The best text for a Simmons student to receive is “the Earring Lady is here.” The second I get that message, I typically speed-walk to the Fens to browse the never-ending, inexpensive jewelry spread along the table.
Affectionately nicknamed “The Earring Lady,” not many students know much about Maureen Blaho. Blaho has been selling her jewelry at Simmons since the 1990s though, so she is a presence that we all know well.
As a college student at UMass Boston, Blaho said she often found herself buying herself jewelry (as many of us do). Eventually, she turned her shopping habits into a hustle of buying and selling. She even had a diamond made for herself when she was married.
Blaho started her business, Sterling Enterprises, named after her former use of exclusively sterling silver, as a side gig to her healthcare work. When hospitals began downsizing or laying off, she began selling more and more off and on for over 30 years.
When she had more time, she began to sell in craft shows, which meant she had to make her own jewelry. Although she described herself as “not very talented” (which I disagree with, as a buyer of many of her earrings), she would buy and assemble jewelry, occasionally designing her own.
Now retired, Blaho likes to sell for fun. On why she keeps coming back to Simmons, Blaho says “I enjoy talking to everybody… The reason I come back here is because everybody is very nice to me. Consistently. The staff and the students. I can’t say that about every place I’ve done.”
Blaho does craft shows on the weekend in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, but Simmons is her only college location.
She currently has two dates left to shop from for the fall semester: December 7, and December 15. Just in time for holiday gifts!
