Tshatshke

Bio

Meet Maddy! Maddy is a transplant from Freehold, New Jersey. She moved to Philly in 2014 to attend Temple University. She started off as an undecided business major before transferring to Tyler School of Art. Maddy took a jewelry course, and as they say, the rest is history. She left school after two years to go work in the jewelry industry.

Maddy spent the next five years bouncing between different jewelry jobs, working part time on her brand (Rad Mad Jeweler), and working at a bar. “I have always referred to this period of time as my schooling. I went into every job paying careful attention to the ins and outs of what it took to run each of their businesses. I would closely watch my mentors as they trained me in my craft.” Maddy knew she was aiming to go off on her own one day, but she even surprised herself when the opportunity for a brick and mortar shop happened so quickly!

Don’t get the wrong idea about Maddy, she’s not ALL business ALL the time! The reasons why she fell in love with Philly are what keep her here. “I love the bikeability of the city, I love skateboarding, I love enjoying Philadelphia’s vibrant DIY music and art communities. It was a serendipitous happenstance that Philly is the home of the oldest diamond district in the US, and the place where I would fall in love with jewelry and jewelry making.” 

Origin Story

Maddy had been running her brand, Rad Mad, on the side since 2017. She didn’t plan on opening a storefront so soon, but in 2021, she came across the perfect space around the corner from her house and down the street from her friend’s new record store, Launderette. She couldn’t turn the opportunity down.

When Maddy imagined her business, her desire was always to bring her own jewelry practice into a communal workspace. She wanted to invite the public to fall in love with handmade jewelry in the same way she had. And thus, in February of 2022, Tshatshke (ch-ah-ch-kee) was born. Soon after, in May of 2022, her doors were open.

When someone walks into Tshatshke they can expect to find unique and thoughtfully handcrafted jewelry in a warm and welcoming atmosphere. 

Tshatshke is a community-based and collaborative jewelry store. They house two resident jewelers at all times in their workshop, and their showroom has a dedicated display case for their residents’ work as well as a rotating selection of three other handmade jewelry artists.  Right now, Rachael of by ren (@by.ren) is the resident jeweler who works alongside Maddy in their shared workshop space. Together they make decisions about the day to day aspects of Tshatshke and any programming or plans coming up in the near future.

“Community is so baked into who we are that we accidentally/on purpose opened our doors on May 6, 2022, the same day as our friends at Big Top Vintage (@bigtop.vintage) who are also on our block!”