BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. — When it comes to creating, there's a freedom.
"When my family goes to bed, my kids go to bed, it's my me time," said Lina Adjogble, laughing.
The wife and mother of three, who lives in Brooklyn Park, creates big and bold statement earrings out of polymer clay.
"I get to be creative and use a different part of my brain that I honestly didn't even know existed until a few years ago," Adjogble said.
Adjogble spent 10 years working in information technology.
"In July of 2019, I lost my job in a very unexpected and hard way... and I found myself at home," Adjogble said.
Adjogble was working with a life coach, thinking they would be plotting her next career move. Instead, her life coach told her she needed a break.
Adjogble decided to pick up a hobby and turned to jewelry making. She specifically was interested in working with polymer clay.
"I love that I can take material that feels insignificant at first and really make something beautiful out of it," she said.
Adjogble's hobby bloomed into a business called Chosen & Free Co. The name was inspired by her Christian faith, but the message is universal.
"I wanted something that would be meaningful to me to remind me of just the journey that I've been on from walking maybe a little aimlessly, feeling a little lost, to finding freedom, to finding purpose, to feeling seen," Adjogble said. "There is so much freedom in knowing that you are here for a purpose. You are free to be who you are."
When Adjogble was first starting out, she made earrings she thought others would like.
"I realized that something was wrong when I was not reaching for my own pieces and I decided to really change my approach and make things that spoke to me," Adjogble said.
Chosen & Free Co. earrings are often big and bold but also lightweight.
"I am originally from Togo, West Africa. So I try to... include some element that I would consider inspired by part of my culture," she said.
Adjogble is also inspired by the women who wear her earrings.
"I want them to feel... empowered. To really walk into everything that they've created... it sounds like a big mission for a pair of earrings to accomplish but I do think every bit counts," Adjogble said. "I want women to feel beautiful. To feel free to be who they are."
You can shop Adjogble's creations on her website, Chosen & Free Co.