By Kayla Del
Correspondent
From an on-campus sorority project to a full-fledged, thriving brand, Adriana Carrig stands as a testament to the power of passion and an entrepreneurial spirit. As a 2012 graduate from the College and the founder and CEO of jewelry brand Little Words Project, Carrig’s success story serves as an invitation for current students at the College to embrace their own aspirations and believe in the possibility of following an unconventional career path.
Over the last 10 years since its creation, Little Words Project has seen an incredible growth trajectory with $20 million in revenue in 2022, as well as products in 900 Target stores and 10 retail store locations across the country.
More than just a jewelry company, Little Words Project prides itself on kindness and connection. Customers select or customize a handcrafted bracelet with an inspirational word or phrase that means something to them, wear the reminder for however long they need and then pass it along to someone who needs it more. Each bracelet has an ID tag that allows customers to register their bracelets online, share their stories and track the journey of their bracelet over time.
Motivated by her personal experiences with bullying growing up, Carrig was inspired to start a business with the goal of shifting the narrative towards kindness and positivity.
“At the collegiate level, Little Words Project can come in handy,” Carrig said. “As young women, we are walking around college campuses trying to figure ourselves out, trying to find where we belong in the world, trying to find where we’re gonna go; these bracelets really act as little, gentle reminders that you can do it and you will get there, you just have to spread that love.”
Carrig’s current entrepreneurial success was not always in her plans.
“When I was a kid, I was always playing imaginary games where I was the CEO and I definitely always wanted to maybe run a business, but I never thought I’d be an entrepreneur,” Carrig said.
During Carrig’s time at the College, she was an English major with a love for writing. Her initial career plans were to follow a writing pursuit either in the magazine industry or in law school. Despite taking the Law School Admission Test just a month prior to launching the business and never taking a business course in college, Carrig decided to follow her heart and launch Little Words Project in November 2013.
With the help of an extensive support system from her parents, who believed in her enough to let her bead bracelets in their basement, she confidently embarked on her journey.
“I think my support system of my parents prevented me from having uncertainties,” Carrig said. “I’ve been told by my mother my entire life that ‘querer es poder’ which means ‘if you want it you can achieve it;’ I always led with that energy of ‘I can do anything that I set my mind to.’”
Carrig also found an ongoing support system within her sorority at the College, Delta Zeta.
“Delta Zeta is the whole reason why I started this brand,” Carrig said. “That experience led me to believe that women could be kind to one another and it was very different from everything I experienced growing up. The chapter really brought me so much both in what it proved was possible in the female world but also in the support they’ve given me since.”
Initially designed for her sorority sisters, the bracelets sparked continued interest among Delta Zeta members even after her graduation. Carrig sought permission to develop it into a brand and gained enthusiastic support from her sorority sisters, who were instrumental in its successful Facebook debut.
“Making sure you surround yourself with people who do believe in you is my best piece of advice for entrepreneurs,” Carrig said. “It’s very lonely and it can be very hard; if you don’t have people who believe in you, then you better believe in yourself.”
Carrig also urges aspiring entrepreneurs to practice resilience, as uncertainty often looms in the world of entrepreneurship.
“Just go for it because at the end of the day, you won’t know until you’ve tried,” Carrig said. “‘Failing forward’ is my other favorite thing about entrepreneurship. I’ve learned from every failure and as a result, I’ve grown.” Carrig believes that some of the uncertainty that young people feel about pursuing their creative endeavors and unconventional career paths can be eliminated if colleges and universities emphasize the possibility of entrepreneurship.
“I didn’t really know about the entrepreneurial journey, so my goal and my hope is that TCNJ and all schools will put a little more of an emphasis on this third way,” Carrig said. “You don’t have to go to school to become a lawyer or a doctor or a teacher. You can go to school with the knowledge that you want to create something of your own.”
The College’s Entrepreneurship Club teaches students about the possibilities of entrepreneurship by bringing in guest speakers who have created their own businesses and can offer advice.
“I enjoy being in a club with like-minded, motivated people with an entrepreneurial spirit,” said Ava Mokrzecki, a junior management major and chief advisor of the Entrepreneurship Club.
The ability to connect with like-minded individuals in the world of entrepreneurship is crucial for overcoming doubts and challenges.
“Success to me is the knowledge that I’ve done something really hard and I’m still here to tell the tale,” Carrig said.
Carrig’s story serves as an important motivation for students and emphasizes the value in sharing these experiences with others.
“It is truly inspiring to hear Adriana Carrig’s story; she is exactly what I want to be,” Mokrzecki said. “To hear stories like hers makes me realize that the dream is absolutely achievable, especially as a woman in business at such a young age.”
