Story Hour: Jenn Levo
Photo: Jenn Levo
We're happy to continue our series of customer profiles with a story from Jenn Levo, a veritable renaissance woman and wearer of Hand Forge who lives in Portland.
Jenn found us at an ADX show last year. In this Q & A, she tells us a little bit about her impressive athletic and creative work. She even sketched a portrait of her ring, below.
Check out what's new on her graphic design site, and follow her irreverent and creative blog, paper bag history.
Thanks so much, Jenn, for participating!
Are you a Hand Forge customer who wants to participate in a customer profile? Contact us!
Tell us about your work.
I'm a graphic designer. Not only do I do a fair amount of freelance in my spare time, but I'm the Front End Manager at Vanilla Bicycle Company here in Portland. At Vanilla, I take care of not only our graphic design, but also all of our customer service, blogging, invoicing, etc, .... fun stuff.
What do you love about what you do?
At Vanilla, I love helping to create something that someone is going to get a lot of enjoyment out of. It's one thing to make something that at the end of the day you just hope doesn't end up in a landfill somewhere, but it's another thing entirely to help create something that creates stories. Bikes do that.
What are the biggest challenges?
The biggest challenge is just trying to stay on top of everything, have a little fun on the sides and still find some time to sleep.
One of the things we love hearing from our customers is how their new ring or necklace fits into their active lives. Many of them work with their hands, play outdoors, or travel frequently. Where does your Hand Forge ring go during a typical day of work and play?
My ring goes on my hand first thing in the morning. Then it has a rainy bike ride to work, hangs out there for eight hours, then rides back home and then usually to the gym where I also teach spin classes. My ring is very familiar with a computer mouse and bicycle handlebars.
What do you love about your ring? Why did you decide to make it your own?
I saw Hand Forge rings while at the ADX Holiday show the other year. I fell in love with the simplicity of the design, but also the craftsmanship that went into it. I liked how every ring was unique in its own way and was kinda gender neutral. Jewelry is a hard sell for me because I'm not into really "girly" things; as such, most rings don't speak to me... but this ring did. I didn't buy the ring on the spot. But the idea of it sat with me for a week. Finally I decided to take the plunge and wrote Lyle an email. A few weeks later he had an amazing ring crafted for me, which I still receive compliments on all the time.