Finding Power and Purpose - How Nikki Zazzali Turned Grief into Beautiful Jewelry for a Cause
As much as we may hate to think about it, our time on this planet is limited….and we never know how long that time is going to be. That also is the same for our loved ones. Darren Hardy once said image your life is like a lit candle and you don’t know how long your personal wick is, so everyday it just keeps burning until one day it goes out. To be honest that terrified me, but also made me live with more purpose and intent and live each day to the fullest, which is why you are reading Boho Blue. It was my calling to leave the world a better place and using this platform as a way to to do that.
Life is truly short. And that is never more apparent than when you lose a loved one. Whether it is a family member , friend partner or child, hearing that they are diagnosed with health issues is a gut punch of extreme measures. Some may feel frustration or helplessness, while others may breakdown or get angry. However, the feeling of helplessness is overwhelming and that is the hardest part. Dealing with this on a personal level, I can completely relate.
One woman decided to take back her power and turned her grief into purpose, Nikki Zazzali took her childhood passion for making jewelry and turned it into a successful charitable jewelry company, Revive Jewelry after the loss of her grandfather to cancer and the eye-opening experience of watching her brother’s Lupus diagnosis unfold. Having family so close to her dealing with these health issues caused her to learn more about the lack of funding for many diseases that just don’t garner enough public attention. These experiences left her feeling helpless, until she had the idea to pair her designs with giving back to charity to create positive change through beautiful jewelry, and thus, Revive Jewelry was born.
Nikki’s goal is to help bring awareness to various causes as well as to help in funding their research goals by donating a portion of proceeds from each collection to its respective cause, all of which have been heavily researched and vetted to ensure as much money as possible does in fact go to research and helping people.
One of the causes that is also special to her is infertility and the challenges so many women face, but do not share. She is an advocate for infertility awareness and serves on the board of the Hopeful Mama Foundation. You can read Nikki’s story and personal connection with infertility here: Unexplained Infertility and My Personal Journey – Revive Jewelry.
Revive is more than just jewelry: it's hope, strength, awareness, charity & cures. Revive Jewelry honors loved ones and survivors by celebrating the positives. With 10% donated for every piece, their jewelry makes you feel good on the inside while you look good on the outside. Every design is based on a cellular image of the disease it represents and the donations go to charities doing the most to fund patient programs & research to find cures for that specific disease.
After seeing this jewelry personally, I can tell you it is gorgeous and a definite conversation piece. And getting the opportunity to bring awareness to Alzheimer’s and Dementia, a cause close to my heart after losing my grandmother and mother in law to these diseases, I can honestly say I feel like just being able to have the conversation is powerful. And supporting research to combat these diseases is definitely a bonus.
The idea of taking something beautiful like jewelry and using it to shine a light on destructive cellular image, merging into to an emotional statement of hope, power and togetherness, is something everyone should do. The challenges of life can be made into positives if we are only willing to look past what is in front of us and really look to how we can change things or make them better and Nikki has definitely done just that.
This jewelry starts the conversation and that is key. We cannot combat what we aren’t willing to talk about. And speaking of conversations, we had a chance to sit down with Nikki to get more insights into her story, her mission and what’s next.
How did you first become interested in jewelry making as a career?
Some of my earliest memories are of what I called, “making my beads,” or creating little beaded bracelets or woven friendship bracelets. I was borderline obsessed with anything that had to do with jewelry. If I had a free minute, I was making bracelets. I made a little travel kit and took my supplies with me everywhere. My mom can attest to me working on my bracelets in the back seat of her car. It was my favorite thing to do. I absolutely loved it. Somehow it didn’t occur to me that I could make it a career until college. I had an ah-ha moment standing the hallway looking at a case of jewelry made by students. A light bulb went off in my head- "I could be a jewelry designer!" Once I had that realization, it was full steam ahead. I powered through my degree in crafts and metalsmithing, creating jewelry based on cellular images of disease. It started out as a fascination and turned into so much more than that.
A lot of artistic jobs are generally shot down by friends and family, especially at a younger age. How did you stay focused on being a jewelry maker and metalsmith?
Luckily for me, my mom was an artist at heart (she didn’t do it for a job, but rather as a hobby. She always wanted it to be her real job and she’s really good at it, better than me even), so I knew she’d be supportive of whatever I wanted to do. I also constantly remind myself that some of the biggest changes in the world are started by brilliant creatives using art to get across a bigger message. Art can express complex ideas visually to more easily communicate complicated issues that are difficult to discuss with words. An example of this is the graffiti artist, Banksy.
Why did you feel it was so important to switch gears and create the Revive line of jewelry?
After losing my grandfather to lung cancer and watching my brother go through a lupus diagnosis, it opened my eyes to the gaps in funding and lack of knowledge for lots of common diseases. I was naive in my thinking before my brother’s diagnosis, believing that modern science knew how to test for and treat all diseases. However, I found out that there is quite a lot that we don’t know about lupus or autoimmune diseases and many cancers. It was this realization that made me want to take the cell image-based designs I was already creating and pair them with giving back. So that we could fund scientific research to find answers in the form of understanding, treatments, early detection and maybe even cures. Then hopefully, families don’t lose loved ones and people like my brother don’t have to endure such pain.
There is so much good that can come from scientific research. For example, when I started my company the 5-year survival rate for Pancreatic Cancer was about 5%. Now, due to the amazing work of our charity partner Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN), that rate has more than doubled to 12%! It just shows you how much we can do when we get together and fund research.
There are a lot of brands that give back to charity and try to raise awareness for a cause…what make Revive so different?
Our totally unique approach to jewelry incorporates cell images as the basis of our designs. By taking these diseases and using them against themselves, we’re taking our power back and creating positive change. I wanted to flip the script and capitalize on this one beautiful aspect of disease, so we can change the narrative from fear to understanding through funding research. The more we can discover and advance, the more we can cure. We need to embrace these difficult conversations as the norm rather than taboo. That’s where change begins.
As you mention on your site, awareness is fantastic, but the research into curing these diseases is critical. Revive takes a two-fold approach to this by not only designing pieces that are conversation stated and drive awareness, but also gives back a portion of the proceeds to research for that particular cause. How can people support more research into their cause they are championing for?
There are so many ways and lots of them are actually free. You can volunteer, do run/walks, start your own fundraiser, talk to everyone you know and mention the cause you’re passionate about. Follow your favorite charities on social media and like and share their posts. Write to your congress people and advocate for federal research funding. Subscribe to your charity’s blog and share it on social media. Making a direct donation is a great way to help. Or you can get yourself something nice in the process and shop with Revive Jewelry.
You are very open about your infertility story, and I think that will help many women feel like they are not alone in this struggle. Why do you think infertility is such a taboo topic, even today, and how can we as women change the conversation?
I think we’re taught the wrong things in the wrong ways about our reproductive system at a young age. This is the fundamental issue- we don’t actually know how our bodies work to get pregnant. We just hear the message that we should do everything we can to avoid it. Until we want to get pregnant and can’t. It leaves us feeling like our womanhood is questionable, like our body has betrayed us. Getting pregnant is supposed to be a woman’s most inherent function and yet my body is refusing to do it. Am I defective? Am I a mutant? What is wrong with me? The answer is nothing- you are made exactly the right way. The truth is there are a lot of paths to motherhood, and no one’s looks the same. Some people will have harder roads than others, and that sucks. There’s nothing about an infertility journey that doesn’t stink other than the fact that you might end up with a baby at the end of it. Oh, and you can find some really awesome people along the way that get what you’re going through. Become an advocate for yourself: ask questions, call again, email again, do not let them ignore you. If it doesn’t feel right, say something. You know yourself better than anyone else. We must start sharing our stories and make people have uncomfortable conversations to be forced into breaking the stigmas.
It can be isolating, and you feel very alone when dealing with infertility. It's hard to speak out when you feel like the only one, but if we all start telling our stories, more women will feel comfortable sharing theirs and then it will become more of a mainstream conversation rather than something you feel ashamed to speak about. I’m a big believer in women supporting women and this is one of those topics that we all need to do our part to not only sympathize, but also become advocates.
What do you hope to achieve with Revive in the next year? 5 years and beyond?
In the next year, I’ll definitely keep raising money for the 19 charities currently on our roster and add at least 1 more to that list. I’d like to develop some new and interesting product offerings like scrunchies and socks.
In 5 years, I’d like to expand to offer animal, environmental, and socially related causes. I would love to expand into apparel. It’s always been on my list to offer a scholarship and get involved with universal preschool initiatives. I would like to expand my team and continue to offer female employees a flexible and understanding environment to work and have families.
What’s next for you and the brand?
I’m working on some amazing new designs for the fall season with exciting new materials and manufacturing processes. I don’t want to give too much away, so keep an eye out for these around October.
As for me, I’ll be on the never-ending quest for work life balance and a good night’s sleep with two little kids!
Any words of wisdom for our readers on how to stay focused on your dreams?
Be resilient and keep pushing forward. Be your own biggest cheerleader. Light your fire and don’t let anyone put it out. Tell your story to anyone who will listen.
Favorite quote:
Awareness is a powerful catalyst for positive change.
Revive is more than just jewelry: it's hope, strength, awareness, charity & cures. Revive Jewelry honors loved ones and survivors by celebrating the positives. With 10% donated for every piece, their jewelry makes you feel good on the inside while you look good on the outside. Every design is based on a cellular image of the disease it represents and the donations go to charities doing the most to fund patient programs & research to find cures for that specific disease.
Living life after loss isn't easy and it's definitely never the same as before. But there's a way to find resolution, and it starts right here. Find your voice again without ever saying anything out loud. Let Revive Jewelry say all the things you want to say but can never find the words with our jewelry for a cause.
They have awareness jewelry for cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's, infertility, heart disease, and more. No matter what cause you are champion for, you can probably find it at Revive Jewelry and if not, maybe Nikki will find a new one to support. These unique pieces also make meaningful gifts for any ocassion, or just to say you were thinking about someone.
For more information and to show your support, please visit: https://www.revivejewelry.com/
