Nomadés charms help military families tell their story

Nearly 10 years ago, Marijke Landon was at a reunion with other military wife friends when they gave a charm bracelet to one of the wives that represented her recovery from an illness. The sentimental gift sparked a conversation among the women – there wasn’t a charm for the number of military moves, the number of deployments, or anything else a military wife endures.

Landon walked away from the conversation with an idea that she collaborated on with three other military wives. Together, they created Nomadés – a collection of more than 400 charms to help military families tell their story.

“It’s so hard to comprehend our lives. As military wives you grasp onto something that can have longevity, that you can pass on to your children that provides existence to those memories and those stories that you tell,” said Landon, managing director for Nomadés and the wife of an active-duty Marine. “For women the value is in, ‘Oh my baby took their first steps at that duty station,’ or ‘My son graduated from high school at that duty station.’ All the way down to, ‘I lost my husband at that duty station.’

“We have found ways to personalize everybody’s story.”

Nomadés launched in 2009, and is a military-spouse owned company that creates custom-designed and handcrafted sterling silver charms made in the United States. The company has about 80 consultants and sells its product online, through Navy and Marine Corps exchanges, and a few boutiques and museums. Visit Nomadés online at www.nomadescollection.com.

The American Legion announced in late May that Nomadés won its Veteranpreneur Contest, which invited veterans, servicemembers and their spouses who own a businesses to submit a poppy-themed product in recognition of National Poppy Day. Nomadés submitted its three poppy charms.

The creation of a poppy charm was the result of Nomadés customers wanting a charm that represented World War I to Vietnam. “(The poppy) was something that was iconic. It fit our honoring of those veterans of that era,” said Christy DeWitt, director of business development and sales for Nomadés, and the wife and mother of active-duty Marines.

The Nomade’s three poppy charms will be available for purchase during The American Legion’s national convention in Minneapolis. Visit the special poppy shop at the Emblem Sales store in Hall C, Level One of the Minneapolis Convention Center on Friday, Aug. 24 from noon to 2 p.m., and Saturday, Aug. 25 from 8 a.m. to noon. Other Nomade’s military charms will also be available for purchase.

The American Legion helped Nomadés tell their story nationwide when DeWitt appeared on Fox & Friends alongside the other two veteranprenuer contestants to showcase their poppy products. Christy and Landon said new customers were reaching out in excitement, including a grandmother who wanted charms for her grandchildren as a remembrance of their grandfather.

“It was such an awesome opportunity,” Landon said. “It was great to see people from the outside take hold of what we do and be excited about it. Our story got out there.”

Fifteen Marine Corps charms was the initial launch of Nomadés since the founders were all Marine wives – Landon, Heather Osborne (director of marketing), Melissa Berris (director of charm design) and Marley Nelms (no longer with the company). Nomadés also now includes Jennifer Lilly, the director of finance. However, within a year of grassroots marketing the demand for their product grew, and so did the request for more charms.

“I would see women wearing charm bracelets and say, ‘Are you military because I know a great company that is doing military charms,’” said DeWitt, who initially started out as a customer. “Who wouldn’t want to have the (Marine) Eagle, Globe and Anchor on their bracelet? You can’t continue wearing ‘My son is a Marine’ shirt every day but (moms) want to. I didn’t get it until my son became a Marine, and now this charm bracelet is one my favorites because it represents my kid. The charms are very emotional for moms.”

The Nomadés collection features charms for all five military service branches (e.g., dog tags and emblems); military duty stations (e.g., yellow footprints for Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, a corn stalk for Offutt Air Force Base in Iowa, a red cardinal for Fort Lee Army base in Virginia); military service (e.g., infantry, jump wings, military intelligence, Navy SEAL, Ranger and Seabees) life’s journey (folded flag, Blue Star and Gold Star banner, Vietnam Memorial, Rosie the Riveter, a patriotic and yellow ribbon); spacers; and love notes (a charm for your charm. For example, a star with the No. 2 can be hung on the Camp Lejeune turtle charm if stationed there twice. Or, a mom heart can be hung on her son’s military branch dog tag charm).

Bracelets and necklaces to hold the charms, which can be engraved, are also available for purchase.

Nomadés is helping military families share their stories and creating lasting memories with heirloom-quality charms. “My daughters tell me that when they’re a mom they will show their children all the places they lived when they were little and all the things that happened. That’s where I think we give back,” Landon said.

The number of charms in the Nomadés collection is continually growing with new duty station ones, as well as spacers that represent their yearly themes. The upcoming theme will be “So the Journey Continues,” which is based off the mantras or mottos that the Nomadés owners often say.

Testimonials for Nomadés charms abound but one that stood out to Landon was of a young, newlywed Marine who was deploying. He wrote Nomadés eight checks for each month he was deployed to cash and then give his wife a monthly charm. He kept the last charm for when he returned home.

“As the wife of an active-duty member, the support staff kind of quietly stands back. The charms give validity to what they did behind the scenes to make that life possible,” Landon said.