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"  As ELLE&amp;#039;s guest blogger for April, Katherine Schwarzenegger lets us into her world on a weekly basis. After interviewing mom Maria Shriver on the mistakes young women often make in the workplace, the 24-year-old author sets her sights on jewelry designer (and good friend) Jennifer Meyer. Here, the two discuss famous last names, work-life credos, and the staying power of dainty jewels: What made you decide to go ahead and take the plunge with creating your jewelry line? I had worked in PR for Giorgio Armani and Ralph Lauren and I always wanted to do something in design\u2014and I really wanted to do jewelry. I had no idea how to do it or the first thing about it; I hadn&amp;#039;t had any training in it and didn&amp;#039;t go to school for it. I kept saying to my boyfriend at the time, who I ended up marrying, Tobey, that I wanted to design jewelry and he would tell me, &amp;quot;Then go design jewelry.&amp;quot; He always uses that Star Wars quote, &amp;quot;Do or do not. There is no try. He said, &amp;quot;Just do it&amp;quot; and I said, &amp;quot;Okay.&amp;quot; That&amp;#039;s how it happened. I taught myself everything. Related: Ten Questions: Jennifer Meyer Did you ever have any doubts or insecurities? I&amp;#039;ve never had a time where I didn&amp;#039;t want to do my jewelry anymore. Once I started it, and once I realized I was really doing something I loved, I gave it my heart. When we first started the company, I did it all myself in our living room. It was filled with jewelry, FedEx packages, invoices, and packaging; I did every inch of it myself.  Katherine Schwarzenegger wearing a Jennifer Meyer necklace; Photo: Courtesy of Instagram  What has been the most important lesson you have learned from being a young woman entrepreneur? It&amp;#039;s sort of about life skills: Be kind to everyone, always have a smile on your face, and work as hard as you want the people around you to work for you. Lead by example. Do you feel like you have had to work extra hard to prove yourself in the fashion world, since you came from a well-known family? Well my last name isn&amp;#039;t as glaring as &amp;quot;Schwarzenegger.&amp;quot; [Laughs] You cannot hide, honey! But I think, yeah. Obviously I have a husband who people know of\u2014and in a certain industry, people know of my family\u2014but I think the way I was brought up was that I would have to work my ass off anyway. That has sort of been my school of thought ever since I knew what work was. My dad has never taken a day off in his life, and my husband who came from less than nothing, is the hardest worker I know. You know, my company is my company. My dad didn&amp;#039;t help me, and I didn&amp;#039;t get money from my family. I have the most supportive family and they would give me anything, but I always thought that I wanted to do something on my own and prove myself on my own for sure. I have worked so hard every day for eight years on this company. Related: The Best Career Advice ELLE Editors Ever Received From Their Bosses You make the kind of pieces women never take off. What do you think the psychology behind that is? It&amp;#039;s the biggest compliment in the world when I see beautiful girls\u2014like you!\u2014laying by the pool wearing all my jewelry. And then to see you again in the same jewelry when you are in a DVF dress. For me, jewelry is a true investment. It&amp;#039;s sentimental and it&amp;#039;s meaningful. I think when you put jewelry on, and you are a busy woman, you don&amp;#039;t have time to change it every day. I want you to sleep in your jewelry, to wake up in it, to shower in it, get ready for work in it, go out in it, have a date with your significant other in it, and live it in. I don&amp;#039;t want that to come off. I want that to be on you\u2014dressed or naked.  Katherine Schwarzenegger wearing Jennifer Meyer ear cuffs; Photo: Courtesy of Instagram  Do you feel like there has been a switch in the jewelry market from bigger statement pieces, to smaller dantier pieces that women keep on? I want you to look in your jewelry box 10 years from now, 20 years from now, and 30 years from now, and still want to put on your Jen Meyer pieces. I don&amp;#039;t want you to look in your jewelry box and think, &amp;quot;Wait a minute. Why did I buy that?&amp;quot; I want you to love your pieces forever and I want them to be passed down. I think that&amp;#039;s my customer. Related: Love Letter to...This Anita Ko Ear Cuff What has been the biggest lesson learned in creating your line? Is there anything you wish you had done differently? I feel like the way my company has evolved has been such a blessing. I feel like every mistake I have made, and every hurdle I have overcome, has been an amazing lesson. In the very beginning, I had to teach myself about gold, gold weight, diamonds, moulds, and how much money one thing costs compared to another. I spent a little bit of extra money in my learning process, trying to figure it out, making a lot of mistakes along the way. I guess it was cheaper than college or getting my MBA for jewelry! I worked hard and I saved my money for my company. If I had an extra $10 that week, I am not joking, Katherine, I transferred it [to savings]. I opened a savings and checking account at Bank of America online, and I would transfer $10, $100, $25\u2014whatever I had\u2014into a savings account. I figured, &amp;quot;What&amp;#039;s better than blowing your money on a dream?&amp;quot; What is a piece of advice you would give a young person who wants to start their own business? Be nice to everyone. No matter what. Someone once said, &amp;quot;The people you see going up are the people you see going down.&amp;quot; Just be nice to everyone. I don&amp;#039;t care who they are, how much money they have, what they look like, or where they come from, you have to be nice to everybody, universally. Photo: Courtesy of Getty Images  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/news/a24547/jennifer-meyer-how-to-be-an-entrepreneur/>