Caring for others and crafting jewelry have always gone together for Fishers business owner Lindsay Schloss. Making jewelry was always therapeutic for her family, so she paired the craft with a business model and turned into it a successful nonprofit to help women.
HopeAnchor & Crew, founded by Schloss, is a nonprofit jewelry business at 13578 E 131st St., Suite 101. It has a philanthropy-centered mission focused on helping women in need. Since its founding in 2019, the business is the first of its kind to pair jewelry making with philanthropic therapy and has grown to a nationally known brand that empowers those who need it most.
HopeAnchor & Crew’s mission is to “empower women to create handmade philanthropic jewelry shining light on local and global causes in our community.” Schloss said the therapeutic nature of the nonprofit is second nature because of her background in social work with Child Advocates, Inc.
“I worked in child welfare for 10 years,” Schloss said. “I realized that there was a way we could help. It’s our small way of giving back to the community.”
The nonprofit offers a fellowship program with residential treatment facilities for women who have experienced sex trafficking, domestic violence or other abuse. Schloss refers to the program as “group coaching.”
“We go into these facilities to make bracelets and base it off of our Full Balance Life curriculum,’” Schloss said. “It’s kind of our take on the Wheel of Life where we focus on 10 different areas and set goals with vision boards or creating a life mission statement. We call it ‘group coaching.’”
Schloss said the group coaching provides an indirect means of therapy for those who need it most.
“We’ve found that when people are busy with their hands, especially women who have endured trauma, and not looking straight into your eyes like in therapy, they’re more likely to share and be vulnerable,” Schloss said. “It’s kind of magical when we get them together and they get to express themselves creatively through bracelet making.”
Graduates of the nonprofit’s fellowship program visit the Fishers studio and can design a bracelet to be named after them and sold on the business’ website.
Staff member Katherine Nuger was a teacher for 10 years and was looking for a new career when she joined HopeAnchor & Crew.
“I was a mom who knew I didn’t want to continue teaching,” Nuger said. “So, I cold emailed Lindsay telling her my skills and what I could do for her, and she hired me. I just feel so blessed to be a part of this. Everything about this is beautiful, but it’s more than just the jewelry. It’s about how Lindsay is empowering women in residential treatment.”
Schloss said throughout January, HopeAnchor & Crew invites people to participate in any of the nonprofit’s craft nights where they can focus on their “word of the year” to be strung onto a bracelet they design.
“Everyone leads such crazy lives,” Schloss said. “I feel like taking the time to slow down and really be intentional with our goal-setting and what we’ve learned over the past year is a way to help ourselves grow better than a resolution that most people end up forgetting before it’s February.”
Schloss said focusing on one word each January can help people create personal goals throughout the year. In fact, the entire Schloss family has made it a tradition for four years.
“My parents were great parents, but they never taught me about the importance of intentionality in living our lives,” Schloss said. “It wasn’t part of our culture growing up. But this way, having a fun, tangible activity to help us set goals is a great way to make our kids think.”
The idea to make bracelets stemmed from a Father’s Day gift request by Schloss’s husband, Steve.
“The kids all made (Steve) bracelets, and then it turned into family craft night each Friday night,” Schloss said. “We found, like with the women in our fellowship program, that it was a great way to sit as a family and let our kids just talk. We’ve had some of our best conversations sitting around our dining table making bracelets together.”
From there, Schloss’s boutique-owner friends asked if they could sell the bracelets in their stores. Schloss said that her heart told her to incorporate philanthropy into the bracelets to form a business.
“I’m a social worker by trade, so my heart was like, ‘I don’t really want to make bracelets for the rest of my life, but I could incorporate nonprofit work for the rest of my life,” Schloss said. “Then we thought about the name for the business and were influenced by the quote, ‘Hope anchors the soul.’ We take it a step further and say that hope also anchors our community.
“So, we have hope, anchor and crew in reference to our kids, because they were the first crew. We have a nautical influence because our family hub is a lake cottage.”
Schloss said the business grew quickly and organically. HopeAnchor & Crew began wholesaling and expanded into the national market. From there, it was able to find more sponsors, collect donations and partner with other nonprofits for the benefit of those in need.
Schloss said the goal of the studio is to be a “beautiful space” where women feel welcome and safe to create their art.
“Beauty and creativity are two of our core values,” she said. “If you have somewhere beautiful to go and create, especially for women, you feel more joy.”
HopeAnchor & Crew plans to expand its studio and have a presence in 1,000 boutiques by the end of this year.
HopeAnchor & Crew events
The philanthropic business will host a variety of “Word of the Year” crafting nights this month, including:
- Girl’s Night on Jan. 5 from 6 to 9 p.m. Advance tickets are $40 per person and include a custom created word bracelet, dessert and wine.
- Teen Night on Jan. 12 from 6 to 8 p.m. Advance tickets are $30 per person and include a custom created word bracelet and dessert.
- Family Day on Jan. 16 from 1 to 4 p.m. Advance tickets are $30 per person and include a custom created word bracelet and donuts.
- Couples Night on Feb. 4 from 7 to 9 p.m. Advance tickets are $40 per person and include a custom created word bracelet, dessert and wine.
