For thirty five years, Cindy Stumpo has been a female home builder with a passion for design, a mastery of detail, and a commitment to her crack. With daughter Samantha Stumpo by her side, I don't need my whole family on a date with me. That's a good note. It's goddymn weird. See. Stumpo Development is the only second generation female construction company in the country. You're crazy, You're a wacko, You're insane. I mean, it
just doesn't end together. Cindy and Samantha welcome guests to explore the world of construction, real estate, development, design and more. You're unpredictable. Every time I think I know what you want, you switch it out. But that's what makes your houses all your day. Discuss anything that happens between the roof and the foundation. Nothing is off limits. You truly do care about everybody. She can yell at, you can scream, but when you get
her alone, she's the best person on the planet. Cindy Stumpo is tough as nails. Okay, welcome to Sidney Stuffle Tough as Nails on WBC News Radio ten thirty and I'm here with Samantha who is in the studio besides my daughter Samantha that keeps talking. Go ahead, I'm Holly dan Yeah, Hi, I'm Holly Daniels Christiansen, and I'm so happy to be here. Thanks for having me. I love having you here. Okay, the topic tonight
is what we're going to talk about, entrepreneurship. I have a couple of businesses we can talk about and just how the road to entrepreneurship and business business ownership. Okay, what is my pronounces right, Dune Jewelry. Doune Jewelry. What is that? It is a jewelry business. I started fourteen years ago at my kitchen table using sand and earth elements from Cape Cod where I
grew up. So I was creating jewelry. I was working in real estate at the time, which I'm not even sure anyone told you, and I was doing it as a side hustle, a hobby, just making jewelry for friends and family, and people started bringing me back sand from like Bermuda and Iceland and the Caribbean and Saint Martin and Italy and saying, hey, can you make something with this. I just got back. It was the most
incredible trip of my life. I'll want to hold on to it. I was like, of course I can, and so I just started honing in on that skill, and fourteen years later we shipped to six hundred locations worldwide. We have over fifty five hundred sands in earth elements that we inlay into our jewelry to capture people's memories. Really, yeah, so how do you do this? How does they bring you home sand? Can you put in something and they can wear it in their jewelry? Yeah? Everything I have
on pretty much has sand in it. Let me say, I'm sorry listeners that you can't see. Yeah, so I'm going to pass you over. This is Chinquitare Italy in the middle and set into fourteen carret gold with malachite on the sides. And essentially, I mean the idea is that we're able to give people a tangible reminder and in the middle. Yeah, crazy, it's beautiful. Thank you, very pretty, thank you. Okay, so that's where we are right now. We started in real estate. Your side
hustle was this jewelry. Now this jewelry became one of year bigger and the side the main job left to the side hustle became I always say that, don't I say you hear me say that. Make that your side. Hustle until you're making a good living at it, and then you can move on. Yeah, I remember distinctly, starting in twenty ten. In two thousand and fourteen was the first time I didn't have a real estate commission on my on my tax returns. You're a broker, yeah, and you got scared.
No, No, I know. My husband was like, why are you doing both? He's like, you have a real shot at this business. He said, it's not rocket science. You'll figure it out. He said, be done with the real estate. And I loved real estate, so that's where the decision was hard. I had a great, great job, and so I loved both. But he was right. He was like, you got to give it your all. Well, thank you to the husband. Yeah, because she's a leader, right, and she can't make
a decision, so she needed her husband to push it. Amen. Yeah, I hear that. You've had some whatever you want to call your your drama or your trauma or your being of your life. What went on that? Yeah? I mean I think everyone has a story. Mine just happens to be really colorful. I left home when I was fifteen, dropped out of high school. I my father passed. I let me hold you.
Why would you leave home at fifteen? My mother turned to drugs after my father passed and I was an only child, and the family kind of fell apart after that. You said bye, I said bye. It didn't there was nothing. It was just made a decision. Then it was all I did make a decision. Then, yeah, that goes to show you I do have cancer rising So oh there you go. Okay, she's partling me. Yeah, I just even at that age, I knew it was toxic.
Fifteen goodbye. So things were normal while your dad was alive or whatever normal was. Whatever normal was. He was very sick. So he right after I was born, he went blind and from type one diabetes, and so it was a struggle. I mean, my mom did her best, but once he passed. They had been together since she was fourteen, he was eighteen, she was fourteen, and so that was the love of her life, and she turned to drugs and just could never quite so prid of
that. While he was alive, she didn't touch drugs. No, just came out of nowhere, came well, came out of nowhere. We had a little farm, we had horses, so she had taken a few falls off the horses, and then of course the doctors prescribed their percocet and Brian, yeah, it's it's unfortunately, it's no different then a lot of people's story, and it just progressively got worse and worse and worse and worse. And for me, and maybe it's because I was an only child, I
didn't feel the need to hold on forever. I mean I held on to you know, probably my third When you left at fifteen, did she say don't go or she was like whatever, she was in her own world. She was in her own world. I think it was almost a relief that because I think I was a pretty energetic child or teenager, so it was probably a little bit of a relief for her to not have to worry about me anymore and just do any grandparents, yes, but also not okay,
whatever them is. So where did you go at fifteen? I was couch surfing friends, friends houses, parents' houses, sorry friends parents' houses up in Maine, and that because we had moved from the Cape to Maine, so of course she could be alone with no one bothering her my mom and then and then I was CouchSurfing and then I came back down to the Cape and I started. I found like a I remember, like a room to rent. I found a room to rent. Remember I was sixteen to rent?
Yeah, yeah, room to rent. And started working. And I've had probably fifty different jobs throughout my I've done everything. But you're on your own and you're paying yours. Yeah. I never, I mean knock on wood. I never. I always had a roof over my head. I bartended a waitressed. I learned to hustle early on. So you learned grit and grind by the time you were sixteen years old, for sure. But even if it was fourteen or fifteen, there was trouble along the way that you.
I always say this, and my saying is, the football gets thrown at you. Either you can do one or two things. Really catch that football and you jump and you run, or you fumble, and that's it. And that's how life is. Right. At some point's going to throw that football at you, and you better go, yeah, because the other way is fumble and your dumble and your triple and you fell over your feet. Now maybe you get back up. Me that was me at twenty six,
grab the football, win and never looked back. Right, So it's always a situation that makes that football come at you. You picked it up and you were in. Yeah, and through all this trauma and leaving in the house and not having really anywhere to go, no feeling to turn to, no feeling to turn to. No, my mom did a good job at making sure the family didn't want anything to do with us. Really, she she alienated everybody. Yeah, and now do you talk to her or
she passed passed? Yep, she passed about five years ago and we still weren't fully so she never got clean, now, Nope, she did not, but we tried. We tried over and over again. It's a shame because I have two daughters that you know, have a lot of questions now, so and we have to be careful with the daughters because genetics play a major role, as we know absolutely in all of this. Right. We didn't know this back twenty years ago, but we know it now. But
let's hold that thought we're going to break. I'm Sitney Stumbling listening to Toughest Nails on w b Z News Radio ten thirty sponsored by Floor and Decor, National Lumber, and Village Banks is going to come and happen. I'm at and welcome back to Toughest Nails on WBZ News Radio tenthor and I'm city stumping. I'm here with Samantha and Holly. Okay, go ahead on it. Pick it up from where you were. So I was, I was just
saying that I think that adversity in childhood does kind of breed entrepreneurs. I think that I remember distinct Put you back from minute. Yeah, I'm gonna take you back in time. How'd you meet your husband? Blinded? And it words yeah okay, and he knew about your past and you broke that out to him pretty fast on and you said, I'm gonna hide this and let it go with No, I have to be transparent. What's the point.
We both were raised by single moms for the most part. So his single mom wasn't doing drugs no, no, nor was she even having a cocktail no. Okay. Yeah, and then you guys got married and now you have how many children? Two? Two children? How old you are? The girls? Boys ten and twelve? Of their girls they grow so the baby they yeah, they're amazing. Do they help you at all. Yeah, they do, they do. They're I mean, they're no, but they like to come in and like venture with the jewelry or yes when
I allow them. Yeah, yeah, it can be chaotic. I've had her on construction site since she can, since she's been on my hip, little hard hat everything. I love that everything. So you have the two kids, you have a husband, good life, right yeah, but you made that good life for you for sure. No one's done that for you, so I know me. I hate when people say to me, oh, Cyny, you got lucky, okay city, there's a million reasons now
right why I'm successful, right yeah? And I just laughed, like yeah, if I knew that, I would have just stood on a job set and let them let the let the money flow on me. Right. Absolutely, No one understands the grit and grind that goes into building a company. I do not use the word entrepreneur. I've never used that. I never call myself that's not just I just have to call myself a businesswoman. I
set out to build a great business and that's what I did. So, like you never hear me use words like mindset and entrepreneur because life balance. No, they're just words to me, right, they have no meaning. But that's okay. For other people it works great, right, and they're good words for them. But I'll say, oh, so you're an entrepreneur,
does that mean well I walk dogs for a living? Oh okay, let me know when you get to like you literally own a company that you have about fifty employees working for you and you're walking about three thousand dogs, like I just that's fair. I believe that. I believe in so like, just throw that out there like that, right, that's just me. Everybody's different. So now you take your side hustle and you make it your main focus. But then you said you have other businesses too, I do
now, I mean Dune has been my number one priority. Forced to feed the other companies exactly exactly, So I have Dune. I have a little gift boutique called The Cove in Norwood, and we just launched a yeah, nine thirty five Washington, and we just launched a sub brand called Mitezorro, which is a secondary jewelry line. So just a little something new to try out. As I've learned so much over the past fourteen years. And what's your goals here? My goal I want to ask you how old you because
some people get like upset about that one. Yeah, women, why I mean? My goal is to build an incredible business that captures people's memories, makes people happy that I can hopefully leave to my daughters so that they have something that they love doing. Hopefully they love doing. Were you manufacturing all Australia, Norwood, Massachusetts? So do you have like factory space that you
use? Yeah? So I just I bought my first commercial building. Okay, yeah, thank you, And we have the cove boutique in front, and then we have the manufacturing and back. We don't do the metal casting. We do buy our castings all over the world, Rhode Island, India, China, everywhere, but the actual sand inlay and the artistry is done right there in Norwood. That's where the whole studio is. And how much you if you don't mind me asking? Your sales keep growing you? Yeah?
Last year we hit five million in revenue, which is and so we've organically been growing year over year over year. We're bootstrap. I never wanted to take on an investor. I never wanted any of that because I didn't know. Again, without a formal education, I did not have enough trust in myself In the beginning. I didn't think I'd be able to pay anyone back. I didn't know what I was doing. Now, in hindsight, it cool. She didn't have a high school education or a college education.
That your brain could only take you so far in this business. I was insecure for the first six years of my business. Yeah, I would say it took me six or seven years to get my footing. You know. It's it's funny because let me tell you something. Yeah, we all are, and we all were. Yeah. No one comes out of the gate going, yeah, I'm so confident. Yeah, I'm sure. No, no one does. Neybody tells you that's a liar, say to their face, of course, you're learning as you're going along. What do you think
I knew at twenty three, But I know now. No, it took me five, six seven years to get out there and be confident and comfortable. And anybody that says anything different, I won't believe you. I'll end the conversation right then and there. Yeah, oh I knew what I was doing them, and I know you did. But there are people out there like that, trust me. I meet them all the time. But you
know what. And I always say, they're full of bologna. And they're the ones that have the best husband, the best kids, the best this, the best, that mean mother, the most miserable people. Okay, and they qulinn tell the truth that they tried. So I just kind of laugh at that. I'm so happy anybody tells me they're so happy, they're not happy. Yeah, how's that. Everybody's got there? Everyone has there? Yeah, and we live in this world of Instagram and social media where
everyone's glossy, everyone's happy, everyone's so follow my stories. That's not true. Yeah, it's you're an idiot, you're a moral ye, get your head out of you that Okay, Yeah, I'm sorry. I can't apologize. No, I live in the real world, am I and my own hat? I hope I live in the real world. Right, Look all you have and I always say this, what's the moment most important common that you have in your life? Time? Family? That's it. You just
said it. Health. I ask people this all the time and they never can answer it. It's time. Yeah, right, that's your biggest and most important commondity because at the time you don't have the chance of the opportunity to be with your family and your children. Right, So you need time, and you have plenty of time because I'm looking at you, so I don't think you're near my age. Maybe you look really good. I don't know. I haven't day see if I have got Yeah, I got almost
eleven year old. Those eleven years a dog years. Those are dog years. But at forty eight, I was you couldn't start me, unstoppable. Yeah, the yo yo was going like you just couldn't. Yeah. Now at fifty nine, it's like, okay, I'm ready for you. Aka, No, it's it's I never go on vacation. I'm constantly working. I work eighteen days, but all day, every day, seven days a week. I don't care if it's Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.
Every day's a workday. Yeah. Right, But that's again personality. But then you get to a point where you go, I am kind of feeling it a little bit, right, so like you will not now you're too young. Now I'm ready. I mean I'm just getting started, and I'm on the back three of my career. You've been saying that forever. No, I said I was on the back nine. Then I said, Now it's back three seven at eighty you'll say I'm on the back two. No,
I'm not talking to be out there yelling at guys. It's seventy years old. That's not going to happen. I'll send you out to do it. But I feel like Sam knows. It's like I said, anybody that I like to meet women in business that talk truth, that say, Cindy, this is tough, this is hard. This has been a hard struggle. This has not been easy. Yeah, because that is that's having an
honest conversation with somebody. Anyone who says it's easy is, I mean, it's just and then it's just not no matter not And then you're you're a mom. Yeah, and then you're trying to do the mom things right. So go back into my generation, which that ten eleven years makes a difference when none of the same as friends I had same yet twenty three I get right of twenty and they didn't work. No, Now that was the bad
moment, I know, trust me. Still, I mean there's still moments like that, Oh the bad mommy with the next toil running through her cell phone, the next tail and a beepa and then everybody while she's playing softball. Everybody's looking at me like, can you shut the beaber up? Lady? And I'm like turning your head around. Okay, the beep bis gotta stay on. I'll put on vibrate. I did this to more mothers on those called like bleachers. Yeah do this, yeah, ninth really, Oh,
I love it because good for you. I'm not married to some CEO of you know of IBM, and I'm not married to a brain surgeon. So just turn your head around right now, okay, right, and then no one would screw with me. Ever, it was like, okay, turn my head around, but it was true. You saw me running to the field, right. So you live with guilt, you know, every day. Every maternal guilt is one of It's another thing that that is just
it's inevitable, it's undeniable. Everyone has it, whether they say they do or not. And I feel guilty all the time, even though my daughters are happy and healthy, and but you just want to be there sometimes a little bit more, and sometimes you get there a little lad or whatever because you're right. And and the worst thing was when if I have and they I could give you advice on when they get to that age when you're on the phone talk and somebody don't do this with the hend Yeah. I look
back now and I go, how many times did I go? Five minutes? Five minutes? Right? If I could, if I had to do over, I would not do that because now I can see their faces walking away as children, going just give me five minutes. Yeah, and there with no whole buttons. There was no new button. I'm covering the phone going five minutes. It was we're going off to break. I'm sitting stumbling, and we'll send top his nails on w BZ News Radio ten thirty.
We'll be right back, sponsored by Pillow Windows of Boston. Next day Molding and Kennedy Carter want me out mail one Land Town? Were we out mail down people's down and comment and do with Justin ram Sam. We got out of the way out and I'm sitting stumbling. It's the toughest nails on WBZ News Radio ten thirty. And I'm here with Holly Christensen and Samantha. I'm sorry, folks, but we just went off to break and we're just talking
about we went totally off I ninety five. We're on four ninety five we went on age seventeen, and we're talking about the decades. So there's a decade between you and Sammy thinking all that, right, yep, and she you're married to kids. I was married, divorced two kids, and then you got Sammy in the back of going, I ain't get married because I'm going to find the right guy. Like, I'm not going to end up with what Sammy is a loser, A loser, a loser, right,
So there was another colorful word that will be in Sammy. They are losers because why they don't want more for themselves and they're intimidated by someone that does do well. Can't you just be happy because someone's making money in the relationship. I would think that, But again it's that competition that a woman should make more money than me, and I think, please go not in my household. Yeah, it wasn't my household. Now it's like who cares?
That's what I think too, Who cares? But she goes on dates and guys will say, well, you make more money than me, and she'll be like, well, I didn't go on a date with you, and thank you for letting me know that. Well, that was her age, and I took him on vacation and he drove me nuts about the cost of everything. No that he was paying for it. Yeah, he's like, can you believe the cost of the hot dog? Can you believe the cost of this? And I was like, would you like anything with Starbucks?
I don't support that establishment that's for rich people. Are like, it was a yes or no, thank you. I'm out. And then she's texting me. She goes, oh my god, I can't get out of here. I'm like, stop being so mean. She's like, oh no. He's like, I don't mind you, and that Louis Vuittade never before. But leave the burke in at home. You know what it is? Are you serious? My berkan was ugly. I go, please take a picture of say this to your mom and your sister and tell him. It's like,
I think it's it's something about him pretentious. I bought her the bag, but as you were able to. But we're in like the Bahamas at the casino, I can throw my money away. Yeah he doesn't care there. But if I can taste, touch and feel, there's something messed up here. No, that doesn't work. Okay. Well, see, so we've got three generations in here because every ten years is pretty much the generation.
Right. Yeah, so the three generations oddly enough twenty six to twenty nine have there together more than thirty to thirty five that they are way more hustlers than that. The next one behind her seems to be waking up. It alternates generations. I'm telling you certain traits within generations, Allele. I take yoga with have like multiple jumps, really all of them. So date younger. There's like the girls and the guys will have like that's say good,
you don't think I don't think it can work. Women age fast and men number one true. Okay, men stay looking better if they don't lose. They hear, so they don't listen, they don't lose, they hear close share within two years either way, like does it. I don't think she is younger. It makes a big difference. But if you start doing that five seven, Yeah, comes a time where you start to look like his you know mom, Yeah, that's right. We don't want that.
You definitely don't want that. So it can look fine the other way, an older man younger woman. But that also is a sign that you know, listen, I'm marrying because I don't want I want to take the easy way out. Yeah, like at twenty five, because I'd be in love with an eighty year old man. I highly doubt it. Okay, especially my father when I was twenty five, was twenty three years old than me, so that would have brought him to like, I don't know, forty
eight or whatever. But it's just amazing that we get three generis, like I said, and three different stories. And Sammy, your friends at are your age that are parents. And I remember Danielle call me saying, your friends call me ma, and my son's friends call me ma. I can't do the smile like I have. I have a daughter and I'm a lawyer, and I don't know how you did all this. You just do it.
You just do it. But you find that they live at guilt going to work and no, you're a general there and say, I don't know how people do without a nanny. Okay, we just we did it without a nanny. I had family. Their mentality is well Janelle specifically, she's like, if I can't be there because I'm working, then I'm paying for the nanny. But if it's costing me, if I'm making more money,
that it makes sense for me to be at work or I'll switch. And but what about your other friends, Like, I don't know, babe, I don't have a friend that doesn't have a nanny. I don't. I can tell you this. Most of my friends had somewhat jobs, but mine was a job. It was it was building up a business. Yeah,
I mean so Empire. There was a career there. So it was like I'm going to work nine to five and I come home and you worry about how the lights are coming on tomorrow, and you worry about where the bill's gonna hip. When it's your business, you don't stop worrying. You got to worry on everything you're worrying about next month and how you're you gonna pay your bills next month, next week. I believe the bigger difference is that you all had kids younger than we did, so your parents were there more.
Not me, No, my general Sammy, Come on, you know that the average parent your age was ten years old than me. Yeah. But all between where my friends are having kids and their parents now, like their parents are retired, they're not there to babysit and help. They have to have the nanny. Oh, they don't have the age gap is too far between for them to like feel what he's saying. If grandparents are retired
now are still working. They're retired, But I don't think the parents trust their kid fully with their parents that's retired down because they're so much older and they forget how to be with a baby. Now listen, and I retire. Last thing I want to do. I'm going during my life. I got ten years left here wanting more babies. I'm still raising you and your brother and everybody else. This is what I say all the time. Meanwhile, something happens to me. She wants the rights to my eggs. Oh
have you signed anything? Now? They died with me like that, said what do you do if something happened with your eggs? Like you know, yeah, no one's getting my eggs like they get tossed the word she wants to remake me. I said, well what if I want to remake it? You? This is getting very interesting. You know, it could make somebody else needed it, like to have a baby and bring another little And
she said no, because I don't want someone else raising my children. Well, because what if they what if they do something messed up to a kid and ruin that kid's life and it's my eggs and they come looking for me like I did tonight. Great point, aries aries. Yeah, we're so different. We're so different, but we're in love. But it's just I know, our conversation was supposed to be about the jewelry stores and and the blah blah bah. But but sometimes women just need to hear and maybe men
need to hear. Yeah that this hasn't been an easy ride. And I just laugh at people and they go, oh, Cidney Stumple's got panic attacks. Oh what's how could ship panic attacks? Her life is this? Well, guess what. We all have our stuff. Yeah, we all have our crap. Right, it doesn't matter. I mean, like you said, every single you've got, you've got the weight of the world on your shoulders. When you're a business owner twenty four seven unless you're sleeping. Unless
you're sleeping, and then you wake up. When you wake up, what's the first thing in your face? Uh? Well, get my kids on the bus, okay, phone, but right, well, of course, yeah, the first th eyes the phones in my face. And that's like such a no no. With any sort of mental health, do you read about and They're like, do not look at your phone when you first wake up. I'm like, how can you not missed? Just make sure there's no fires to put out? Correct, and then move on, you know,
and then go back to it. But you have to. But you hear what you just said. You looking at your phone for the fire, because when you own a business, you don't get HI, how are you you get the roof just fell in? Oh god, Billy just fell off a stud I mean like you're looking for the nine one one calls, right, yep, because that's what the brain is already set absolutely for a problem
after problem after problem. And I'm sure like all of us out here in business, you're looking for help too every day and looking for skilled labor because what you do you need skilled labor? Yeah? Yeah, we handcraft every single piece in the studio. Correct. So you can't just find skilled labor, and you can't find young kids that want to go to work. And it's I out here right now right Yeah for me, there's like a know, it was great, but now it's like no one wants to work?
Is it different now for you? After COVID, did your business change at all? No? Because we were essential so we had to work through COVID, so there was no shutdown, but we worked differently in the fact that couldn't pigpile the subs on. Yeah, we were in taiveex suit's masks, couldn't breathe. It's a hundred degrees in that suit, even though it was sixty degrees out. Then when it gets to eighty degrees you're like drenched in there. Horrible. Yeah, we were crazy. I mean it was I
look back. How about this washing. I used to say to wait, if you go grocery shopping, wash the fruit and stuff before you put in the refrigerator. He used to lie to me, told me after I didn't wash it nothing, I'm getting undressed in the garage, put in my stuff and bring it. I'm dressing in the garage now, and then bringing my stuff into the laundry room to put to the washing machine. And then some of the stuff we did was in the singes insane. Yes, and it
has it. I would say if we had never had COVID, I would have had another good ten years in my career. I think COVID took a little bit of a beating on me. Sure, okay, because then we went through no product. We were running out of product. Yeah, the supply chain was is still a little bit jammed down, jammed up. Yeah, something will jam it up again. Yeah, but it is what it is. So yeah, I mean you've had I've had to learn how to
work differently. Yeah, you know AI is not going to build buildings, okay, not commercial for us, not resime your AI proof, which is so I have robots right now, I count on human beings. Right. They will sit there and say, oh, i've been on ninety five, it's been three days. As you've been on. You're coming to work, man, So I don't know if you're dealing with the same aggravation that we're dealing with out there. Yeah, we're finally starting to stabilize our workforce.
We have some really, really good team members. But it was dicey for a while and now it's all smooth. No, it's not why why she said that, I love you, Holly. I so hate people that full of blogey old that I thought we're going to go to break. I'm Sydney Stumble and you're listening to Tough Nails on w BZ News Radio ten thirty, sponsored by new Brook Realty Group, Boston Wood Smaller Insurance, World Auto Body and Tosca Drive Auto Body and welcome back to ten Nails on w BZ News
Radio ten thirty. And I'm Sindy and I'm here with Samantha and Sammy. What are you doing right now? And I'm sorry and you are Holly. Yeah, okay, you didn't introduce yourself. Okay, so all just passed out gifts to us, Sam and I and my mom wants hold on. I got this beautiful necklace, and I'll explain to people. First of all, it kind of resembles a little bit different, but the Tiffany's necklace, remember the Tiffanys I do, yeah, with the Tiffany sterling. Yeah,
you can see. I like chunky things, but that one is filled with sand, sand and earth elements. But that one has sand from Marco Island, Florida, and crushed turquoise, which is just one of my favorite stones. But you could have she brought Maco Island because the last name was Stumpo and Everyrandon macawell has a vowel at the end of the name. Sammy, Yes, let me see, because you're hiding over there, I'm reading about mine. Let me see I have lots of sand from the Nope, I'm
connected to my ears. Oh you can't. Can you bring me that over place so I can see Sammy gift? This is beautiful. This is really stunning. This cuff that's all sterling silver. It's actually recycled sterling. We try to be eco conscious. You put it, yeah, exactly, and you can squeeze that right to yours. Okay, I love it. Kind of get a left because you look at this and you look at this right, yeah, and then you're string bracelet. Yeah, that's me. Like
just that has sand from Saint Martin. It has turquoise. I think it has Bermuda. Sammy does that. So it says beach sand from Miami Beach and then beach sand from Boc Grande, Aruba, and then beach sand from Puerto Rico and the Bahamas. Oh perfect, Okay, I was way off. Never mind, this is lying to me. But how cool is it? I mean the sand is like the different textures everything. Of course, I love it. That actually, would I love that on you? That
for the record, you're turning into your mother right now? Where is that? Because Nana does that? Do you? Oh? But it looks pretty on me. It does look pretty U Nana doesn't but me it does. No, no, no, I would never take this break from you. But see for me, I this this would make me smile in the winter time because it reminds me of summer. Yeah, and what's my favorite time of the year is warm weather? So the blue. I love the brown
sand though, because I'm a Brownie person. But the blue. Where's your favorite place? Do you have like your happy place? Her bedroom? But that yeah, my bad and my under a massive duvet down comforter. That's like this thing is I don't know. The blankets that are feel crest blankets would soakle the around though my whole life were chasing around. It's beautiful though, actually, but what is my favorite I love the heat. Yeah, I'd rather work in ninety degree weather than the cold. Same, okay,
so I don't mind being looking. I'm in the field every day so it doesn't matter. So are you the hell like I'm bundled up? Are you a Cape girl? Are you a Florida girl? You Florida being a girl beach in Florida? I stay, okay, I'm a cancer as you know, right, so I don't leave I've grown up at the Diplomat Hotel and I still stay with the love it. Okay, okay, we don't change. It doesn't like change. We no, No, my life is a destiny, not a journey. You're on a journey, Sami's on the journey.
My life has been laid out. Yeah, like the book's been written. So in the winter, so we could make you a little piece of jewelry with a stand from where the Diplomat is, and then in the winter you can kind of look at it. Looked at the Florida San Laly is it all dredged in? Is it the Miami Sands? It's not looking so great. Yeah, yeah, I mean these are really beautiful there because the same keeps getting washed away. Yeah. You guys, you have a website,
right, we do. Yeah, we're everywhere. It's dune jewelry dot com. Repeat that, because if I'm saying it's beautiful, you guys people follow me, know me? You know what I with my jewelry. You've got good taste. Yeah again, you've got this song and we won't say that. We let my head cut off, right, but then you give my seven dollar bracelets right right? Next, what's kind of but see these things, they all mean something to me. Yeah, this was one place,
another place, another place. So they all have just followed you on Instagram. Oh perfect, Yeah, we have a really fun Instagram. It's Dune Jewelry. So what can we let the people know we're not having a private conversation. Well, we kind of are, but we are in the studio, Sammy. Well, let people know what Instagram is done jewelry. Well, it's duny, like a sand dune Jewelry dot com and we're everywhere.
You'll find us everywhere, from fine jewelry stores with our higher end pieces to the Paper Store just brought in a whole new collection that is beautiful. The Paper Store is a chain of ninety Hallmark stores up and down East Coast, mostly New England. There's one in them by the dry bar and Starbucks. Really yeah, across the street. It's a great gift store. You're welcome paying Field Mall or the street the other side near a dry bar. What that store? Oh yeah, the paper you're right, I can just
I just saw it in my head. The logo. Yeah, it's recognizable. So we're we're kind of everywhere. And not only do we do sand in earth elements in our jewelry. But people have sent us wedding flowers, funeral flowers, ashes, human creamin's animal creamine. I know, I'm just throwing it out there. They do because it's their experience, it's their memory. So people say, Pa, don't write in your world that I have to wear you. Yeah, no, just put me in my mike.
What's that thing she does? She does have a list of people that are not allowed to come to her. Is that right? Oh? Yeah, there's people I don't want my funeral. That's amazing, and you have it written down. Oh, Samuel, though I love you, we'll have you the bodyguids escort right out. You didn't like me while I was alive. Now you want to come right right? You shall your tribute now? Yeah,
pay your So here's a question I have for you. Well, I it's kind of hard to ask a question because did you take any like junior high school, high school friends with you into your future or is all that in the reay view mirror forel No, my high school best friend, Samantha. We have been friends since we were twelve years old, and she does ninety percent of our photography. Cancer cancer Okay, so she's loyal, so you're never going to give her up. But how much, Like someone's asked
me, how many friends did you make on the lad of success? I said, you mean how many friends I lose? Yeah? How many acquaintances did I make? But how many friends I lose? So as your business is growing, people around you, they proud of you, or do they want is your competition or whatever? I want to see you not do so well? It's a good question. I don't know one hundred percent. I don't have a lot of close friends, so you keep your world at a distance. I do. I don't know if I mean to. I think
I'm so busy. I really prioritize my business. I work twenty four to seven, truly, and then when I'm not working, it's about the kids. So it's it is a little bit challenging. You know, there's a husband in that spot too, right, I know, I know, I know, uh huh and him but he's so supportive, that's all I mean. And he can tell little advice. Yeah, pay attention to him to absolutely. Okay, Okay, so you know it takes two people to make
a marriage. It takes two people to break a marriage. Right. So I've been with Ray for thirteen years, which I was married for twenty six years. But it's hard to be with a woman that has a career. And it's hard because you're coming home and the last thing you want to do is talk about your day. And then you lost sometimes in your own brain. Once the kids go to sleep and everybody the house goes down. Now you're stuck in your own brain and you don't want to talk to the person
you're with with it. You do, but you talk about the surface stuff. Yeah, once in a while, you talk with the nitty gritty, but most of it's in your head and you're alone in your own brain. Yeah, right, always. Yeah, I know it's a terrible feeling, but that's part of being a woman and owning companies and whatever you do. And I think men have been alone in their own heads forever like that.
So imagine that, because they'd come home and they'll be like, oh, I bought this, I bought that, I bought this, and IgE like, can you give me a break? Can you get off the credit cards? Right? You know what that's like. Right, You're out there making a living and then everybody's like drawing from that money and you're trying to get more money to make that business world that business more and then you take care
of a family and we have those conversations. I mean the girls when I do travel quite a bit for work now, trunk shows and events and trade shows, and we have those conversations because they'll be like, Mom, please don't go. I don't want you to go. Daddy gets crumpy, and then we all sit down as a family and I'm like, okay, so we can have have the swimming pool and your gymnastics and because I do all this, but mom has to work or truly, do you want me to
stay home? Daddy can work. You know, we can have less, do it less and and I really I'm not saying it in a a in a silly way. I'm asking and they're like, no, Mom, bye, here's your suitcase. You have a nice trip. I mean, at the end of the day, they're going to dislike us or something. One of the problems going to be our problems. You know, we didn't create the problem. They create the problem, but you're gonna be the one that gets blamed, trust me. And I'm okay with that. I'm okay with
they're just a little too young. Right now, talk to me ten more years if you called me and say no, ten to twelve years saying, Cindy, what I do wrong? I gave this feel me a great life. Bah blah bah blah blah blah blah. And I'm getting I'm the one getting it all over the place, right, But that's just how it is. And you gotta be tough skited, She tells me, since you've been through metopause, you're so emotional. Very it does. Oh my god,
this are you more emotional? Oh my gosh, because things now are creeping up. Yeah. We used to call her the tuner. Now it's emotional. So I was a tuner rupper. Now I just like maybe. But again, we're all going to have our regrets. So that's just how life is. But I've given them a great life, so you know it. Then the other side of me goes shut up. Yeah, like, I'm not listening to your crap anymore. Ok, you've got a great life. Off my back. Now stand up and be held accountable and do your thing.
Yeah, we're going to break you. Never say anything. You're good, that's what we love you. I'm cdny stuff, But you listened Toughest Nails on WBZ News Radio ten thirty. It'll be right back and welcome back to Toughest Nails on WBZ News Radio ten thirty. And I'm here with Samantha and Holly. Holly, take us out. Thanks for having me, No, it was my pleasure. This has been such a fun conversation. We kind of came on to talk about doing jewelry and being a business owner and
things like that. And we got and we went down nine ninety five, We went to Florida, We and Tisrael were in Germany, went everywhere. Okay, So well now, I mean, I just I'm excited to let everyone know about Dune Jewelry, which you can find us at dunjewelry dot com. All of our designs are handcrafted. We've donated over two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to Coastal Preservation and other global charities over the past ten years.
We have a lifetime warranty on all our jewelry and it's all personalized and customized with your memories from your travels or special moments. Thank you Holly for coming in and everybody, have a great, safe weekend and we will see you next weekend on WBZ news Radio ten thirty