finding prestige in happiness with kelly bit
How the hidden references of SUBLIMA jewelry produce feelings of surprise and delight, but most of all, happiness
Falling in love with writing at a young age, Kelly Bit chose a path in journalism after growing up seeing Connie Chung and Kaity Tong on screen. Journalism, in her mind, felt intellectual and prestigious.
However, after building a career as a financial journalist, she realized that was not enough to motivate her to succeed in the industry in the long term.
And so she had to ask herself whether she was doing this more for what other people perceived of her than for what she wanted.
Until then, she had been mostly concerned with finding a stable, prestigious career that matched her skills. But she had qualms about the sustainability of her career path, seeing this drive in other journalists that she couldn't find in herself.
Leaving something she had been working towards for 8 years was no easy task. But she was burnt out and couldn't ignore a decision she felt so deeply in her body.
Kelly knew she needed to listen to her feelings vs. what others might expect of her. Yet, she felt self-conscious about choosing an industry that isn't traditionally seen as "successful" or "prestigious."
So, she tried to find happiness by turning inward. And she found it: in crafting and making. But she couldn't just leave her job to become a full-time crafter. So, she found a different path—having a stable, full-time job while doing what she loved outside of work.
Kelly Bit is the founder of SUBLIMA, artful and sustainable jewelry that draws inspiration from well-loved, everyday objects and visceral memories, many of which celebrate Asian heritage and culture.
And this is how Kelly Bit created happiness on her own terms from nothing.
How did you get started?
I looked for ways to increase my skills in jewelry making, so I started taking wax carving classes to learn how to make designs I wanted to make under supervision. With each project, I learned new things to apply to future projects (and still do with every project).
I also loved having a community to share my designs with, seeing what my classmates were making, and being surrounded by people who loved jewelry making as much as I did.
After leaving journalism, I joined a jewelry e-commerce company where I learned sales and merchandising strategies and how to host pop-ups. I also learned about programs that helped small makers, like West Elm’s pop-up initiative, which I frequently utilized after starting SUBLIMA. They have a wonderful free program for makers to showcase their work in stores with a simple application.
Showcasing my jewelry at West Elm (and other early pop-up opportunities) showed me how much I could sell and was really encouraging. Hearing people's affirmations about my work was and still is so affirming.
How did you figure out how to navigate the jewelry space?
I got incredible advice from fellow jewelers who were so generous in sharing resources that had taken them a long time to discover. One shared her local manufacturer, whom I still use today, and another let me shadow him at a pop-up and shared tips when I asked for advice.
I think they said yes because they are giving people and because we share a love of jewelry, making, and brand building.
I also collaborated with and hired people in a similar growth phase, which made it possible for me in terms of affordability. There are many talented creatives (photographers, stylists, models) who are open to working together, especially if there's an aesthetic and/or audience fit.
Tell me about the inspiration behind some of SUBLIMA's signature pieces.
With every piece, whether it's inspired by something alluding to Asian culture or not, I always aim to make a product that is visually interesting, at least to me.
Of course, I don't expect to capture everyone's attention or that it'll be everyone's style. But one of my guiding design principles is that I want it to look striking, eye-catching, and unusual compared to other jewelry.
My first food-inspired piece was the Tofu Skin Hoops. And at that point, I didn't plan on creating a whole Asian food-inspired line. I was just eating soup at a local Chinese restaurant called Uluh, which serves exquisite, elevated Chinese food. They had this beautiful soup that had tofu skin, and I started to wonder what they would look like in metal or how I could translate them into a product. Would I make earrings? Would I make a ring?
I felt really excited about making tofu skin into jewelry, and I started wondering how I could help people understand how I got to this point and have them relate to it in a meaningful way. Beyond my own experience, what did Asian food represent to people, not just within the Asian community but beyond?
Right after COVID began, with the rise of anti-Asian hate, reduced foot traffic in Chinatown, and seeing a lot of institutions I loved in Chinatown struggling, my Asian food-inspired pieces also became an opportunity to tell a story of cultural pride.
But the cool thing is that pieces like the Tofu Skin Hoops can speak to people outside of the Asian community because they're abstract enough and not immediately recognizable to someone who doesn't know the inspiration. A lot of my pieces are like that—there's that extra draw beyond just drawing their attention when they know the story behind it. So there's a lot of surprise and delight.
You've donated a lot of profits to local nonprofits, particularly in Manhattan Chinatown. How did that start?
It started in 2020 and really stemmed from the pandemic. Before Chinatown, the first campaign I did was actually for Feeding America. It was April 2020, and I felt really weird about marketing SUBLIMA. There was so much need, so many people out of jobs, and so many people hungry.
So, I ended up donating 100% of net proceeds for a certain amount of time to Feeding America. Then, I started discovering nonprofits in Chinatown. After Feeding America, I kept thinking I would really like to donate to those nonprofits. With the holidays coming up, I decided in December to donate 100% of net proceeds to five Chinatown nonprofits. A friend who volunteered at several of them helped me choose them.
And I was blown away by the number of people excited to support these nonprofits by purchasing the jewelry. At the time, some of these nonprofits, like Welcome to Chinatown, Send Chinatown Love, and Heart of Dinner, were all just starting out, so it definitely captured their attention.
From the start, the Welcome to Chinatown team asked me, "How can we give back to you? Let us introduce you and open up all these opportunities for you." And they did.
I'm amazed at the close connection we've had since then. I love the work Welcome to Chinatown is doing to preserve the history of Chinatown—the mom-and-pop, multi-generational businesses, through real support, like direct funding, marketing support, and building awareness from the new generation, while also supporting a new crop of entrepreneurs who are passionate about Chinatown, whether they're an e-commerce business like me or local to Chinatown.
Since then, I've had many different iterations of the campaigns, donating proceeds to nonprofits. I've done it at least three years in a row in the same way, donating 100% of net proceeds for a period of time. I've also done some special one-offs, like the Dragon Ring that I made for Welcome to Chinatown.
Why is Manhattan Chinatown special to you?
I didn't grow up in Chinatown, but my parents did. My mom was raised on Mott Street, and my dad was raised in the Lower East Side—so he'd always go to Chinatown as a child. So they brought me when I was growing up.
But honestly, I felt very much like a foreigner when I'd go to Chinatown as a child. I grew up on Long Island and didn't grow up with a lot of other Asian American children or families. I didn't grow up speaking Chinese either—I'm third-generation, and my parents grew up speaking English, so they spoke English to me. They didn't teach me Chinese.
So whenever I was there, the language barrier was very prominent. I would sit back and be in awe of being immersed but not feeling like I fit in.
I felt a stronger connection to Chinatown when I started going as an adult after college. My partner Eddie was also definitely an instigator for that, as he had grown up going to Chinatown and showed me his favorite spots to eat. So we'd go all the time, and I felt like I was becoming an expert on all the food spots. Then, the pandemic happened, and I felt awful because our favorite food spots were struggling.
Now, it's kind of funny because some of my long-term friends are like, "How did you become so Asian all of a sudden?" Because it wasn't until college that I made some of my first Asian friends. And now they tease me like, "Oh, you're Miss Chinatown now, but before, where were you?" And it felt really good to be accepted as someone who is a late bloomer in connecting to my identity and reconnecting to Chinatown.
Is there a single memory you'll hold from the experience of building SUBLIMA?
One of the most incredible experiences I had was participating in Welcome to Chinatown's 88 East Fair and Lunar New Year Fair at the East Broadway Mall in 2022 and 2023. I was able to build my own temporary storefront where people could be surrounded by my work, be curious about what I do, and feel moved by my ideas.
However, a truly core memory for me was when my aunt brought my 96-year-old grandma to the store, where I could show her my work in a way that was so big for me. I'm so thankful to her for coming to America and helping me attend college. I have a lot of respect for her as a businesswoman who ran her own clothing manufacturing company in Chinatown in the '80s and '90s, and she knows what it's like to run a much bigger business than mine. So, I remember crying while she was there and feeling so grateful to Welcome to Chinatown for the unparalleled opportunity to have this experience with her.
Welcome to Chinatown drove so much traffic. It was unlike any experience I've ever had because it felt like I was helping customers for what felt like eight hours straight a day. And I was so lucky my grandmother could see it, despite how busy it was. It was magical because, for some reason, it was less busy when my grandma came, so I had a chance to speak to her, describe the jewelry, and physically show her all the pieces I'd made.
Usually, when I visit her, I'll show her videos of my wax carving process or if I'm wearing something, and she's always delighted, but to see it in person and see that her granddaughter had this store that's so successful, it was so special.
And I couldn't help but feel so grateful because she is in her late 90s, and I wouldn't have had this chance otherwise.
And your parents also help you with your pop-up events?
Yes, all the time. My parents are so supportive. It's huge to have them at pop-ups and to have people who are just there for me, especially because it can get really busy. It helps at the stage of my growth to have them be there and help me speak to customers—my dad is the sales MVP. He makes more sales than me, for sure. And my mom helps me take videos for reels and help customers and that's been really wonderful.
But what's special is that they have loved seeing the community flourish in a way that they weren't able to experience when they were growing up and going to Chinatown as young adults.
They've definitely attributed a lot of this coalescing of community to these nonprofits being established in the wake of anti-Asian hate, too. There is definitely this passion people felt and still feel about supporting each other—support across industries and organizations that are doing work that the community respects.
There's so much going on now—I was just speaking to someone and he said, "No matter how tired we are, all the commitments we have—we never used to have this before. It's amazing that we have these opportunities."
And my parents love being able to be a part of it, too.
Learn more about + follow SUBLIMA: Website / Instagram
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