Heather Maier, MBA ’91, has always had a creative and business-oriented mind. Her interests in design and art were balanced with her skills in math and finance. And now, her year-old business, Hedy’s Gems, combines all of these.
Maier was born and raised in the DC area and earned her bachelor’s degree in math & business from Wake Forest University. After college, Maier moved back to DC and worked in retail banking with the goal of making a career in the world of finance.
Early in her career, Maier realized she needed an advanced degree in finance if she wanted to be part of the management team at her company. She recalls her father, a UMD alumnus, being instrumental in her decision to earn an MBA degree. Upon completion of the full-time MBA program, she held financial analyst positions in the DC government before moving to Los Angeles to work for The Capital Group.
Maier subsequently moved back to the DC area in 2004 to raise her two children and team up with her twin brother, who owns a large structural concrete company. Capitalizing on her entrepreneurial talents, she opened a woman-owned business that won numerous contracts for large public and private commercial projects. After several successful years, she left the business, got remarried and relocated to Naples, Florida in 2015.
Maier found that her skills were a great fit for residential real estate and joined Premiere Plus Realty in the Naples office. She joined a women’s giving circle in Naples to expand her network and give back to her community. Through the giving circle, she was introduced to the founders of Wings of Shelter International, which is an organization that is focused on helping victims of human trafficking, specifically teen girls.
She immediately fell in love with the organization’s mission and found herself being called to do more. What started with a jewelry beading hobby has turned into a full-blown jewelry making business that benefits human trafficking victims. “I let my heart be my guide,” Maier said, and she started without a business plan but had a goal to make a big impact.
Maier’s education from the Smith School encouraged her to think outside of the box on how to differentiate her company and its charitable contributions. She created Hedy’s Gems and founded a donor fund at the Community Foundation of Collier County, which allows profits from sales to be matched with charitable contributions thereby leveraging each sale to have a larger impact.
Hedy’s Gems had a successful first year of business and Maier now has a production manager and an online presence. They focus on sourcing materials from small and women-owned businesses around the globe, with her motto being Helping Others One Gem at a Time.
In partnership with the University of Maryland, you can shop online at www.hedysgems.com and on her Instagram @hedys_gems and use code UMDSAFE for 10% of sales from Turtles (Testudo earrings) and Freedom Collection to be donated to UMD Safe Center that supports trafficking victims.
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About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business
The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and flex MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, business master’s, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia.