It seems like a traditional business for GLBTQs to go into – designing jewelry and accessories – but, perhaps because of this very association, it remains one of the bests to go into for GLBTQs opening businesses.  At least this is the case of Chris Cera, who, after working for a year as a bag designer for an export company, “called it quits in 2007, (mainly because I was) creatively incompatible with my boss, whose vision, even if I didn’t believe it, I still had to follow (considering his position),” he says, as he opened Cree, which is into designing custom jewelry.

Cera couldn’t recall how much he exactly spent to start his business, since, as is usual among entrepreneurs, “I bought items here and there, (designed them, and then) sold them.  From the earnings, I just did more,” he says.  The bigger challenge for him, especially initially, was in designing – he was into doing bags, and when “I realized that my designs of the chains of the bags were artworks on their own they could actually be jewelry, (I decided to try) doing jewelry separately.  My eyes were trained with bags, and now I have to translate that to jewelry.”

By June 2007, Cera registered his business to make it “official,” and Cree, as a brand, was born.  Fortunately, even from the start, Cree was making waves – “My friends in call centers, for example, brought (my) samples to their work places, and their friends ordered from them.  And just a few months later,(I) was already consigning Cree to fashion boutique Tango, a big and welcome development,” Cera says.

Interestingly, like many local jewelry designers, Cera sources most of his materials locally, “even from Quiapo,” he says.  These include stones, such as turquoise and rose quartz; metal components; natural materials like wood; glass beads; and even fabrics.  But while the source isn’t exactly extravagant, Cera says Cree’s edge is in the designs.  “I’m not young anymore, personally and experientially,” Cera says.  “While most associate being young with having fresh ideas and the like, this isn’t necessarily always good.  The young tend to produce trendy (products), but they all look the same, aside from these (products) aging fast.  As an older designer, I veer away from the ‘trendy for trend’s sake’ look.  I go instead for the more matured look – not aged, but classy, timeless, classic.”

On average, Cera sells from 30 to 60 Cree items (necklaces, bracelets and anklets combined) per month.  The market is growing, too, as Cera now counts the likes of television personality Karen Davila and Senator Chiz Escudero’s liaison officer Judee Aguilar as regular customers.

For others in the same fields as he is, however, designing is more than make good business sense – it’s also making GLBTQ statements. 

Overseas, Love and Pride founder and chief designer Udi Behr, for example, designed and marketed jewelry for the GLBTQ community that benefits the GLBTQ community, i.e. Behr donates 10% of his revenues to the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund to support marriage equality, as well as donations to other gay and lesbian organizations like the Matthew Shepard Foundation.

Unfortunately, the same effort may not be possible in the Philippines just yet, with GLBTQ businesses more concerned about surviving than anything else, at least for now.  Thus, for Cera, the focus for now is on coming up with even better designs.  “Having the best (items) is the surest way to please clients.”  And that, Cera stresses, is the best way to grow any business.

For more information on Cree, call Chris Cera at 09175221220, or visit http://cerashop.multiply.com.