Photo by Cristina M. Fletes, cfletes@post-dispatch.com
Cristina M. FletesDesigner • Lynnae Tanner Ruff
Home • Webster Groves
Age • 40
Family • Husband, Mark E. Ruff, 13 years; sons Micah, 8, and Xavier, 5 (he’s the beading intern, she jokes)
What she makes • Classic statement jewelry with precious metals and semiprecious stones, freshwater pearls, Swarovski crystals, Czech and Venetian glass and seed beads.
Prices • $25 for earrings to $400 for chunky necklaces, but her averages pieces are around $85.
How to buy • ladygreybeads.com or ladygreybeads@gmail.com.
Worth the effort • “I love using silver and gold and platinum because I feel like, if I’m spending so much time on it (to make), I want (buyers) to feel like it’s something they want to spend a chunk of change on,” Lynnae Tanner Ruff said. “And besides that’s my style. It’s a dressier look because that’s the way I like to look and dress.”
Lynnae Tanner Ruff, owner and creator of Lady Grey Beads, models the bracelet and necklace she made by hand for Made in St. Louis on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016. Photo by Cristina M. Fletes, cfletes@post-dispatch.com
Cristina M. FletesHot or not • “I’m originally from Belize, but I met my husband in Portland and we moved her 13 years ago. So basically, every day we have conversations about whether it’s hot or it’s cold. And no matter, we argue different sides. He’s originally from Buffalo, New York,” she said.
Traveling heritage • “OK, so my father is American, but his dad took him to Belize when he was a kid. He met my mom, who is Indian, there. She was born and raised in Belize, but her mom is from Jamaica. I was born in Belize and came to America later,” says Ruff with a lilting Caribbean accent.
Craft therapy • After she started making a few pieces for herself during her pregnancy, a friend encouraged her to start selling some of them and gave her a gift card to a bead shop to get started. “At first, I was like, ‘Who’s going to want to buy my jewelry?’” But she’d made pieces for the friend who was fielding multiple requests every time she wore a piece. “I made about six necklaces just to see, and I ended up selling three of them.” That was a good start and regardless of sales, Ruff said that she needed the sanity. Her little boy couldn’t sleep through the night for his first 14 months, so “he’s crying and wide awake for three hours at a stretch, so as I was comforting him, I was concentrating on different jewelry combinations that I could make later. It saved me.”
Lynnae Tanner Ruff, owner and creator of Lady Grey Beads, models the bracelet she made by hand for Made in St. Louis on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016. Photo by Cristina M. Fletes, cfletes@post-dispatch.com
Cristina M. FletesWhat’s in the name • “Before I had kids, I’d have these great tea parties at the house that would last like five to six hours,” Ruff said. “That was before any of my friends had kids either (she laughs).” Her love of tea was what led to her business name, because her husband teased her for years with the nickname “Lady Grey” for her favorite tea, Earl Grey. Later when she had to be more judicious with her time, she combined tea parties and a trunk show for her jewelry and other goods from friends about twice a year.
Trump connection • A company called Lady Grey Jewelry caused a viral uproar when it alleged that Ivanka Trump purchased one of its popular ear cuffs. They posted their snarky personal note to Donald Trump’s eldest daughter on social media: “Dear Ivanka ... We’re happy to let you know that the proceeds of your sale have been generously donated to the American Immigration Council, the Everytown for Gun Safety Organization, and the Hillary Clinton campaign. Best, Sabine and Jill.” As you can guess, outraged readers quickly Googled “Lady Grey Jewelry” and many landed on Lady Grey Beads’ website and social media pages. “Yeah, it was pretty bad for a while, but I saw it as an opportunity to interact with new people who ... maybe could be customers later,” Ruff said. So, she dutifully explained the mistake to each confused commenter. Most of the irate ones who’d left nasty messages apologized, and she enjoyed some extra traffic to her website. “There were only a few who said they didn’t care if I wasn’t the right person,” Ruff said, and they continued to double down with more mean-spirited comments. “They just wanted to fight, but that’s not my style.” She said the worst came from a lawyer who promised to ruin her and claimed to represent the Trump family. Even after the mixup was clear, the lawyer didn’t apologize.
Play it forward • She hosts an annual Lady Grey holiday boutique with more than a dozen other vendors, raffle items and bake sales. The raffle money goes to charity with about $1,200 going to Heifer International last year. She said that she’s most excited about supporting micro loans for women around the world, because a little seed money can change the life of a family and eventually a community. “It’s my way of paying back. If a friend hadn’t encouraged me to start this business with a $100 gift card, I might not have tried,” Ruff said. “A little encouragement goes a long way.”
Lady Grey Holiday Boutique • Come for local and fair trade items, including tea and teaware, jewelry, ornaments, African Art and baby gifts. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Nov. 19 at Christ Lutheran Church, 17 Selma Avenue, Webster Groves, in the Arden Mead Center.
