Anthony Michniak and Andrea Burgess are the sole owners of Naturally Cool Gems and Jewels . The couple opened the store in December 2021 .
and gemstones at Kres Jewelers . When I was 16 , I really started to get interested and gain a love for jewelry ,” Burgess said .
In 2015 , she started an Etsy shop selling jewelry pieces with natural stones and crystals as a hobby .
“ I ’ ve always been into rocks since I was a kid , so that became my fun thing on the side after work ,” she said .
Little did Burgess know , she would meet her husband through the Etsy craft website . She was purchasing stones through his Etsy shop to make jewelry . The
“ I ’ ve always been into rocks since I was a kid , so that became my fun thing on the side after work .”
~ Andrea Burgess
couple became friends through daily online chats and their relationship took off from there .
Michniak began his jewelry career in 2013 after graduating with a Business Management Marketing degree from Appalachian State University in Boone , North Carolina . Rocks and gems are prominent in the town . His friend , Buddy Haney , had a store in town and introduced him to the rock world .
“ When I graduated I had worked 40 hours a week and then I would work another 30 hours a week on just the rock business . Eventually , around 2014 or 2015 I had been making a lot more doing rocks on the side , but I finally made that switch to go fulltime in early 2015 ,” Michniak said .
In the summer of 2019 , the couple purchased their first home together in Doerun . They con-
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