Most people would find it difficult to run a business together when one partner lives in New Orleans and the other in Kobe, Japan, but somehow Yeonsoo Son and Mayumi Nakagawa make it work running most of their business meetings through Skype. Having met at Parsons in NYC several years ago where they were both pursuing other creative outlets, they collaborated on their jewelry design line Coughing Cow n Chicken about a year ago.

 

This unique name was born from their Asian heritage as Yeonsoo is from the year of the chicken, and Mayumi (who suffers from Asthma and coughs a lot) the year of the cow. Initially their business would find them making predominantly zodiac animals but has since grown into a line of mostly necklaces (lockets to be more specific) ranging from $12-$60. This collection of brass and hand painted metals is mostly inspired by nature; think birds, flowers, and dragonfly’s and has a vintage feel recreating the beauty of the past. Besides being sold on Etsy at www.etsy.com/shop/CoughingCowNChicken the New Orleans half of this pair manages a booth (#4) at the Freret Street Market on the first Saturday of every month.

While Coughing Cow N Chicken is geared towards a younger, trendier crowd, Son also has a higher end line on Etsy called PaleFishNY which she has been working on for the past  7 years. PaleFish which consists of more precious metals (gold, silver, etc.) specializes in customizable orders (usually takes 3-5 business days to create these special orders) including wedding rings. Son, who was married in October designed the rings for her and her husband. Like Coughing Cow N Chicken the story behind the naming of this company is also a good one. After working diligently to start this line Son’s brother told her she looked like a Pale Fish (The Korean translation of a fish out of water) and the name stuck. PaleFish items are upwards of $18+ and most customized orders do not exceed $300. Check out http://www.etsy.com/shop/palefishny for a complete list of items for sale.

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Rachael is originally from Harrisburg, PA where she plans to be mayor one day. In the meantime she keeps busy cleaning the skeletons out of her closet, catering to the needs of a very spoiled Siberian Huskie, and hosting her own radio show, Plan DD: The morning after Rachael. Rachael can be reached for questions/comments at rkostel7@gmail.com.