Charlie Madison Behind the Scenes

Month in Review | October 2024

October is always my favorite month! From fall officially kicking in, to an anniversary and lots of birthdays, to looking forward to the holidays, we had a wonderful (and very quick) month. The highlight was our trip to Atlanta for the Military Influencer Conference - truly a recharge for our business, our hearts, and our connections.

Take a peek at October inside our studio and home.


October BEHIND THE SCENES HIGHLIGHTS: BUSINESS

- We headed to Atlanta for the Military Influencer Conference (MIC), which was a life-changing, soul-nourishing, nothing-short-of-amazing trip! Some of our favorite highlights were:

  • We were honored to share our story and message about building community on the Parade Deck stage - we even got the most enthusiastic intro we've ever seen!

  • Watched our sweet friends honored at the MIC Gala as 2024 Mighty 25 recipients - top military pioneers and changemakers of 2024 (Cori Weathers, Samantha Gomolka, Kristen Christy, Kayla Corbitt, and Tonya Murphy). With tears in our eyes, we cheered on these military spouses who are blazing a trail.

  • Screamed, cheered, and clapped for our sweet friend and fellow military spouse, Austin Carrigg and her first-place win in this year's Pitch Competition. We met Austin at MIC 2023 when we were both pitching in last year's competition and we have since been rooting for her in whatever she does. Her dedication and commitment to helping military families with disabilities, special healthcare needs, and educational needs is truly inspiring and we know she will use this big win to do so much good for military families. Congratulations Austin!

  • Gifted our Milspo Strong bracelets to fellow military spouses at the MilSpouseFest event

- One of our original and community-favorite bracelets, Honor in blue and Honor in green, got a makeover in a smaller gemstone size and new stones.

- Supported breast cancer awareness by giving back 15% of the October sales of the Side By Side - Breast Cancer Community Bracelet to Pink Warrior Angels.

- Collaborated with fellow military spouse Julie Moser and Pink Warrior Angels to create the Tangible Hope Bracelet - a metastatic breast cancer awareness bracelet that supports their mission to provide emotional support and financial aid for all cancer diagnoses. 

- Collaborated with military spouse, Robyn Scharf and The MOM Project on to create the Peace Within Bracelet - an ADHD awareness bracelet and an everyday reminder to celebrate the incredible journey of managing ADHD with love and light.

- Teamed up with the UF Health Haley Brain Wellness Program for a Charliemadison Fundraiser to support their mission of providing treatment and support for veterans and first responders who have experienced traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and associated mental health challenges.

This month's Community Favorite Bracelet was: Unconditional Love - the October Mini of the Month that sold out in 2 hours and sold out again after we re-stocked. Thank you for loving this one as much as we did!

Our Favorite Customer Review of the Month: “Charliemadison is an awesome company making uniquely beautiful bracelets with a story behind them!! Love ❤️ Charliemadison and looking forward to what’s next!!” - Katie K.

October BEHIND THE SCENES: OUR PERSONAL FAVES

In the Kitchen: We've been watching Jamie Oliver's show on Tastemade and I love how a few simple ingredients transform into something so delicious. This Greek Chicken Pasta was so good and we froze the leftover sauce (without pasta) and pulled it out on a weeknight when we just had to boil some pasta and add the defrosted sauce. Amazing!

- October is a BIG month for our family with our wedding anniversary kicking things off and six birthdays, including Madison & Charlotte's boyfriends who just happen to share the same birthday. We celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary this month and ended the month with my birthday and my sister's birthday. It was a blessed month!

- I've been enjoying the most fabulous neighborhood walks and short drives into the mountains to see all the leaves changing from green to yellow to gold to rust. Fall is my favorite time of year and I'm so grateful I live in an area where we get to see nature put on a show right outside our windows - it's so magical! My most favorite is keeping an eye out for heart-shaped leaves - I find so many.

- Grateful for: The inspiring military spouses and veterans that took time to hang out with us the Military Influencer Conference and share the important work they are doing to help military families - from health/wellness support to transition and business services, to childcare and family advocacy - we are so honored to get to be in the same space and see the good you're putting out in the world!

- As Wendy mentioned above, my boyfriend Zach's birthday was in October, which happens to be the same exact day as Charlotte's boyfriend's birthday and to this day we still can't believe this crazy coincidence. To celebrate Zach's birthday I made a homemade chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream cake for the second year in a row! This ended up being just as big of a hit as it was last year when I made it, and it truly is so easy, you can make any combination you want. Trust me, this looks more impressive than it is, but it's easy and so much fun to make! Of course one of the only good pictures I got was after it had melted a bit transporting it to Zach's house. I did end up making a tutorial on how to do this on my own personal Tik Tok page, and I will link here if you are interested in how to make it!

- Recently I have been wearing my hair in a slick back pony more, which I have been loving thanks to this pomade that my hairdresser Marissa recommended to me. I personally don't like gel that dries almost with a crunchy like texture, so Marissa suggested the Classic Pomade from Statement Grooming Goods to me. This product is actually from a men's haircare brand, but don't let that scare you. It works so incredibly well, has a woody scent that I personally love, and keeps my curtain bangs in place all day, which for me is a win!

- I had the opportunity to watch my first marathon race! My boyfriend ran his first ever marathon - the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington D.C., and overall I had such an incredible experience as a spectator. From the start line to the finish line, I followed him around D.C. at about 7 different spots throughout the marathon. The energy from the supporters cheering on the runners is infectious. It really brings up lots of emotions and makes you feel so proud just for strangers. I highly recommend cheering runners on at a marathon if you ever get the opportunity to do so - you won't regret it!

- Grateful For: Even though the Military Influencer Conference was considered a “work trip,” it truly was an unforgettable mother-daughter trip. Lots of quality time together, an incredible Italian dinner to celebrate Wendy and my Dad's 30th anniversary, our first speaking engagement together, and more. I stepped way out of my comfort zone during Wendy's and my public speaking chat with Parade Deck. I am not one for public speaking - it makes me very nervous and uncomfortable but it ended up going really well! We shared our story and message about building community, which is the heart and soul of this business, and you can check out a photo of our chat towards the top of this blog post! Overall, meeting the people within our community in person at MIC and listening to their journeys and stories just fills both of our hearts with so much appreciation, we absolutely love this business and impacting the lives of so many people through our jewelry!

What We're Currently Loving:

- Jumping-up-and-down-excited about the 2024 Holiday Collection! When we design a new collection, we start with color, then choose gemstones, and hope the magic we see in our heads is translated into beautiful styles. We definitely got the magic recipe right this holiday season and we hope you love the new styles as much as we do. (Wendy)

- My vision for the Holiday Collection truly came to life! Photographing all of these products brought me so much joy because the photos turned out better than I was expecting. I hope you all enjoy this collection as much as we did designing, making, and photographing these pieces, they were a labor of love. This ended up being one of our favorite collections we have done to date! (Madison)

- A few of my favorite everyday fall treats: matcha lattes (hot & cold), roasted cinnamon apples on top of yogurt, sweaters and leggings, morning meditation, and listening for the birds chatting outside my window (Wendy)

- Trying to enjoy all of the sunlight during the day now that the sun sets so early, although I have been loving the sunsets recently. They have been absolutely spectacular! (Madison)

"He who blames others has a long way to go on his journey. He who blames himself is halfway there. He who blames no one has already arrived." ~Ancient Parable