The Vault Member Spotlight: Courtney Bonzi
Courtney Bonzi is the owner and founder of a luxury accessories company, Spark'l, Inc. She also describes herself as an “accidental influencer” through her personal Instagram account @houseofbonzi. Courtney started Spark'l in 2016 in her garage as she wanted to make stylish leather watch bands to accessorize the Apple watch.
Spark’l specializes in handcrafted leather watch bands made from pre-owned up cycled designer handbags and natural, buttery soft leathers. They also make other small leather goods, such as wallets, key fobs and they just launched a luxury jewelry line. Courtney describes her company, “We are the first company to up cycle authentic designer handbags into watchbands and are the leading brand for luxury watch bands in general. Our designs make the watch a statement piece and are collectable and interchangeable. Some of our collectors have over 200 watch bands! We are a sustainable company and all of our watch bands are handmade in California by skilled artisans. We have a charity initiative called Band Together, in which we have donated over $100,000 to non-profits around the world through a portion of our sales from different collections.” Can we say -- WOW.
We asked Courtney what she loves the most about what she does and her company. She said, “The best part of my business is connecting with women all over the world. I love that women feel pretty when they look down at their wrist. We are size inclusive and make watchbands for all sizes-it makes me so happy to hear that women who didn't have beautiful options for teeny or large watch bands now do. I am also so grateful to be able to have a company that can give back and do good in this world.” She also gave us some advice on balancing relationships and a career, “I have a tendency to take on more than I can handle. I would say that communication is key. My husband and I talk about work-life balance all of the time. Definitely make time for yourself every week, whether it is through daily exercise or any other form of self-care. Put it on your calendar and stick to it.” Courtney's words have proven successful as she has created an amazing brand and company.
Although Courtney has seen a lot of success in Spark’l she has gone through huge adversity and struggles along the way. She details some of those struggles, “I witnessed a tragic accident and loss of one of our best friends in 2020, which left me a shell of a human the last few years. I feel like I buried myself in work, but was really detached and lost my passion with all of the chaos around me. I am just coming out of that cloud and finding a new love for Spark'l and designing in general.”
Courtney also details how her business was impacted as a result of the pandemic. She said, “Running a rapidly growing business during a pandemic is an ongoing hurdle. We are constantly short staffed and having to navigate supply chain shortages. So that is definitely a challenge as well. You have to be very flexible and communicate with staff and customers. It has been painful, but at the end of every tough day, I take a deep breath and realize that tomorrow is a new one and we can only get better from here.” We love Courtney’s mindset and her work ethic clearly shines through!
We have enjoyed getting to know more about Courtney as a company Founder and owner, as well as get to learn more about Spark’l! We wish Courtney and Spark’l much more success to come and enjoy having her and her brand as part of our community at the Modern Day Wife. You can check out Spark’l on their website https://sparklbands.com/ and Instagram @sparklbands, and check out Courtney’s Instagram @houseofbonzi for more about her and her brand as a whole!
