SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- When the COVID-19 pandemic launched shutdowns across the United States, Amanda Jensen, a Folsom, California, resident, felt aimless.

She was home alone all day, and when she wasn’t, she was hopping between waitressing and bartending in midtown. She was in $25,000 worth of debt and couldn’t pay her bills, Jensen recalled.

It wasn’t the life she saw for herself. But an old love from her high school days came back: hand making jewelry.

What was once a hobby during her teenage days at Vista Del Lago High School in Folsom became a serious career path.

“At the time, I wasn’t really ready to take it seriously,” Jensen said, “I remembered I loved it so much, and I had always felt the calling to be a business owner again.”

So, Jensen took a risk. While she said the world felt “so scary and uncertain,” due to the COVID-19 shutdown, she was determined to change her life. And six years later, she did.

Jensen now owns Golden Hour Designs in Oak Park, a hypoallergenic jewelry and accessory shop and DIY craft lounge. What started as a side hustle selling crafts at farmers markets and online has now transformed in a whimsical storefront that offers jewelry making classes.

Golden Hour Designs has come a long way since its humble beginnings, Jensen said. She said the operation began in a spare bedroom in her apartment. She bought herself a computer, some crafting supplies and went to work.

She treated it like a full-time business, hand-crafting every piece of jewelry and conducting all backend operations by herself. Anywhere she could, Jensen sold her jewelry, she said.

“I knew that what’s I was meant to be doing,” Jensen said. “So I dedicated every moment that I possibly had, seven days a week, to starting the business to fulfill the dream that I had.”A dreamer’s dream

While Jensen was fueled by sheer determination and hustle, she knew she needed an extra set of hands to get Golden Hour Designs off the ground. That’s when she met Shellaine Anderson, who serves as the store’s business consultant.

Anderson joined in May 2024. When she saw the job application for general manager, Anderson said she was struck by Jensen’s enthusiasm. She said she saw Jensen’s vision and envisioned the possibilities of what Golden Hour Designs could be: a dreamer’s dream that came true.

“There was a real opportunity here to not only continue to sell retail items that are emphasized on self-expression, but to take that a step further and create a space for the community,” Anderson said. “It’s a space that’s unique in Sacramento, and a place where people feel safe, and they belong together.”

She previously ended her tenure as a manager of a children’s art studio, and after talking to Jensen on the phone, she said she felt like their personalities were “a match made in heaven.” The match was so perfect, in fact, Jensen packed her bags in Los Angeles and moved 400 miles to Sacramento.

Upon Anderson’s arrival, Golden Hour Designs grew from a retail-focused company to a community center, Jensen said. With the newly added charm lounge and merchandise that promoted individuality and female empowerment, Anderson knew Golden Hour Designs was different.

“Authenticity and self-expression are highly underrated,” Anderson said. “It’s about being able to promote being who you are and showing up authentically in everything that you do,”Growing women-owned businesses

Golden Hour Design is among the more than 1.5 million woman-owned businesses in California, which has the most woman-owned businesses than any other state in the country, according to The National Association of Women Businesses Sacramento Valley Chapter. Businesses run by women are beginning to dominate the state’s economy, making up 40% statewide.

The number of women-owned businesses in only growing in the state, a research brief from the University of California reported. From 2019 to 2023, women-owned businesses brought in $580 billion from a $3.7 trillion national revenue.

But what sets Golden Hour Designs apart from traditional businesses in Sacramento is its expansion into community events, Jensen said. It’s more that just a retailer, but a home to a community-based craft club and monthly craft camp.

“We have the ability to bring people in to experience other things we can do here that are not just charm jewelry,” Jensen said. “We do all kinds of different events for crafting things.”

Golden Hour Designs has expanded its jewelry to mainstream retailers as well. Jensen has sold its merchandise to more than 800 stores worldwide, including Urban Outfitters, Tilly’s and Free People, according to its website.

At the core of Golden Hour Designs is a place for the “girly pops” and everyone from “any walk of life.” For Jensen, the most rewarding thing as a business owner is to see a place she created make people feel welcome.

“Cultivating girlhood for me is making sure that every single person that comes in our doors, regardless of their gender, feels welcome,” Jensen said.

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