Sprigg took up beading several
years ago as a hobby.
Eventually, she decided to turn
the pastime into a business
venture. In 2003, the year after
she married Bill, she started a
small company and took her
inspiration from Jake when
picking the name. She said she
didn't anticipate that the name
would stick - but it did.
Sprigg earned a degree in
fashion merchandising from
Florida State University in
1993. She worked for five years
in the retail industry, before
leaving to work for her father,
helping with the family's
security and surveillance
business.
Now, she also runs Beadin'
Beagle. When she first started
the company, she mostly sold
bracelets to mothers who wanted
ones with their children's
names. But when a woman in a
small-business group asked
Sprigg to create a fashionable
medical Identification bracelet, the
company began to change course.
"It
shifted from being a business of
being fashion jewelry," she
said.
Sprigg's
medical Identification jewelry
displays the patient's important
medical information on an
engraved metal plate surrounded
by colorful beads instead of the
plain metal bracelets most
commonly worn. She said the
designs are a hit, especially
with kids. Customers also can
buy
medical charms to wear on
jewelry or hook onto bags.
Now,
medical Identification jewelry makes
up a big part of Sprigg's
business. Sprigg said most of
the
medical Identification jewelry she
makes is for people with
diabetes, but people with other
conditions want the jewelry,
too.
The
bracelets can be seen at the Web
site:
www.beadin-beagle.com.
"I
do get a large request (from
people with) allergies,
especially in children, with the
nuts and the eggs," she said.
She
also gets requests for jewelry
for people with Alzheimer's
disease, allergies to medicines,
blood disorders, heart problems
and other conditions.
Like many of her customers,
Sprigg knows what it's like to
suffer from a serious medical
condition and take lots of
medication. She was diagnosed
with Crohn's disease, an illness
that causes inflammation in the
digestive tract, when she was
21.
The
condition causes abdominal pain
and problems, fever and fatigue,
and sometimes bleeding and
appetite loss, according to the
Web site for the Crohn's and
Colitis Foundation of America.
It can also affect the patient's
skin, eyes, joints and liver. At
one point, Sprigg was so sick
she required a blood
transfusion.
"I've had it for 15 years. Right
now it's under control," she
said. "I had a really bad spell
this summer. It's definitely
changed my life as far as my
quality of life."
She
said her experiences with the
disease give her "a good
perspective" about her ability
to help others who suffer from
sickness.
"It
really influences me to know
that I'm helping other people
that have chronic illnesses,"
she said.
Sprigg's experiences with her
19-month-old daughter, Sera,
have given her another idea
about how jewelry can help
people.
"I
realize that even though my
daughter right now doesn't have
a medical condition, that she
can stray away from me in about
two minutes," Sprigg said.
She
wants to design children's
identification bracelets,
similar to the medical Identification
bracelets, for "kids who are too
young to talk or communicate, or
know their address or their
phone number."
Despite the business' growth,
Sprigg still enjoys the company
of Jake, her original 'beadin'
beagle.' The family also has
added another canine companion
to the mix - a female beagle
named Jackie.
