Ma’alahi Jewelry
by Amber Lorenc Student entrepreneur rebrands jewelry business after moving to Hawaii BY MCKENZIE CONNELL
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uring her state mandated two-week quarantine, freshman Amber Lorenc decided to rebrand her 1-year-old jewelry business. Originally only producing rings, the newly dubbed Ma’alahi Jewelry now includes bracelets, anklets and rings. Amber Lorenc, from Missouri majoring in cultural anthropology, started making her own jewelry in December of 2019. After messing around with a pile of beads and wax string, Lorenc said she saw potential. “I made a ring out of gold beads, but the gold [paint] came off and left me with a blue string under clear beads,” Lorenc said. The combination of colored string and clear seed beads was not something she had seen anywhere else, she added. A friend asked for a ring, and both Lorenc and the friend started to receive compliments. “I wore it all the time. People started to notice,” Lorenc said. “I didn’t 18 KE AL AK A‘I 2021
have a lot of help establishing my business,” she added. But through a lot of trial and error, she said she decided to start an Etsy and Instagram account for her rings, called String Rings. After moving to Hawaii, Lorenc said she wanted to rebrand. “While I was in the twoweek quarantine, I researched a new name, designed a logo, and rebranded my Instagram and website,” she said. Once String Rings started making more than rings, a rebrand was necessary, she added. She changed her company name from String Rings to Ma’alahi Jewelry and Lorenc said she started producing bracelets, anklets and rings. Lorenc’s roommate, Marley Lelepali, a freshman from Utah majoring in biology, said she noticed Lorenc’s hard work and the effort she puts into her business. “I always see her out at the desk working on bracelets or rings
