Solid Gold Values And The Venus For Restart Collection

When I started mazi + zo, my jewelry company, I focused on creating beautiful jewelry for people who care about style, original design, and quality. It was also important to me to use sustainable materials, handcraft our product, and do it here in NYC. I didn’t, however, expect to weave in my broader political values as well, but that’s how things have turned out!
Back in 2020, when nothing felt more important than engaging in election news, Michelle Obama’s “When We All Vote” organization selected our VOTE necklace to help raise money to promote voter participation. It felt great to raise more money than I could afford to donate personally (the small biz struggle is real) and it was a thrill to see photos of people all over the country wearing our necklace–everyone from Stacy London to Monica Lewinsky to Kara Swisher has one!
My experience with the VOTE necklace taught me that I *can* make a difference and I’m ready to do it again: Along with the majority of the USA, I am enraged that the highest court of our country has determined that people cannot choose for themselves when or if to have a child. In 2019, poet laureate Amanda Gorman expressed the importance of standing up for reproductive freedom better than I ever could, opening with “ When the penalty for rape is less than the penalty for abortion after the rape, you know this isn’t about caring for women and girls. It’s about controlling them.”

Reproductive rights are human rights, and this decision impacts men, too.

Juliana Kim wrote for NPR about why overturning Roe v. Wade is tragic for our whole society, and not just a women’s issue. Notably, she referenced a study by Dr. Bethany Everett at the University of Utah which “found that young men who were involved with a pregnancy and whose partners had an abortion were nearly four times more likely to graduate from college than those whose partners gave birth.”
I want to help the people who are tragically affected by the laws being passed all over the country, and I want to have as big of an impact as possible!
This time around, I’ve partnered with Stix, another women-founded company. Stix provides doctor-approved products related to pregnancy, ovulation, UTIs, yeast infections, and emergency birth control (aka the morning-after pill.) That last one, Stix calls their product Restart™, is clutch right now, when people in many states are being denied access to the morning-after pill. The amazing founders at Stix have committed to providing Restart™ free of charge to people who need it, no questions asked. It’s easy: people in need fill out a form on getstix.com and Stix ships it out in a generic package so no one can guess what’s inside. This is a literal lifesaver.
These tests aren’t free to provide, though. So to help them continue to provide this service, Stix established the RestartTM Donation Bank, where anyone can donate to defray the costs of distributing this critical health care.

Want to help?

As a sign of my support for reproductive rights, I’ve been wearing mazi + zo’s minimalist Venus sign jewelry which represents a goddess deified as a warrior, lover, and “bringer of victory.” And when I explained the significance to others, I had an “a ha!” moment and knew exactly what to do:
I’m using those designs to support Stix’s efforts: When you buy any piece from our gorgeous Venus for Restart™ collection, mazi + zo funds a dose of Restart™. The delicate Venus pieces include a charm necklace, stud earrings, and (my favorite,) threader earrings. Like all of our jewelry, each piece is available in sustainable solid 14k gold or pure .925 sterling silver, is handmade in NYC, and ships in our signature reusable tin.
So you can shop, shine, and help someone in need receive the urgent health care they deserve. That’s gonna feel good. You can also donate directly to the program here.
Thank you for supporting the RestartTM Donation Bank and sharing our solid gold (and sterling silver!) values. You’ll look great in our Venus threader earrings, necklaces, and studs and they make great gifts, too.

About The Author

Lizzy Klein lives in NYC and is the founder of mazi + zo, a company that makes jewelry that ups your personal style with original, high-quality, easy-to-wear, easy-to-layer designs. Shop mazi + zo and find your next favorite jewelry!

Consoler In Chief? Finding Unity After The Election.

It has been a long anticipated question … Who will run our country for the next four years?

It is a question that we must wait to have answered. I have been watching the numbers come in on the edge of my seat all week. One thing that this made me realize is how we are all on edge for one reason or another. We are all feeling the tension that election season has brought on, but now it is at an all time high. Just one scroll through social media will prove that to everyone. Let’s stop and think about the words that we are putting out into the world.

As we wait we have to stop the hate. I have seen so many hateful memes and posts about this election, however, I think with the emotions of the unknown these are at an all time high. Before you hit that share button or click post remember there are people, real people on both sides. These people have convictions and reasons for why they have voted the way they chose to. Saying something hurtful or hateful is just driving the negative narrative that we have all been living in for so many years now. Instead of doing that to each other, what if we try to be empathic. Attacking someone’s intelligence because they voted differently from you is not a good look for anyone. It is time to put down the hate, and come together and make this country a better place to be.

As we wait let’s remember that we are moving into the holiday season. The election has made so many things tense. Let’s not make the holiday’s tense! Hug your loved ones and tell them how much you love them. At the end of the day that is what is going to matter that we came together in love even though we may have a difference of opinion. It is okay not to think like your family does. It is okay to have different opinions. That is America. Let’s celebrate our differences and show the world that we are not as divided as it may seem. Sit around the Thanksgiving table with one another and laugh because we all know that this has been a hard year. We ALL use some joy.

As we wait let’s remember that we are all human. I voted for what believed would help us move forward, and I feel very confident when I think that those who voted differently believed that they where doing the same. We all want what is best for the country. However, that has to mean working together with each other to make that happen. We all have to see each other and stop dehumanizing people for their choices. We have to listen to each other and have an open mind. I really think this would change the way that we see each other and ourselves.

Yes, this is a tense time. A time like no other, but we do not have to make this time any harder on us. We can choose to be kind, and to wait for the results to come in. We can choose to smile and make our space hate free. We can choose not to comment on things that we do not agree with thus making sure that we are not the ones spreading the hate. We can laugh together and listen to each other.

Let’s wait TOGETHER, and remember that we are all in this TOGETHER whether we want to be or not.

Choose to be kind.

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