arts & life

fas h i on

Gold

At The End
Of The

Rainbow

Suzanne Chessler | Contributing Writer

Ashley Gold works

hard for her clients

— and for her

happiness.

A

shley Gold built a fol-
lowing as “Pawn Chick”
to reflect her role in the
family business, but there’s noth-
ing secondhand about her latest
venture — Pawn Chick Shopping,
the jewelry enterprise she oper-

Ashley Gold

ates strictly online with a name
familiar to longtime clients.
After managing the family’s
American Jewelry and Loan
in Detroit for many years and
appearing on TRUtv’s Hardcore
Pawn for a number of seasons,
Gold has broken out on her own,
establishing a showcase website,
pawnchickshopping.com. She
works at it full-time, separating
herself from responsibilities with
dad Les Gold and brother Seth
Gold.
Holding on to a maiden name
that describes the essence of her
six-months-old enterprise, Gold
is ready for Mother’s Day or any
day, offering necklaces, bracelets,
earrings, rings, hair accessories

56 May 5 • 2016

and beaded handbags to satisfy a
variety of tastes.
Colorful stones pop in rings,
bracelets and necklaces, initial
earrings representing mom’s or
kids’ names and studded with
hearts, customized bracelets
and rings, and various kinds of
Judaica, including stars, chais
and hamsas are a few customer
favorites. Gold also offers plenty
of necklaces perfect for layering,
a hot trend still going strong, she
says.
“All my jewelry is rhodium-
plated so I sell sterling silver
that does not tarnish and won’t
change colors,” says Gold, who
works out of her Bloomfield Hills
home and has a warehouse to
store inventory. “I also sell 14-
karat white gold and yellow gold.”
In the midst of all her changes
in the past year, Gold keeps up
with her blog and Pawn Chick
Radio (pawnchickradio.com),
launched two years ago and
featuring celebrity interviews,
one each Friday. Recent guests
included actress Sonia Satra,
football great Herman Moore and
public relations expert Jeffrey
Hayzlett.
For a woman working in pawn
for 30 years, the reinvention has
been dramatic.
“I left the pawn shop and the
show not knowing what I wanted
to do,” Gold says. “I have a hus-
band and two kids in school, and
I thought about being home all
day and working out. It sounded
like fun but got boring after a
while.
“I wondered what I could do
on my own schedule and really

have fun. I wanted to keep my
Pawn Chick brand and stay with
the jewelry business that I know
— keeping up with trends, going
to shows and engaging fans and
followers.”
For the graduate of Michigan
State University’s Eli Broad
School of Business, followed by
certification in diamonds from
the Gemological Institute of
America, a website seemed like a
perfect outlet.
But she had to try her plan
slowly.
“I went to jewelry shows and
bought a couple of things here
and there,” explains Gold, a jew-
elry crafter since high school.
“On the website, five items sold
out within two hours. I built it
up to 10 items, and those turned
into 30. Those 30 grew into 100.
Today, I have more than 500
items, and I’m selling interna-
tionally. I ship out 30 plus items
a day.
“I buy directly from design-
ers working in the United States
and represent every price range
from $10 to $3,000. I don’t

carry a lot of each piece because
I don’t want to be stuck with any-
thing. I’ll have a couple of each
item and note the top 10 looks
each week. I also offer a huge sale
every week, whether discounts
reach 20 or 35 percent.
“A customer can click on
something, and it will be deliv-
ered to that person’s door within
48 hours.”
Among the items are pieces
designed by Rebecca Norman,
Alanna Bess and Marlyn Schiff.
Gold also does some designing
and creates customized items
available through local crafters.
Gold’s interest in jewelry
applies to herself as well as cus-
tomers. She loves to layer — on
the day this reporter met her, the
web entrepreneur was wearing
necklaces with her kids’ initials,
a silver hamsa and a Jewish star,
along with a pair of sterling silver
hoop earrings, a wedding band
and stackable ring. Her favorite
piece, she reveals, is a unique
necklace with a pear-shaped dia-
mond drop.
Gold also has made some life-