"I quit my job as a neuroscientist and make $30k-a-year creating jewellery - from breast milk, ashes and hair"
- 11 months ago
A neuroscientist quit her job to make $30k-a-year creating jewellery - from breast milk, ashes and hair.
Rachel Heinze, 29, struggled with breastfeeding after her first child, Lucas, two, was born six weeks prematurely in October 2020.
The mum-of-two wanted to celebrate her "exhausting" breastfeeding journey and decided to make a ring from her leftover milk - after seeing adverts for breast milk jewellery on Facebook.
Rachel fell in love with the process of making the unique designs and decided to turn her hobby into a career when she launched a business in November 2021.
She turns client's breast milk into powder before making it into the item - and can combine locks of hair and ashes into designs too.
Each piece is sold for up to $200 and Rachel made $30k in 2022 - her first full year of business.
Rachel, from Lakeland, Florida, US, said: "I’m not going to lie, when I first saw breastfeeding jewellery before I had kids, I thought it was weird.
"But having that journey myself, I can definitely see why people want to carry that little part of the journey with them.
“When I hit that one year of breastfeeding mark I wanted to celebrate.
"I thought: 'I can do this. I can make these.'
"Then I fell in love with making them. Then friends wanted some, and since then it's become a business.”
Rachel struggled with breastfeeding when her first child, Lucas, wouldn't latch.
She had to pump milk to feed him and couldn't use formula milk as her son didn't like the taste.
She said: "He was born prematurely, so he couldn’t latch for the first six months of his life and I was pumping milk. It was so hard.
“When he finally could latch, I was low on milk. We tried formula milk, as he is allergic to dairy and soy, but he didn’t like the taste.
"I did everything to continue breastfeeding for a year. It was exhausting.”
To celebrate her "long and painful" breastfeeding journey she made herself a ring using her breastmilk and decided to do it for others as a business in November 2021.
Rachel quit her job as a neuroscientist after becoming a mum but couldn't help but jump on the opportunity to launch a new venture.
Rachel said: "I didn’t know it would be such a big thing - I just thought it would be a little here and there to make a sale.
"I had one video on social media, it kicked off, and that’s when it started becoming a big thing.
"I was getting breast milk given to me from all over the world. I thought: 'I can actually make this into something big'."
Rachel spends eight weeks making her designs, while juggling her family life.
Rachel Heinze, 29, struggled with breastfeeding after her first child, Lucas, two, was born six weeks prematurely in October 2020.
The mum-of-two wanted to celebrate her "exhausting" breastfeeding journey and decided to make a ring from her leftover milk - after seeing adverts for breast milk jewellery on Facebook.
Rachel fell in love with the process of making the unique designs and decided to turn her hobby into a career when she launched a business in November 2021.
She turns client's breast milk into powder before making it into the item - and can combine locks of hair and ashes into designs too.
Each piece is sold for up to $200 and Rachel made $30k in 2022 - her first full year of business.
Rachel, from Lakeland, Florida, US, said: "I’m not going to lie, when I first saw breastfeeding jewellery before I had kids, I thought it was weird.
"But having that journey myself, I can definitely see why people want to carry that little part of the journey with them.
“When I hit that one year of breastfeeding mark I wanted to celebrate.
"I thought: 'I can do this. I can make these.'
"Then I fell in love with making them. Then friends wanted some, and since then it's become a business.”
Rachel struggled with breastfeeding when her first child, Lucas, wouldn't latch.
She had to pump milk to feed him and couldn't use formula milk as her son didn't like the taste.
She said: "He was born prematurely, so he couldn’t latch for the first six months of his life and I was pumping milk. It was so hard.
“When he finally could latch, I was low on milk. We tried formula milk, as he is allergic to dairy and soy, but he didn’t like the taste.
"I did everything to continue breastfeeding for a year. It was exhausting.”
To celebrate her "long and painful" breastfeeding journey she made herself a ring using her breastmilk and decided to do it for others as a business in November 2021.
Rachel quit her job as a neuroscientist after becoming a mum but couldn't help but jump on the opportunity to launch a new venture.
Rachel said: "I didn’t know it would be such a big thing - I just thought it would be a little here and there to make a sale.
"I had one video on social media, it kicked off, and that’s when it started becoming a big thing.
"I was getting breast milk given to me from all over the world. I thought: 'I can actually make this into something big'."
Rachel spends eight weeks making her designs, while juggling her family life.