We had the good fortune of connecting with Sara Schwartz and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Sara, how does your business help the community?
As a Licensed Social Worker and activist in Philadelphia, I have spent the last 20 years working with adolescents in the child welfare system, unaccompanied youth who crossed the border alone, survivors of domestic violence and the Latine immigrant community in Philadelphia. In 2014, after graduating from my MSW program, I was searching for a meaningful next job as I had already been in the field for ten years and Riot Alliance was born during this period of transition. Merging my love of jewelry making with social justice, I realized that by making social justice a core tenet of my small business, I could support organizations and movements who struggle for operational funding and with being seen as the experts in their own lives, while honoring my passion for artistic practice in my career.
On the jewelry side of my business, each product is linked to a social justice partner, primarily local Philadelphia organizations. We contribute 10% of every sale to our social justice partners and we lift up their work through social media so that the contribution is not just a token but a true acknowledgement that connects our customers to the critical social justice work happening on the ground in Philly. To date, we’ve donated more than $4,200 to our social justice partners!
In 2021, I began my sound healing practice and expanded my business to include group, private, sliding scale and free sound healings throughout the Philadelphia area. Resources to support mental health and well-being are a luxury in our country, and they should not be. In order make holistic wellness practices more accessible, many of which were originated by the very groups who no longer have access to them in the US, I work with local nonprofits, schools and social justice groups to offer free sound healings throughout the city of Philadelphia. As Philadelphia currently has some of the highest rates of deep poverty and gun violence in the country, creating safe spaces for mindfulness that are scientifically proven to relieve anxiety, improve physical and mental health and improve sleep can help youth and adults alike to use sound healing to support with processing and healing from trauma. I strive to ensure that at least 40% of my sound healings each year are free or sliding scale to impact community wellness.
Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I started making jewelry around 8-9 years old and my dad would bring my creations to sell at his job over the years (so sweet!). From 2014-2019 I created designs out of hammered wire and raw crystal stones and then in 2019 decided it was time to learn metalwork. I took a wax carving course at a local art center and cast my first silver ring, a 215 ring, which evolved into my first full jewelry line of 215 products as a love letter to Philly (215 is our old school Philly area code). From there I apprenticed with a friend who taught me a bunch of jewelry skills, taught myself how to set stones and took a couple more classes. What sets my jewelry apart are the bold designs, inspired by vintage fashion and architecture, nature and geometric design. My mission is also present in every facet of my business; in addition to donating 10% to social justice I exclusively use responsibly-sourced stones, eco-conscious sustainable packaging, and only shop at local small businesses for my jewelry supplies.
When I felt called to train as a sound healing practitioner and added sound healing into my business, I knew I wanted to train with teachers who focused on grounding this wellness work by learning about indigenous sound healing practices and how they have evolved into the wellness world of today. I took a 100-hour training in sound healing and will continue to train in this practice and educate myself on wellness decolonization. Dr. John Beaulieu’s sound healing work has been instrumental in my learning as well as the recent book “Who is Wellness For?” by Fariha Roisin. What sets my sound healing work apart is that it is rooted in a training that centers indigenous practices, and that my core mission is to make sound healing more accessible to those with less resources. My background as a social worker also helps me to create safety and hold space for participants to process their experiences following a sound healing as a lot of physical and emotional things can come up for folks during these sessions.
As I’m sure many small business owners can relate, starting a small business ignites your passion, but is also exhausting, expensive and overwhelming. I’ve had to overcome many challenges when starting my business including taking a loss in multiple years investing more in my business than I was making, and balancing essentially nearly two full-time jobs – my social work job in the nonprofit sector and running my business (a cute little anti-shoutout to student loan debt). The biggest lesson I learned through these challenges was to create community. It’s so important to make connections and seek support from other small business owners and mentors because they will be your biggest champions and validate that you can get through the moments that feel impossible. They’re the ones who will collaborate with you on artist markets, host sound healings and create spaces for sharing ideas. I’ve connected with so many amazing small business owners and creatives in Philly and those connections have a direct impact on my ability to grow my business.
What I’m most proud of with my brand and advice I would give to others is that you don’t have to limit yourself to just one pathway or product. I found a way to combine so many things that I love through Riot Alliance – making responsibly-sourced jewelry, sound healing, social work, a commitment to social justice – and stay true to my personal and brand values in the process.
Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Though I’m not from Colorado, I have lots of family and friends there and have visited many times, in fact I just visited in April! If I were there for a week I would most definitely do the following things:
– See a show at Red Rocks
– Go to an Invisible City party
– Eat at City O City and Sushi Den
– Grab a cocktail at Tom’s Diner
– Day hike in Boulder with my friend Chloe who runs Radical Roots Herbs (and pick up some CBD/Chinese Herb products from her!)
– Visit my jewelry class friend Avery of Avery Lee Designs in Boulder and check out some of her jewelry at Mojave and Tejon in Denver.
– Check out an event at Town Hall Collaborative
– If it’s winter, snowboard for a day at Copper or Breckenridge!
Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would shoutout soooo many people if I had all the space in the world, because small business owners cannot exist without our huge villages of support. To keep it brief, I’ll name just a few folks who impacted my life and work. First, is most definitely James Baldwin. In 9th grade my English teacher handed me his copy of “A Fire Next Time” and the book opened my eyes to the impact of racial and systemic oppression on black and brown folks in our country. James Baldwin’s books forever changed how I understood the world, my privilege as a white person in it, and how I wanted to move through the world as an empathic human, a professional and a creative. Second, are the young people who are aging out of the foster care system that I have worked with in Philadelphia. They teach me to find beauty in adversity, they are the absolute strongest and most innovative people I know and they deserve so so much more than what our child welfare system provides. Finally, I need to shoutout my family, my partner and my friends who lift me up daily. I couldn’t do any of this without their love!
Website: www.riotalliance.org
Instagram: @riotalliance @riotalliancesoundhealing
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-schwartz-0aa1511b9/
Twitter: @riotallianceorg
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/riotalliancephl
Other: Tiktok – @riotalliance1
Image Credits
Sound Healing Images – Michael Tjader http://www.tjaderphotography.com/ Insta – @m_rhian.tjader Jewelry Photos – Eryck Llewellyn https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063726529066 Insta – @viking_quest_photography