Sea glass is weathered glass from broken bottles or objects, smoothed by waves and sand. Common colors are green, brown, and clear; rare ones include purple, blue and even red.

Ashley’s Abaco Seaglass Jewelry is a social entrepreneurial startup created by a young girl, who at the time was only nine years old, living in Treasure Cay, a small town in northeastern Abaco, Bahamas. A large portion of the proceeds made from selling her jewelry went to saving the Potcakes: local stray dogs in need of love and care. The remainder, paid back her parents for loans they had given her for tools, packaging and business cards. She sold her jewelry on wholesale at two locations, one of which was the highest end resort community in The Bahamas. Having raised thousands of dollars for the potcake shelters by the age of twelve, she was the child prodigy of her community, which wasn't hard as she was one of the only children in her community. This child was me.

     It wasn't hard to dedicate all my time outside of school to making my jewelry. The enrollment at my primary school was a staggering thirty-five, four of which consisted of my class, three of which were boys. Needless to say friends, sleepovers and birthday parties were not a distraction. I spent most of my time in boating, snorkeling for shells, fishing with my dad, exploring remote beaches with my mom and collecting seaglass. When I wasn't outside or doing homework, I found other ways to entertain myself being an only child and living an hour away from any kids that were my age. It was during one of my creative endeavors that I cut up my dads fishing wire and wrapped it around a piece of seaglass. I put it on a chain and told my parents to get ready for a fashion show (another one of my weekly creative endeavors) so I could show them my new creation. 

     When someone saw me wearing the necklace and asked where they could purchase one, I realized that my hobby could be profitable. Not for me however, for the Potcakes that are all in desperate need of loving homes. I presented a ‘business plan’ to my parents, consisting of “give me money for supplies, I will my make jewelry and all the money will go to the puppies”. I quickly learned the difference between proceeds and profit; my parents observed my venture, seeing my dedication and growing talent, they slowly invested in materials. I had reached an impressive accomplishment as an entrepreneur at the age of twelve. 

       However, my world changed when I moved to Nassau for high school. Going from a large island with a small population to a small island with a large population was a massive shock. To this day my friends tease me about how they met me in 7th grade, introducing myself as “ Hi, I’m Ashley from Abaco and I make sea glass jewelry”. I no longer was able to focus all my time outside of school on my jewelry. My new school offered me so many opportunities of which I wanted to take advantage. I, along with two other classmates, created our own non-profit called S.H.A.R.E. which took up the majority of my extra curricular time. After a while of settling and getting used to the new workload, I had an opportunity, with a more mature mindset, to do rebranding and designed a line of jewelry that required skills like soldering and bezeling. I was proud to bring my business back and be able to do what I love again. Sadly, my passion once again was taken over by deadlines, assessments, extracurriculars and family challenges with Hurricane Dorian. It is during times like these though, that I can sit down and make a piece of jewelry to clear my head. 

Ashley’s Abaco Seaglass Jewelry will always be my passion, the ‘interesting thing about me’, and a creative outlet – my little entrepreneurial startup. “I am Ashley from Abaco and I make seaglass jewelry”