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Amanda Thomas

Founder and designer of Luv Aj, the Los Angeles-based jewelry brand she started at age 14 after a chance encounter with a Fred Segal buyer; Forbes 30 Under 30 (2015).

Sep 14, 2026

11:12
When have you hit rock bottom and failed? Oh,
11:13
God.
11:14
A couple times.
11:15
I'd say three times.
11:17
Three times I hit, like, zero or negative.
11:20
Like, truly not going to happen.
11:24
Once was 2015.

6 MINS LATER

17:31
How have you done it? What are the lessons that you have for those of us trying to do the same thing and funding a target launch as well? Like,
18:08
Chains.
18:08
'Cause I've, I've had, um, I had one lady, um, t- Uh, it was her, uh, daughter that was out here, and she lost her necklace out on the trails, and I found it, um, I think it was, like, three we- weeks later, and it was just laying there, like, in the middle of the trails.
18:26
And I o- I'm out there walking all the time.
18:28
I'm a very nature person, so I'm always out there, and I didn't see it walking, and then all of a sudden it just appears.
18:37
And i- i- it's, it's very, very, very bizarre.
18:40
Um, but they, they do that.
18:42
They'll play little, little tricks, and I- it's like, where, where does this stuff go?
20:24
[laughs]
9:55
... you were drawn to?
9:57
Yeah.
9:58
Actually, since I was a kid.
9:59
I used to experience stuff as a kid all the time.
10:02
Um, I used to hear things, uh, see shadows and stuff like that as a kid.
10:08
And unfortunately, growing up, um, my mom, you know, was kind of scared of whatever it was that I had, and she would always just say that it was my imagination.
10:20
And, uh, so I kind of, like, stopped believing in it all for many years.

24 MINS LATER

34:35
Yeah.
52:51
Tell me top three best, craziest, most amazing things that have happened for the brand.
52:58
Ugh, great question.
53:00
All right.
53:02
Number three, um, getting summoned by Lindsay Lohan to the set of her movie to give her jewelry, where she made me wait eight hours outside of her trailer, only to come out and give me a hug smelling like Red Bull and cigarettes, and she took all the jewelry and then shut the trailer door.
53:48
So cool.
53:48
Great, really great day.
53:50
Number one, getting a call one week before Coachella from Beyoncé's team saying she found a box of jewelry I'd sent her a year prior somewhere at her house.
54:05
She saw it all.
4:42
Of course, I'm like a
4:43
teenager living in my parents' house.
4:46
I didn't have bills to pay.
4:47
This was just a fun thing for me.
4:50
And it was so creative.
4:52
Every piece was one of a kind.
4:54
And I loved the adventure of like going out, finding materials, coming back home, you know, coming up with these creations and then showing them to buyers and seeing what people's opinions were.
9:49
Yeah, it was
18:09
Take, yeah.
18:09
'Cause I've, I've had, um, I had one lady, um-Uh, it was her, uh, daughter that was out here, and she lost her necklace out on the trails, and I found it, um, I think it was like three we- weeks later, and it was just laying there, like in the middle of the trails.
18:27
And I w- I'm out there walking all the time.
18:28
I'm a very nature person, so I'm always out there, and I didn't see it walking, and then all of a sudden it just appears.
18:37
And it, it, it's, it's very, very, very bizarre.
18:41
Um, but they, they do that.
18:42
They'll play little, little tricks, and I- it's like, where, where does this stuff go?
20:25
[laughs]
7:28
... you're drawn to?
7:30
Yeah.
7:31
Actually, since I was a kid.
7:33
I used to experience stuff as a kid all the time.
7:36
Um, I used to hear things, uh, see shadows and stuff like that as a kid.
7:41
And unfortunately, growing up, um, my mom, you know, was kind of scared of whatever it was that I had, and she would always just say that it was my imagination.
7:53
And, uh, so I kind of, like, stopped believing in it at all for many years.

28 MINS LATER

35:44
Down here, it does.

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