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Marquette, MI—Emily Johnson, a junior at Northern Michigan University, loves jewelry. So much so that she taught herself to solder and launched a line of silver jewelry featuring (mostly) Lake Superior beach glass, though sometimes she uses beach glass from other Great Lakes. Image: Limited edition Lake Michigan beach glass necklace by Emily Johnson.

After the budding entrepreneur and business major began selling online via Facebook and Etsy, her jewelry—and especially her passion for the craft—caught the eye of Tammy Jandron-Kulbieda of Jandrons Fine Jewelry, an AGS, JA, and RJO member store in Marquette. Their story also caught the notice of WLUC-TV6, the local NBC affiliate station, who ran a feature on jeweler and student.

Jandrons, meanwhile, a 30-year-old family-run business, had lost its bench jeweler, Charlie Gahn, who passed away a few years ago. Since then, Jandron-Kulbeida has been the store’s only jeweler. She reached out to Johnson and offered a three-month apprenticeship.

“It just sparks something inside of me where it’s a fun job and it’s something different every single day. And that’s what I can see in Emily,” Jandron-Kulbieda told TV6 reporter Kendall Bunch. She also told Bunch she plans for Johnson to take over tasks like ring sizing, chain repair, welding jump rings, and so forth.

Johnson, of course, jumped at the chance. She told Bunch she hopes to both grow her own business and in time to become a fulltime member of the Jandrons team. 

Watch the full segment here.

Jandrons Fine Jewelry in Marquette, MI.