The Journey to the Land of Bubblegum and Glitter Stickers

For many that come to America, it was the land of opportunity. For Anna Zuckerman, it was the land of bubblegum and glitter stickers.

In the early 1990s, Anna and her Jewish family fled Minsk, Belarus, part of the then Soviet Union empire, escaping Anti-Semitism and persecution.

Entrepreneuristic at heart, it was highly illegal for Anna's family to own their own business during that time.

But Anna’s father Sam persisted and opened a store in the basement of his in-law’s home while Anna stayed with her grandparents. However, once the government discovered their basement operation, her house was burned down and they fled to America as political refugees.

“To me at 14 years old, it wasn’t the country of opportunities, it was the country of bubblegum and glitter stickers," she said. "That was my ultimate goal in life to get as much bubblegum. When I came here I realized it was a lot more than just bubblegum and glitter stickers.

“You know, I wish these were the problems that we have, how does one get more glitter stickers?”

Like hundreds of other , Anna and her family moved to Milwaukee, settling in at the corner of North 21st Street and West Hampton Avenue.

But Anna’s road to success was by no means easy.

“The biggest change was being poor because we weren’t really poor in Russia, and seeing your parents walk to work because spending a dollar for the bus was too expensive," she said.

Harsh beginnings in a new world

Anna sold jewelry door-to-door with her father, with a couple other side jobs including babysitting and running a paper route to help support the family. But, coming from a family of goldsmiths, selling jewelry was second-nature.

Anna jokes now about the tough times, hawking jewelry from her coat and when she “tried to hustle (students) at Nicolet High School."

“I scrubbed my fair share of toilets too," Anna said.

However, Anna’s hardest day didn’t include juggling jobs or her growing frustration over learning a new language. It was having her bike stolen.

“The police department called me and took a picture of me and it was in the Milwaukee Journal.

“The first worst thing that happened in America is when my bike got stolen with my newspapers undelivered," she said. "The best part that happened to me was when the police department found it. And then I went right back to work.”

She graduated from Nicolet High School and went onto attend the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee before opening her first jewelry store in her home. Then, AC Zuckerman’s, her designer jewelry store, opened its doors in 1997 in Mequon.

Unfortunately, two years after opening, the building she was renting was scheduled to be torn down and remodeled.

But instead of taking a few months off to relax while construction was creating her future store site, she opened up a new business called Quick Fix-It Jewelry and Watch Repair at Mayfair Mall.

“I can’t be without a job,” she joked.

Now, after 15 years, she owns four Quick Fix-It stores, AC Zuckerman’s, Sydney B children’s boutique, designs her own jewelry collection and recently opened the first Wisconsin Gemology Laboratory.

In Anna's business empire, customers are family

For Anna, owning a family business means treating her customers like family.

“Oh my God I know everybody, I get invited to their kid's weddings," she said. "We’re very personal. It’s all about customer service; we treat everybody like we treat our own family.”

But, treating her customers like family isn't the only thing Anna prides herself in.

“I pride my business in getting the newest and best technology that’s out there," she said. "I wanted to have the ability to do absolutely everything that has to do with jewelry.”

With Anna’s new Gemological laboratory, she now can certify and evaluate her own jewelry as well as any customer's.

“We provide services for certifying diamonds and doing independent appraisals as you wait and if you don’t want to wait we will actually come to your house because we have a fully mobile lab," she said.

Anna’s Quick Fix-It shops staff employees who have many years experience and in most cases can fix jewelry while customers wait.

“Most of the things we do, we do quickly, while people wait. If you want to shop around the local businesses that’s even better,” said Quick Fix-It employee Donald Czaplewski who has over 30 years experience as a goldsmith under his belt. “We just hope that the community comes out and supports us and we stay here for a long time. The longer we’re here and the more we get to know the people that come in you get to know them on a first-name basis.”

'We are what we represent'

But Anna’s family doesn’t just include her stock of businesses; she also has two children. While sporting a little black dress, three-inch heels, and a white fur coat, Anna still managed to proudly wear the turkey necklace her daughter made her in school.

With Anna Dello Russo (editor for Vogue Japan) serving as her fashion icon, it’s not hard to see why Anna enjoys being a part of the fashion world.

“I own 122 pairs of shoes. All with red soles,” she said, and all of them are at least three inches. “When I take them off I walk around on my tippy toes. To me that image is extremely important.”

And, it’s all just part of the job.

“We are what we represent," she explained. "There is a beauty within and that’s what we see when we design. Even wearing a turkey design.”

Anna says she takes pride in supporting the community, donating money, jewelry, and even houses to many charities around the country including, Jewish Family Services, The American Heart Association, and the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Eastern Wisconsin.

Anna still has hopes to expand her self-made businesses and hopes to open at least five more Quick Fix-It stores around Milwaukee next year. She also wants to create a network for jewelers to connect easier in Wisconsin.

“When some people see my life, they think that this stuff just falls into my hands," she said. "They don’t understand that I work my butt off. I really work hard to get to where I am. I’ve told you where I came from. It’s not about bubblegum and stickers anymore, it’s about you can achieve absolutely anything beyond bubblegum and stickers when you work hard.”