2016 Rhode Island Home Based Business Champion

A Day at the Beach Sea Glass Jewelry

Jane McHenry is making waves with her successful at home business

Jane McHenry, owner and chief designer of A Day at the Beach Sea Glass Jewelry, began her career in advertising and publishing. Jane worked her way through the ranks eventually taking a position as a Newspaper Executive. Despite a flourishing 25 year career Jane felt the pull of something long subdued; a childhood fascination with the ocean. As a youth Jane would walk the beaches excitedly collecting the sea glass treasures that had washed up onto the sand. Those memories and that excitement never left Jane and she began to brainstorm on a way to recapture her passion.

McHenry’s initial idea was dreamt up as a clearinghouse to celebrate other local artists and their work but the deeper Jane delved into the process the more her own curiosity and creativity grew. She began taking classes, learning styles and techniques of creating and quickly her passion for sea glass had met her artistic vision. Soon her home became a studio rolling out unique, hand-crafted jewelry. Suddenly, A Day at the Beach was to become a platform to display her own unbelievably original works of art.

Jane began researching where she could garner some support and found her way to the Center for Women & Enterprise; there she took classes in Visioning and Business Planning. Jane would go on to graduate from the program and in 2009 opened her home-based business called A Day at the Beach Sea Glass Jewelry. Jane began taking her hand-made jewelry to parties and festivals finding an enthusiastic yet limited market. Thinking back to her time with the CWE she revamped her business plan to be less reliant on shows and festivals and more focused on a fully functional online boutique. In 2015, her new website went online and the strategy has been an incredible success.

McHenry has since added 6 wholesale jewelry locations in Rhode Island and Florida and has continued to grow her online presence. Sales have increased 300% over prior years and the online market allows Jane to reach a national audience.

Throughout this entire process Jane has continued to create, building an ever growing, ever changing inventory of one-of-a-kind wearable art. Her difficulty lies in the diminishing quantity that is sea glass, unlike other artist Jane cannot simply go to the store to get more materials. This keeps Jane and her husband on the constant hunt for the glass and this has taken them to shorelines all over the world including the Bahamas, Bermuda, California, Hawaii, Nova Scotia, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, the United Kingdom and many more.

When asked how she can keep up with the day to day demands of the business while keeping her artistic spirit she replied, “I wake up in the morning and live and breathe it.” Her passion feeds her desire, and her desire is to see her business become the highest grossing and profitable sea glass jewelry website in the United States.

A Day at the Beach Sea Glass Jewelry products can be found online as well as many local charity events. Jane is a champion for many local charities and small business’ and truly believes that, “A purchase from a small business means you’re buying US made and supporting your local economy.”

For her demonstrated success and growth potential, the U.S. Small Business Administration is pleased to honor Jane McHenry, Owner of A Day at the Beach Sea Glass Jewelry, as the 2016 Rhode Island Home-Based Small Business of the Year.

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