An Introduction To The Cousin Collection

A lemonade stand. Every kid did it at some point. They stole their parents biggest pitcher, poured some magic yellow powder in it along with some water, then boom! Lemonade! Then they would make a sign, and wait outside. After making probably five dollars, the kid walks away feeling like an entrepreneur, But what about a true entrepreneur? In fact, a whole group of them at our school?

It was Sept. 7 2020, when I ordered my very first pair of earrings from The Cousin Collection. It was an adorable pair of green maple leaf earrings I still wear today. For those of you who don’t know (although I am not sure how you don’t) The Cousin Collection is a jewelry store owned and operated by your very own GLHS students! Made up of cousins Margaret McGregor, Sofia Rivera and her sister Isa Rivera, the Cousin collection started just over 2 years ago in August of 2020. They sell jewelry, mainly earrings but also necklaces and rings. I own multiple pairs of earrings from them but also a necklace and a ring and love them!

I love The Cousin Collection and buy from them a little too much, so I decided to reach out to them and try to give students an inside look into the collection. I ended up speaking with Maragret McGregor, a senior. When I asked her what made her want to start the collection in the first place she said has “always had a knack for business” and saw another girl running her own jewelry store and decided to reach out, see how she did it. When she found out she reached out to her cousin to see if she wanted to do it with her. Then Isa joined and the rest is history!

Since its start the collection has grown immensely. They no longer just have an Instagram store, but an Etsy one as well! However with all this growth, I wondered how they managed it with school, life and sports. Margaret says, “Sometimes it can be a lot to manage with work, school, and swim team. Usually I‘ll set out the charms I need to make… Then maybe the next day or a couple days later I‘ll make all of the earrings and I‘ll be set for awhile. But I try to prioritize getting school done first and then I‘ll go and make them”

I also asked about how this business has changed her life.“It’s changed my life a lot” She said. “There’s a lot of time and effort that go into it, more than you would think. It’s stressful sometimes with school and getting everything done that needs to get done but I wouldn’t change anything. This business has helped me so much in growing my relationship with my cousins and my aunt, as well as my mom and sister”

All of this was so interesting, to get a glimpse into how this business runs. However, all of the cousins are upperclassmen now, which means college is right around the corner. Margaret says she wants to keep the business going through college even though it might be challenging thinking about how much time goes into it.

If you want to buy from The Cousin Collection, I would highly recommend it. Their jewelry is of great quality, so cute and crazy affordable. You can buy from them on Instagram @thecousincollection or on Etsy. Huge thanks to Maragret for speaking to me, and I hope you all get a chance to check out The Cousin Collection.