About

PAST.

Rebecca Dolber grew up on the East End of Long Island combing the beach for treasure and holding sales at the end of her driveway. After studying sociology and film at Manhattanville College, she drove cross country to California with hopes of becoming famous. After one fun summer, she moved home and started a life in New York City working in television production on Law and Order SVU. It was after experiencing a huge crush on a co-worker that Rebecca realized she was for-sure gay and decided to come out as part of the LGBTQ+ community. Though she now considers herself more queer than gay, it is still Mariska Hargitay to whom she owes this debt of gratitude.

Her time in New York was host to all sorts of awakenings. It was there she leaned into her love of making things, of crafting objects and accessories with her hands. Rebecca’s small room in a shared West Village apartment was teaming with found-object wall hangings and knotted necklaces made with the beads she bought on 7th Avenue and in the vintage shops around St. Marks and Washington Square. It was at her best friend Beth’s insistence that she “try to unload this shit” at a street fair—and with that, her future as a business owner and jewelry maker quickly unfurled.

In 2010, Rebecca moved back to Eastern Long Island to focus on building her business. Actually, it was a craigslist ad for a bungalow that teetered on the edge Moriches Bay that had her trading late nights and cold beer, for early mornings and hot coffee. While she loved her time in the city, she loved her solitude on the water even more. It was like being a kid again, walking the beach each morning to see what the waves brought ashore. The changing tides and explosive sunrises were a muse for all things creative. At art shows, street fairs, pop-ups and festivals, Rebecca spent the next ten years on the road building a following of loyal and loving customers, all while exploring other interests like art, antiques and interior design. Working part time for South Bay Auctions and Interiors by Allegra didn’t just help pay the bills, but provided insight to how other small businesses were run. Learning things like how to hang a grandfather clock were really cool, too.

In 2017, Rebecca opened her first retail space inside another local small business, Silly Lily Fishing Station (SLFS). SLFS was a place to rent boats, grab lunch, and hangout on the bay, and Rebecca’s jewelry fit the vibe perfectly. Customers could explore her seaside studio and for the first time, be hands-on in designing the pieces that meant so much to them.

Then came 2020. Newly married, newly mortgaged, and 8-weeks pregnant, Covid shut the world down. With SLFS closed and every street fair in America cancelled, Rebecca found herself in a pickle. But when life gives you pickles, you make pickle juice (especially when pregnant) and with the help of a small business loan, Rebecca doubled down and moved her business to Main Street. With hopes of “popping up” in the empty storefront till Covid died down, she’s since made the space into her permanent studio where she manufactures her wholesale jewelry line and hosts workshops, classes, parties and personalized design sessions.

PRESENT.

The Studio at 426 Main Street is the heart of Rebecca’s operation. It’s not only where her jewelry is made and shipped across the world, but where customers can come to explore trays of beads, vintage pieces, and other trinkets. Shared with two other female-owned, handmade small businesses, (Meredith Gill Designs and Fat Cat Paperie) it’s a literal estrogen den of creativity and care. Many have noted the palpable shift in energy when entering the space.

Open for shopping Saturdays 12-6pm and during the workweek by appointment, the Studio is catalyst for catharsis—in many ways, the physical embodiment of what Rebecca’s jewelry has always been for people. What started as a hobby 15 years ago, has evolved into a practice of careful listening. It’s here where Rebecca can hold space for customers to be introspective and help them translate their memories, milestones, and personal mantras into meaningful pieces of jewelry.

The experience is truly more than a purchase; it’s an opportunity to connect over the moments that define us. Rebecca believes community is built in small moments like these, by investing in one another with compassion and without judgement.

FUTURE.

To know Rebecca—or to follow her instagram account—is to know that she believes the personal is the political, and in moments like these, you must use your voice no matter the size of your platform. As time creeps on and the stakes feel increasingly high, it’s her desire to incorporate more connection, conversation, community and action into her work. This means partnering with other small business who put people over profits. It means being unaplogietically visible in an ultra conservative community as a queerly-married lady and mother of two. It means providing opportunities and redistributing wealth in the absence of government reparations. It’s acknowledging that the capitalistic system she benefits from is harming both the earth and its most vulnerable inhabitants. For Rebecca, the work is to tell the truth about the past so we can reconcile it for the future.