In 2015, Adelle Archer lost a close friend and mentor to stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Her friend did not have any family or children, so she had her ashes given to Adelle after she passed. Wanting to do something special with her friend’s ashes, Adelle decided to have them turned into a diamond. In an interview she described why she choose this unconventional method, saying, “We started to look into our options, and I was exposed to the death-care space for the first time. It opened my eyes. I realized that it is such an old school industry, and it had not innovated for hundreds of years. I learned that we lack meaningful ways to honor remarkable people.” So, in 2017 she co-founded Eterneva with Garret Ozar. At the time, she had a connection to someone working for a diamond foundry specializing in industrial uses. She and Garret Ozar created Eterneva as a consumer brand for the foundry. The company started with a few large sales, then reached $1 million in sales in July 2019. Since then, Adelle Archer has taken Eterneva to shark tank and made a deal with Mark Cuban for $600,000. Adelle Archer was also featured in Forbes 2020 30 under 30 in consumer technology.
https://www.eterneva.com/about
https://www.forbes.com/profile/adelle-archer/?sh=3b61bcf91b2f
Although it is a sad story of how she began her business, I thought there was an inspiring side to it as well. She had a personal connection to what she does which probably motivates her as well. I never knew this was a thing but it seems like a good way to remember a loved one.
I love how Adelle managed to create something beautiful to remember her friend that went beyond the traditional “old school” ways of doing so. She saw the opportunity for a business in doing so and created a beautiful way for families and loved ones to also remember their past loved ones. I’m sure her friend would be very proud of her accomplishments.
This is such an interesting business idea, and I never heard about people putting ashes into jewelry to remember them. Adelle found a new and innovative way of honoring someone special who was in her life and created a company out of it. It is so cool how she was able to go on Shark Tank and get a deal with Mark Cuban as well!