It's A Gift
These eight alumni are utilizing their talents—from food and wine to art and skin care—to create the perfect holiday wish list.
Story // by Caite Hamilton
No one gets into entrepreneurship without a certain amount of passion, and these eight small business owners are no exception. This year’s gift guide features GW alums who are giving it their all—designing high-end watches, creating the perfect-fitting T-shirt, selling olive oil that rivals flavors of fine wines—so you can gift like a pro.
Who is the perfect client for abstract artist Jen Sterling? Someone, she says, who makes bold choices. Lives their life to the fullest. Takes risks. In other words, someone brave.
That’s not because Sterling, B.A. ’91, creates such outside-the-box work. It’s because, while most home decor trends err on the side of muted tones, Sterling’s over here smearing the canvas with deep reds.
“It takes some nerve to buck the neutral design trends prevalent today and add a splash of bright color to your home or office,” she says. “But [my clients] are also the people who tend to take risks in business, push themselves past their comfort zones to try new things.”
Sterling herself is someone who loves bright colors and expressive brush strokes. And she’s no stranger to taking risks. While a student at George Washington University, she’d planned to study genetics. But a required art class introduced her to typography—and the possibility of making a living by being creative. So she switched gears.
From there, she spent 30 years building and running her own Maryland-based design and branding firms (“I loved helping clients define themselves and grow successfully,” she says) but in 2018 decided to pivot to fine arts, selling her firm to her staff and taking her artwork full time.
Today she’s helping clients in a different way: by creating one-of-a-kind works of art that reflect who they are and that complement the wall space where they’ll hang. Often, she says, the pieces end up just as meaningful to her as they are to the client.
“About a year after I moved into my current studio I received a call from a commercial real estate agent. She had just been diagnosed with breast cancer,” Sterling says. “She said she wanted one of my colorful and joyous pieces to hang in her living room to see every day and motivate her while she fought through recovery. I was incredibly honored to receive this request and felt the pressure of getting it right.”
Sterling ended up painting two pieces and allowing the client to choose which one most resonated with her, and while that’s not a typical method of operation for the artist, it is indicative of her commitment to the purpose of each piece—to bring joy, to bring peace, to foster inspiration.
Sterling starts by viewing the home or commercial space and deciding what size and composition she’d recommend. She provides a rough mock-up of how the piece will fit into the space and then (after some paperwork, deposits and supplies ordering) she gets started.
“I take in any and all stories and information they share with me about their intent for the piece—sometimes even listening to specific songs that have meaning to them,” Sterling says. Occasionally the pieces will have hidden messages or images, but she says it’s rare that she includes them on purpose. Mostly, she says, “I am focused on evoking the feelings or emotions that the commissioner has requested.”
Mention GW Magazine when contacting Jen Sterling for 20 percent off commissioned or existing works at jensterling.com.
“Uncle” Jerry Skolnick opened his eponymous pretzel business in 1988 out of a rural Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, bakery using a recipe that, today, is more than 50 years old. Since then, co-owner Misty Skolnick, B.A. ’03, M.A. ’07, (Jerry’s daughter) estimates the business has churned out sourdough pretzels in the millions, at a rate of more than 25,000 per day.
“Growing up, I watched how hard [my dad] worked to build and sustain his business,” says Skolnick, who was 7 when he opened Uncle Jerry’s. “I really admired him for that.”
Jerry has woken up at 4 a.m. each day to make deliveries for 35 years (and does to this day!), and Skolnick started working for the business in 2008 while transitioning to workforce development in New York City.
“At the time, my dad didn’t have a website, and so, while I was looking for work, I decided to build the website,” she says. Eventually, she got a job working at a men’s homeless shelter helping program participants find employment. But the Uncle Jerry’s website continued to grow, and slowly it made sense for Skolnick to come on board full time.
As co-owner of the business, Skolnick oversees everything from strategic planning to packing pretzels for shipment. And, she says, she’s involved in the fun part: product launches, which include dreaming up new flavors and taste testing.
“Both my dad and I work hard to develop new flavors,” Skolnick says. “We get a lot of inspiration by watching food trends and what we see at our own local grocery stores. …There’s no set process—we just look for and try different flavors and see how they turn out!”
Skolnick says her personal favorite is the special low salt, a classic sourdough pretzel with a medium-brown finish and just a touch of salt, but customers prefer the extra dark regular salt (followed closely by the extra dark low salt).
“I remember one customer emailed about the extra dark pretzels and said how much he loved them because they reminded him of his mother, who also burnt his toast,” Skolnick says.
Nostalgia is a main ingredient in Uncle Jerry’s pretzels. Each 7-ounce bag of crunchy snacks is made the old-fashioned way: About 25 people hand-roll and hand-twist the pretzels every day, baking them in a hearth oven. And unlike many others, Uncle Jerry’s pretzels are 100 percent natural with no oils, preservatives or added sugars.
Still, Skolnick and her dad are focused on the future. She says a new chocolate pretzel with a hint of peppermint is in the works and—longtime customers rejoice!—their everything pretzel might make a return to the menu.
Use code GWU24 for 15 percent off your order at unclejerryspretzels.com through Dec. 31.
By day, Vinecia Perkins, J.D. ’19, is a senior associate at a Washington, D.C.-based law firm. By night, she’s the founder of Mae’s Eden, a line of skincare products inspired by her beloved grandmother, Shirley Mae Taylor.
“Mae sparked my interest in holistic healing and taught me natural remedies she learned from her African American and Blackfoot Native ancestry,” says Perkins. “When Mae fell ill from rheumatoid arthritis and congestive heart failure, I began to further my knowledge of natural remedies, making Mae pain-relief balms, fresh juices, and other herbal remedies to alleviate her pain and heal her sores.”
Perkins came by the hobby honestly. Her mother, she says, never relied on Western medicine, instead turning to natural remedies like goldenseal, echinacea and cayenne for illnesses, lemon tonics and bitter crystals for detoxing, and a variety of teas for other needs. “Her influence taught me that there’s always a natural solution to everyday issues,” Perkins says.
The attorney spent 14 years developing the recipes for what would become Mae’s Eden, but not before she tested them on her grandmother, who by the time Perkins started law school was very ill and eventually bedridden. Mae’s doctors had prescribed OxyContin for her chronic pain, but Mae would wind up in the hospital anyway, the medication having made her feel even worse.
Perkins cared for her grandmother while attending GW Law, administering natural juices and pain-relief oils. After Mae passed, Perkins decided to turn the product line into something that could benefit others too.
“It’s a blessing to honor my grandmother’s memory in this way by continuing to help others and not letting the years of healing I provided her go to waste,” Perkins says.
She develops each product, designing everything from the formulas to the packaging. And when it comes to ingredients, she has a strong hand in those too—bringing back native plants from countries she’s visited (soursop, cinnamon and sea moss from Jamaica; jasmine and green tea from Vietnam) and growing some at home in what she calls her Eden Lab.
The eight-product line includes body oil (a super-hydrator that includes powerhouse herbs like calendula and nettle leaf), Face Card oil (a must for those suffering from acne or eczema), and moisturizing hand sanitizer (an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antibacterial spray that promotes collagen and heals wounds). Perkins says those are her bestsellers (and “they’re the products I use every single day”), but as she enters her second year in business, she’s adding a few new products to the lineup: Mae’s Sweet Fix Sugar Scrub, beard oils and healing butters.
“I love when customers send me messages or reviews raving about how my pain relief oil has helped their grandmother or how my oils have cleared up their chronic skin conditions,” she says. “As a full-time attorney, this brings me the most joy, because I often make these products in the middle of the night after a long day at work because I love to help people.”
For 10 percent off your order at
maeseden.com, use code GWGlow.
You could probably call the circumstances that led to Alexandra Rusyniak, J.D. ’23, working for (and, later, helping run) The Happy Olive a, well, happy accident. The GW Law grad was in high school when she found the olive oil store while looking for a part-time job.
“I worked at the store until I went to college in 2015,” she says. “After I left for college, the owners at the time asked my mom if she was available to work part time.” Rusyniak’s mom, Sue, took the position and in 2020 bought the business.
The Rusyniaks had never owned a business before—Sue was retired from a career in nursing and her husband, George, had been a physician. But they didn’t let that stop them.
“My family, specifically my father with his strong Italian ancestry, always had a deep appreciation for Italian products and quality extra virgin olive oil,” Rusyniak says. “As a family, we traveled extensively in Europe, especially Italy, and fell in love with the food.” While traveling, they would learn more about the value of small-batch extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegars (like the ones they sell in the store). “We see our store as a way for people to travel the globe without having to buy a plane ticket!”
While Rusyniak’s mom is really the face of the Alabama-based store these days, Rusyniak comes back to work during the summer and holiday seasons. And she supports her mom daily in decision-making discussions, monitoring the financials and ordering new products.
“One of my favorite times of the year is when my mom and I can go to the buying markets,” Rusyniak says. “We are constantly looking for new products to keep the store fresh and interesting.”
Speaking of products, The Happy Olive stocks 20 different olive oils and 25 balsamic vinegars, with the Tuscan herb olive oil and cranberry pear balsamic topping the list of customer favorites (not to mention they’re a perfect pair on a charcuterie board). They source each one from a distributor in California—the same one The Happy Olive used when it originally opened 13 years ago.
“They have cultivated relationships with growers all over the world,” Rusyniak says. “We put our trust in them to choose the highest quality oils and present them to us each season.”
The trust has paid off—last May the store was able to expand into the retail space next door, doubling their floor space and allowing for a better in-store shopping experience (something that’s important to the family, who started the business at the height of the Covid pandemic). And bonus: The expansion allowed for more space to ship products across the U.S.
The Happy Olive stewards are hopeful about the future, an olive oil club on the wish list and tasting trips for mom and daughter on the calendar.
“[We’re] going … to see the olives being harvested,” Rusyniak says. “A stop in Modena, where our balsamics are produced, is also on the books!” Many happy returns, indeed.
For 15 percent off at happyolive4.com, use code GWU.
It took Mathew White, B.S. ’13, two years to reveal his line of luxury watches to his parents, whose own fathers had inspired the company’s ethos. It wasn’t because he wasn’t sure how they’d react—he just wanted everything to be perfect.
“I spent almost two years designing our first model, having it produced, starting my business, and officially launching the sale of it with only a few people in the know—my wife and kids, who promised not to tell anyone,” White says. “Looking back, I did this because I was venturing into unknown territory and didn’t want to share it with too many people until I knew it was going to succeed.”
A surgical assistant by trade, White’s journey to watch design started in a roundabout way when he was a kid. Whether he was building forts in the woods, crafting small boats in his dad’s workshop or designing new ways to string his lacrosse stick, he says, he found joy in making something with his hands. So when Covid made his already stressful job even more so, he looked for a creative outlet to calm his busy mind. He decided to make his dad a watch.
He already had some experience with 3D printing, having designed a theoretical implant to combat complications from urological surgery as a capstone project at GW, so he got to work designing the components.
“What began as a fun side project turned into something more serious as I realized I had a dial design that I really liked,” he says. “That design needed hands, a case, and before I knew it, I was reaching out to manufacturers.”
Eventually, he turned his watch-designing hobby into Richard-Harvey Watch Company, named for his Navy veteran grandfathers, Richard and Harvey. White says when he started the business, he envisioned an initial series of watches inspired by navigation. Accordingly, the Attitude (the first model in the line) incorporates design elements that evoke the look of an attitude indicator (the instrument in a pilot’s cockpit that shows the true horizon), needles on a cockpit gauge and propellers.
“Releasing our aviation-inspired model first was, in a way, a nod to Harvey, who served as an air combat controlman during World War II,” White says. The Attitude model comes in two colorways: the Patriot Edition, with its vibrant red, white and blue dial (a bestseller and White’s personal favorite), and the Blackout Edition, “which has a more subdued, tactical look.”
But what did his parents think?
“I presented my mom [Richard’s daughter] with a Patriot Edition and my dad [Harvey’s son] with a Blackout Edition—both serial No. 001,” White says. “They couldn’t believe it and thought it was so cool. The tie-in and incorporating the names of their fathers into the business was the cherry on top. I recall that moment vividly.”
White says he’s been at work on the company’s next model for a year now, balancing the project with his career in health care and raising a family. (“I'm taking my time to ensure it’s perfect, rather than rushing to release something just to stay relevant,” he says.) In the meantime, he’s handcrafting leather watch bands. Gotta keep the hands busy.
For 15 percent off at rhwatchco.com, use code GWFAM.
Visit a traditional winery almost anywhere in America and you can ask the sommelier what dish to pair a given wine with. Visit Berkeley, California-based NORIA Wines and you’ll need to pose the question in reverse. That’s because winemaker Nori Nakamura takes a different approach.
“Our approach starts with a clear model or inspiration, which in many cases is a Japanese dish or the essence of Japanese cuisine,” says NORIA co-owner Atsushi Yanai, M.B.A. ’96. The inspiration for their Chardonnay, for example, is Japanese junmai-ginjo sake; the sauvignon blanc is modeled after Japanese dai-ginjo sake. “As you may know, sake is traditionally paired with Japanese dishes, and both Nori and I, being born and raised in Japan, understand this culinary harmony deeply. This cultural connection is our starting point.”
Once they have an inspiration in mind, they work on identifying which grapes will produce the desired flavor, then source a vineyard where those grapes are grown. The longtime friends and business partners—they met while in undergrad at Keio University in Tokyo—work with nine vineyards in the Sonoma/Napa Valley wine region that grow high-quality grapes then deliver them to NORIA’s winery where they handle the crushing, barrel aging and bottling. The unique approach, Yanai says, is a deliberate choice.
“Being Japanese, we have a deep cultural connection to Japanese cuisine, and we wanted to create wines that not only reflect that but also stand out in the highly competitive California wine market,” Yanai says. “By focusing on crafting wines specifically designed to pair with Japanese dishes, we have created a unique niche that differentiates us from other wineries in the region.”
The wines aren’t considered “natural”—a classification that usually indicates the wine has been made without the use of pesticides or herbicides and with few or no additives—but Yanai says that’s on purpose too.
“Through his experiences, [Nori] realized that natural wines do not always yield the results he aims for in terms of quality and taste,” Yanai says. “Ultimately, Nori prefers to create wines that reflect his vision, which sometimes requires methods and practices that do not fall under the natural wine category.”
Currently, the winery, a Japanese-inspired industrial space set among five other urban wineries in Berkeley, offers seven bottles: a rosé (available only to NORIA wine club members), sauvignon blanc, chardonnay and four pinot noirs: Russian River, Sonoma Coast, Chalone and Santa Cruz Mountains. Yanai says NORIA plans to add gewurztraminer, cabernet sauvignon and syrah to the list by the end of the year. And if you’re flying first class to Tokyo after December, you’ll notice two NORIA wines—the chardonnay and a pinot noir—on the menu for All Nippon Airways.
Yanai says eventually he’d like to see NORIA on wine lists in not only Japanese restaurants and retailers but also other Western and Asian cuisine restaurants.
“Our wine is, at the end of the day, California wine, so there is good potential to sell our wines to various restaurants throughout the United States,” Yanai says. Or, he notes, hopefully, even to the world.
For 10 percent off your noriawines.com order through Dec. 31, use code DIS-GW.
There’s something infinitely cool about a classic jeans-and-white-tee outfit. But there’s a fine line between “pulling it off” and “off-putting.” For Samantha Firestone, B.A. ’00, that line is in the fabric choice, which is why she started her upscale-casual clothing company, LELUXE.
“I wanted to create the pieces that I wanted and needed in my closet and felt other women do too,” Firestone says. “The ‘just right’ style staples that transcend time and trends and quickly become your wardrobe essentials because they feel as good as they look, drape perfectly in all the right places and can take you from day into evening.”
Firestone had been a stay-at-home mom for more than a decade following a career in counseling when she decided to turn her passion project into a full-fledged business. She was struggling to find the perfect T-shirt or tank top that would look great alone—the kind of thing a harried mom who appreciates a flattering silhouette might reach for. So she went all in on what she calls a “huge learning curve” to launch the business.
“The LELUXE shopper is a busy woman who appreciates both high quality and fit,” she says. “Someone who enjoys being stylish yet doesn’t have the time to overthink getting dressed and automatically reaches for our tees, tanks and camis over and over again, easily pairing them with denim, pantsuits and skirts for both work and play.”
The current collection features tops—tanks, camisoles and T-shirts—as well as silk dresses and simple, classic-cool jewelry, which Firestone sources locally in Los Angeles, where the company is based. But the tank tops, she says, are LELUXE’s bread and butter. The Charli tank, a lightweight, form-fitting sleeveless top, is “what dreams are made of,” says its website description. “Developed from a super-soft textured rib that hits in all the right places, this versatile staple is crucial to any closet.” Firestone shares that it’s her bestseller (“Anyone who tries it on purchases it,” she says) and one of the reasons the company is so focused on building out its T-shirt and tank top collection.
Firestone works with a dedicated team to design each of the pieces and source fabrics—like the vegan silk rib knit, which she says is “so soft and feels really special”—both domestically and from Italy and Asia.
“We have so many new styles dropping in this space,” she says. “Developing patterns in these fabrics that flatter and feel good on has been a slow but rewarding process as I am meticulous about every detail. I’m really excited about the finished product.”
For 15 percent off your leluxe.com purchase, use code GW15.
When it comes down to it, Maizie Clarke, M.A. ’14, just wants to hear the story of your favorite place: the candy store where you met and fell in love as teenagers, your grandparents’ house where, in full spring bloom, they won yard of the month. She relishes learning about entrepreneurs’ restaurants, real estate offices, convenience stores—even funeral homes.
“I love hearing the stories behind houses—places that families are started and hold a lot of memories,” says the illustrator. “Any place that is special to people is really what interests me.”
It’s not totally why she became an illustrator—she’d been in creative roles her whole career, including as an event designer—but it’s a big reason. While at GW studying for her master’s in exhibition design, she’d use watercolors to render 3D drawings (“I loved how the watercolor softened the hard ink lines,” she says) and, as a 20-something on a budget, she’d gift illustrations to friends and family.
“The business idea really started forming when people would ask if I could paint something for their loved ones,” she says. She formed Maizie Clarke LLC in 2016, working with clients to create watercolor house portraits. Today her line of illustrations has expanded to tea towels, scarves and gifts for hostesses and newlyweds, which she sells online and wholesale to museum stores, bourbon distillery shops and boutiques around the country. And last May her work was published on the cover of HarperCollins author Plum Sykes’ “Wives Like Us,” a career highlight for the artist.
But Clarke’s favorite thing is the houses. Ranging from 5”x7” to 11”x14” and priced accordingly, the house portraits (for which she typically closes custom orders at the beginning of December to ensure timely delivery) make a great gift “for anyone who has a special place,” Clarke says. And she takes special requests—a swing in the tree in the front yard, a cat peeking through one of the windows, a certain kind of flower in the front beds—“to honor the stories that make up that special place.”
She doesn’t recall the first house she ever painted (probably the one she grew up in, she says), but Clarke estimates she’s painted more than 1,000. That’s a lot of stories.
For 25 percent off at maizieclarke.com, use code GW2024.
Photography: William Atkins / Courtesy of Jen Sterling