Andy and Tonya never cease to become fascinated with the couples whom they design for. However, on one January morning Tonya, the thinker to her husband’s creative, relayed the narrative behind their nonprofit, Unbroken Circle Project. Five years after founding their successful Biltmore Park business, Marthaler Jewelers, the couple’s passion has pivoted. 

While the Marthalers have always been givers, using luxury jewelry to help the Lumbee tribe wasn’t on their radar until recently. Yet, the token philosophy behind their jewelry, “Marthaler Made,” means that love goes into every ring, necklace, and pair of earrings. So, it made sense that their first nonprofit, Unbroken Circle Project, would have as personal a connection. Tonya received the idea from her father who comes from Lumbee descent. When she and Andy were looking overseas for mission projects, he suggested that she turn her head towards her own heritage. Ever since changing course, the couple has used profits from their luxury jewelry sales to supply the Lakota people with essentials most take for granted. While Tonya admits the number of issues Native Americans face is overwhelming at times, she sincerely believes in the solution of education. If she can remove obstacles, like eyeglasses, that stand in the way of it then the effort was worth taking on. As people who did not grow up with silver spoons in their mouths, the Marthalers have found peace doing what they can to move a marginalized community forward. 

Congrats on the success of Marthaler Jewelers. Can you tell us a bit about the company’s origins?

Getting into the jewelry industry is certainly a God story. At age 16, my husband, Andy, started cleaning glass at a small jewelry store in Minnesota. Pretty soon, he moved to the bench and was studying the craft in school. From there, he moved to Asheville where he went to work at Spicer Greene. One of the customers that he met there became a huge champion of his work. Eventually, they approached him and asked, “What would it look like to open your own store?” We thought they were kidding at first however, they became our angel investors. 

Why do you think the company has been so successful?

We constantly ask ourselves how can we do business better? Our specialty is designing every piece in-house, which we do on the latest and greatest equipment for quality control. When the economy is questionable and trust is at an all-time low, my husband and I just keep building our customer base. We are so thankful and in return, hope to provide people with heirloom pieces they can pass down to the next generation. 

What is the philosophy behind Marthaler Jewelers?

You can buy jewelry anywhere. Our customers deserve the absolute best, which is why everything we make is beautiful, timeless, and durable. If they are going to spend the money, then the product should last. My husband is fanatical about making quality jewelry and will not stop until a piece is perfect. We want to give people the best jewelry at the best price. 

How did the Unbroken Circle Project come about?

For the first five years of our business, we just had our heads down. However, once we moved into our most recent space, we had space to think about how we could take the blessings we had been given to help others. While we had been involved in philanthropic endeavors before, nothing has stoked our passion quite like Unbroken Circle has.  

I am Lumbee Indian and grew up knowing about my Native American heritage. Everyone on my dad’s side of the family is dark-skinned and I always knew that we were different. However, because he was raised in an orphanage, he had lost touch with his roots until the founding of our nonprofit. Now both he and I have connections to the tribe in Pembroke, North Carolina, which has been super exciting to establish.

What is the education-centric mission behind Unbroken Circle so important to you?

Education isn’t the end-all-be all but in terms of my own father, I did see the power of it. It broke the poverty cycle and made his life vastly different from his parents’. The lives of most Native Americans will not improve unless they leave the reservation and go to school in some format. However, there are almost insurmountable barriers to it. The need is so vast that some days I will say to myself, what are we doing? I don’t ever see this issue ending in even my children’s lifetime because the damage that has been done, on a historic level, is so incredibly deep.

How did you earn the Lumbee tribe’s trust and explain your mission to them?

When my dad brought the idea of Andy and I working with the Lumbee tribe up, rather than to pursue mission work in Africa as planned, I started reading everything I could. I knew that most Native Americans would be skeptical of some girl from North Carolina calling them up and saying,” I want to help your tribe.” However, after I made my first connection with a young Native American man, I started to meet some of his friends in person. Making that effort to visit the tribe and talk face to face went a long way. 

Not long after my first visit to Pembroke, I read an article about a woman who helps Native American youth. I reached out to her immediately and could hardly process the level of depravity that the children she helped had endured. The first time Andy and I went to meet her, we brought a truckload full of necessities like cereal and paper products. I believe she saw the pureness in our intention. From that point forward, the doors kept on opening. Ever since, we have been able to help members of the tribe gain access to everything from water to eyeglasses. Recently I ran into a mom who said, “Thanks to you giving my daughter eyeglasses she can finally read the blackboard.”

How can readers help to support Unbroken Circle Project? 

Whether it is donating money through our website or giving directly to a school, I can provide people with whatever they need to help. Every cent that we collect goes to the Lumbee tribe, as stated on our website. We are willing to work with donors at their comfort level, no matter what it is, and are transparent about where every dollar is spent. To be truthful, I struggled with being in the luxury jewelry business for a long time because nothing about it meets a basic need. Yet, by matching our donations five to one, Andy and I know in our hearts that we are putting food on people’s table. I absolutely believe without a doubt that the success of Marthaler Jewelers was meant to open this door. 

This was written by Lily C. Hansen for The Scout Guide Asheville