SB BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
JENNY GAUTHIER & ANNA DICKSON
SANDY +RIZZO: The Queens of Glitter
T
BY ELIZABETH BEARD DEAL
wo local teachers—and now self-trained resin artists—have taken the jewelry scene by storm. Meet Jenny Gauthier, an art teacher at Southfield School with a background in architecture, art, and design, and Anna Dickson, a Professor of English at Bossier Parish Community College with a background in jewelry sales, art, and what she describes as “a lifetime love of accessories.” Their jewelry company, Sandy+Rizzo, began with and is best known for the wide-ranging shapes and styles of large, colorful, shiny, dangling earrings—designed and created personally by the two owners with self-selected materials and art resin, mixed in a proprietary design process and hand-poured into specialty jewelry silicone molds. They are always using and testing new ingredients and recipe combinations. They even make their own custom-blended glitter. Anna and Jenny have different art styles, and each poured piece is one-ofa-kind. “It can’t be recreated—it’s art,” says Anna. “We also honor women who have inspired us—daughters, sisters, mothers and friends—by naming styles after them.” The duo love to create themes for their art pours, inspired by pop culture, film, plays, and even singers. Some of these themes have included the Beatles, Dolly Parton, Wicked, Wizard of Oz, The Greatest Showman, Disney Villains, David Bowie, The Sound of Music, Taylor Swift, the Nutcracker, and the Grinch.
14
FEBRUARY 2022
| SBMAG.NET
Anna and Jenny had the support of many friends and family who encouraged them and volunteered to help them get Sandy+Rizzo off the ground. The two also made some important business decisions from the beginning. “We branded early,” says Jenny. Having a professional name, logo, and high-quality marketing materials was important to them. So where did the name come from? A few years ago, Jenny was planning to attend an auction party at school dressed as Sandy from the movie Grease and asked Anna if she would be her Rizzo, to which Anna responded, “That’s the role I was born to play! Of course I will.” They admit the characters fit their personalities—sweet Jenny as Sandy and outgoing Anna as Rizzo—so it seemed the perfect name for their company. Their slogan: “Less Bitter, More Glitter!” Anna and Jenny also outsourced what wasn’t directly related to the creative side and production of their products, like hiring a firm to handle the finances and employees to support the business. Since they began a year and a half ago (during Covid), Sandy+Rizzo has experienced a phenomenal growth in sales. The growth of the business has been an organic process, crossing one milestone at a time. Many friends and family volunteered to help get the business off the ground, and the first big achievement was selling at the Red River Revel. “To me, being local and growing up here, the Revel was always a point of acceptance into the art world,” says Anna. They believe utilizing
