Amber and Edward Glassman understand heartbreak: Together, they’ve started and shuttered 10 different businesses over the past decade. Some were successful but had to close because of life’s circumstances. Others? Well, it wasn’t the right time or place.
Ed was a fire dispatcher, then an EMT. After graduating from the University of Delaware, Amber worked in digital marketing for an agency and then a bank. In between gigs, they always had a side hustle. In fact, their side hustles had side hustles.
In 2015, after moving from New Jersey to Texas, the couple was living in a studio apartment and started a jewelry business they named Bryan Anthonys. Its first pieces were too big and clunky—“To be honest, it was god-awful,” Amber says now—and the company was on the brink of closure.
Maybe it was desperation. Maybe it was knowing that they couldn’t let the business Amber named after her brother go: He had died at a year old, before she was born, of bacterial meningitis, and the business’s name was a tribute to his memory.
That is when Amber created a necklace meant to be shared, like “a friendship necklace for adults,” Amber says. Ed thought she was kidding, but Amber recalls how she knew she was onto something new and special.
“I had to offer something deeper and more profound. That’s when I decided to write an inspiring message to accompany each piece,” Amber says. “I was terrified to launch Soul Sisters because we were down to our very last drop of savings. But when we launched the piece, people instantly resonated with it, and we sold out in days. The rest is history.”
It’s the best kind of jewelry success story. The Glassmans went from a two-person team inside that tiny apartment to a 45-person staff with a 25,000-square-foot warehouse and office space. Together, they run their eight-figure e-commerce business with the knowledge of Bryan’s story and how fragile life is, but also how heartbreak can be healed.
Ed says his background in the real world and emergency services likely was a contributing factor in the couple’s tenacity—especially when they were down to their last $1,000. “I learn by doing,” Ed says, including how to solve problems “with very high stakes.”
“I always knew that I was meant to run my own business and was really craving finding a deeper meaning in my work. That’s why we decided to take the risk and quit our jobs to build our dream company,” Amber says.
Bryan Anthonys is now a lifestyle brand where Amber’s words help them sell her jewelry designs. It gave her the writing career she didn’t know she needed.
“I have been a writer my entire life—it is something I always loved but never thought I could make a career out of, let alone an entire business,” Amber says. “When you do what you love and pursue what you’re passionate about, magic happens and somehow it all works out.”
Her jewelry designs reflect that sense of appreciation for life’s ups and downs. Amber says her pieces are meant to represent the importance of embracing all aspects of life, not just certain chapters.
“Everyone’s story matters, and we hope our pieces inspire customers to not just wear their story, but also tell their story,” Amber says. “When we share our stories, we find pieces of ourselves within one another—a reminder that we are not alone.”
That desire to help others find connection also fuels their work and the brand’s success today, Amber says.
“I so often see customer comments on our products via social media, sharing their story of why the piece resonates with them. Later, another customer will comment and engage in a conversation with them. I have seen this a lot with our Overcome necklace [which is a rainbow],” Amber says. “I see many women sharing their stories of infertility, and they are talking to each other about it, expressing their condolences and opening up about their own struggles with infertility or the loss of a child. There is nothing more beautiful or powerful than that.”
Top: Amber and Edward Glassman started jewelry brand Brian Anthonys in their studio apartment. Now, they have a team of 45 people and a warehouse, something these serial entrepreneurs had dreamed of since college (all photos courtesy of Bryan Anthonys).
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