Hello Everyone! This is Christine, your GSB Co-Founder, and I am here to share our top 5 Gem Surprise Box highlights for 2022.

ONE | Our Best Year In Business

Thanks to you, 2022 was our best year in business! We hit just about every goal we set last year for sales and we feel lucky to not only have survived 2022, but to find ourselves thriving as we crossed the line into 2023. I use the word lucky because I know that 2022 was a business killing year for many small entrepreneurs like us and we are grateful to our customers for the opportunity to keep on growing. In addition to shipping hundreds of boxes around the world, we also upgraded our website and did a minor facelift on our branding.

TWO | Winning the 2022 Manifest Grant

Gem Surprise Box was announced as a winner of the 2022 Manifest Grant Program. I cried when I first read the email telling us about this huge win and to be honest, I still feel just as excited now. I am not sure if many people realize this, but nothing makes you feel as vulnerable as being an entrepreneur. As an entrepreneur you create this thing and desperately hope people not only like it but buy it. We put our heart, soul, and sanity in to Gem Surprise Box and wining this grant gives us so many great feelings. As a small business and entrepreneurs we feel seen, supported, validated, and ready to take on our next challenge.

THREE | UCLA’s Bruin Business 100

To be completely frank, I am sometimes still in shock that I was ever accepted to and graduated from UCLA so being told that we were nominated and selected to be included in the inaugural Bruin Business 100 was flabbergasting. It was so much fun to visit the James West Alumni Center, a building I had walked past as a student hundreds of times and to be surrounded by our Bruin family again. This honor gave us confidence to dream bigger, determination to reach further, and the encouragement to apply for the 2022 Manifest Grant.

FOUR | Industry Involvement & Changes

In October 2022 I joined the Program Advisory Committee at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) where I will be working to elevate the student academic experience. This unique opportunity to give back to the school that fundamentally shaped my career path not only gives me a better understanding of how to develop curriculum for my own business but also provides insight on how to be a stronger educator. In November 2022 I was elected as Co-President of the new San Diego Chapter of the GIA Alumni Collective. I am excited for this new opportunity and to be working even closer with our friends at GIA.

At the end of 2022, I stepped down from the board of the San Diego Chapter of the Women’s Jewelry Association (WJA). I served on our board for 7 years and was the 2020-2021 Chapter President. I learned so much during my time on the WJA San Diego Board and like to say that I was a gem before I joined WJA but WJA is what polished me to a fine shine. My departure will create room for more women to take on leadership roles in our local jewelry industry community and I look forward to seeing them shine bright too. Gem Surprise will continue to support WJA and their mission of uplifting women in the jewelry industry.

FIVE | UCLA’s Exploring Your Universe

In October 2022 Gem Surprise Box attended UCLA’s Exploring Your Universe and hosted our Gemology With Gem Surprise Box booth where we taught people of all ages how to use jeweler’s loupes to examine mineral specimens, introduced a new generation to the field of gemology, gave away thousands of coloring pages, and shared our passion for our business. Because we were founded during the pandemic, this was Gem Surprise Box’s first in person event and with over 12,000 people in attendance, it was a great way to start. We were easily one of the most crowded booths for the duration of the event and brought on many new members.

It is always a joy to be back on a campus. We truly had a blast being around so many curious minds, new rock lovers, and future gemologists!

What a year!!

Thank you for reading and your support!

Christine Lopez GIA GG, AJP