In ELLE.com’s monthly series Office Hours, we ask people in powerful positions to take us through their first jobs, worst jobs, and everything in between. This month, we spoke to Rony Vardi, the founder of Catbird, the Brooklyn-based jewelry company known for its minimalist, sparkly, stackable pieces. Catbird first began as a small store in Williamsburg in 2004, and over the last 20 years, it’s grown into a jewelry juggernaut, producing sought-after celebrity collaborations, with women like Phoebe Bridgers and Jenny Slate, and going viral on social media, thanks to the “forever” bracelets you can get welded around your wrist. But Catbird’s success is not built on chasing trends; longevity is at its core, Vardi says: “If I give this to you at Christmas, are you going to be done with it in a month? Then we’re not going to make it.” Ahead, she discusses the windy path that brought her to jewelry, the first time she was shocked to see a celebrity name on an online order, and her go-to pieces for daily wear and gift giving.
My first job
I had a friend who babysat for her next-door neighbors, and she invited me to help with a birthday party for their oldest daughter. I was always a very hard worker, so at this party, I really dug in. I was all of 14 [years old]. The kids and the family liked me so much, they started hiring me more than my friend. I remember surreptitiously going into their house through the side door and not telling my friend I was babysitting. The family was also awesome. I loved getting rides home from the dad; he was so interesting and smart. My sister and I were in an airport years later—she babysat for them when I went to college—and we saw him on the cover of Forbes magazine.
I love talking about old jobs. I lifeguarded for years. I worked in bookstores starting in high school. I found that when you work hard and you enjoy something, your day goes by faster, you connect with people. I really think about that a lot. All those jobs were so, so, so important.
My worst job
I worked at some printing service. After about a week there, I realized I had a sales job. And there is no job I’m less suited for than a sales job; I couldn’t even sell Girl Scout Cookies when I was younger. It was also really isolating; I was alone in a little office on a floor away from all the other people. I dreaded it every day. I realized from that bad job that I need to connect with the people I’m working with.
On figuring out what I wanted to do
When I graduated college, I took my MCATs and was thinking about applying to med school. I worked in a doctor’s office to see what it’s really like, and I liked the job, but I’m so queasy, I passed out a number of times, and I realized I cannot be a doctor.
I spent my twenties struggling with what I wanted to do when I grew up. At the time, I had all these seemingly random jobs; it was a lot of floundering and zigzagging. When I look at it now, it’s easy to picture it as this path to my future, but it didn’t feel like it then. The period where I pretended to want to be a doctor was really nice, because the noise of not knowing what I wanted to do was finally quieted. But then the stress was back. I became a seamstress, I worked in a plant nursery, I would garden for people. I really bopped around. I taught myself some graphic design. Again, if I was going to make a timeline, I can see how all those things totally led to where I ended up.
How I decided to open my own store
After all those jobs, my husband asked me a great question: When I look around at other people, who am I jealous of? At the time, I worked for Bliss—which was just getting big—doing graphic design. I worked in Dumbo when the neighborhood was nothing; there was a pizza shop, a bagel shop, and a taxi place. But there was a woman, Anna, who had just opened a coffee shop/art supply store. And she was the one I was jealous of—this person who took a physical space and was like, I’m going to be there and make these connections and build this ecosystem. Opening my own place started to become an inkling of an idea. The more excited I got, the more I realized that was the momentum. I’d be lying in bed, not being able to sleep, because I couldn’t stop thinking about what color I was going to paint my walls and if I could manage to carry these beautiful candles I saw somewhere.
The joy of selling jewelry
At the beginning, when I had this teeny store on Metropolitan Avenue, I sold all sorts of stuff. Jewelry was the part that, not only did I start to feel more confident about, but it was so clear to me that it was a joyous experience in both directions. No one’s crabby about buying jewelry. It’s not like, oh my God, I grew out of my jeans, and I have to get a new pair, or I have a wedding to go to, I have to find a dress. People would just try the jewelry on, love it, walk out with it, and be happy. There’s so much joy and connection.
Why I’ve always stocked small, sparkly jewelry
Top secret: I used to wear a necklace from Express that was fishing line and rhinestones. It was probably like $6. I wore it all the time, and people would always compliment me on it and be like, “You always wear these teeny tiny things that sparkle.” So it wasn’t this big, calculated move; it was just what I loved. I was also very price-conscious; I didn’t have money to buy expensive or fancy jewelry to sell at the beginning.
The secret behind our celebrity collaborations
It’s really about authenticity. I’m so proud of the collaborations, because they do something that seems almost impossible to me—you’re so inside your own aesthetic, and then you’re bringing someone else in. Think about Phoebe Bridgers: [She has a] totally different, distinct aesthetic. How do you marry those, so both people feel good? The collaborations have all come about somewhat organically. We really try to only do stuff with people who are already Catbird fans—Phoebe Bridgers had been ordering for many, many years—and where the design process is really a conversation. It has to be stuff they are excited about as well.
Why forever bracelets went viral
The truth is I actually didn’t wear bracelets before we zapped them. I always found them a little troublesome; they were my least favorite category. Zapped bracelets are so much smoother. I think for some people who are afraid to get tattoos or get pierced, it feels like dipping their toe into that. I love, love, love when people get bracelets together. My husband and son both have them.
How giving back became a pillar of Catbird
I was a one-man operation for a while, and the decisions I was making were just based on what felt right to me. So the giving back ethos and environmental ethos, that was baked in from day one. Very early on, I was like, “I want to sponsor a local baseball team. I want there to be little kids running around with ‘Catbird’ on their shirts at McCarren Park.” I had no money, but it felt really good, and it felt important to be a part of something. In 2014, we started the Catbird Giving Fund, which allowed us to be more disciplined about it. We earmarked money for it in a way that felt much more regimented and allowed us to give even more.
The first time I was shocked by a shopper
I remember early, early, early on Drew Barrymore placed a web order with her own name, and I was like, wait, what? Then people would come into the store. Adele came in, Katy Perry came in. J.Lo came into the store one time. Tim Gunn walked in. I think he was just asking for directions, but we were like, oh my God, Tim Gunn is here. Leonardo DiCaprio [came in], that was really good. He bought a rose thorn that we used to have, and he wanted it put directly on his necklace.
My go-to daily jewelry
My husband gave me a Cartier Tank watch for a big anniversary, so that’s my thing that I add onto my Catbird jewelry. I have a Old World Classic wedding ring that I love so much. I really love 22-karat gold rings—the color, the softness, the ancientness. I wear the Diamond Spring Fairy earring always. I like to pile on zapped bracelets. The Swan Lake Diamond ring. And when my dad died, Robin from Bittersweets made me a Memento Mori ring that I wear.
The jewelry I love to give as a gift
I like to give stuff with a monogram, like a signet bracelet. When people leave Brooklyn or move, I like to give a monogram of the zip code. If they’ve had a baby, I like to give a tiny ring, like a Tomboy ring, with the baby’s name on it that the mom can wear on a necklace.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.