Designer's Story
My name is Jean Cotten Schnaak, and I am a registered nurse. As a little girl I dreamed of being a nurse — never a jewelry designer or a business owner. Then, in 1994, I gave my husband a Valentine’s gift that changed my life.
I grew up in a small town in North Carolina, with loving parents, two older brothers, and aunts, uncles, and cousins too numerous to count. Each Sunday our church service ended with the congregation singing the J.E. Rankin hymn God Be With You Till We Meet Again. As a child, this song signaled the end of having to sit still in church and the commencement of a big Sunday dinner and an afternoon of playing in the yard and nearby woods with friends and cousins. What cherished memories. Now each time I return to Wake Chapel Church in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, I sing God Be With You Till We Meet Again knowing that each day is precious, and each person I love is to be cherished.
As a former Atlanta Life Flight nurse specializing in trauma care and labor and delivery, I have witnessed many relationships in the middle of life-changing events. Some, like the birth of a child, were joy-filled and full of promise. Others involved tragedy that altered lives forever. My heart has ached on many occasions as I have heard the last words spoken at the bedside — almost always “I love you. I love you so much. I’ll always love you,” accompanied by tears.
Relationships are the most important element of life. In these busy times, those closest to us need to know we love them and that we are there for them through life’s ups and downs. My passion, my business, and my collection of jewelry are about caring for others, much like my career in nursing.
The Story of Loving Heart
It all started as a gift for my husband. Valentine’s Day 1994 was rapidly approaching, and as an airline pilot, Neil was away from home a lot. I wanted to give him something he could carry with him as a private reminder of our unwavering love.
Knowing Neil would be reluctant to wear a visible piece of sentiment other than his wedding band, I decided on a simple heart pin he could wear inside his airline jacket, over his heart. I imagined that in that private location, each time he happened to glimpse it, he would smile, reminded of home and the love we share.
I shopped all over Nashville and Franklin, Tennessee for a simple heart pin. As I described to each salesperson what I was looking for, and how I planned to surprise my husband with a symbol of my heart for him to wear over his, each one said the same thing: “I’ve never heard of a man wearing an item of sentiment inside his jacket. You’ve come up with a unique gift — and a great business idea.”
Unable to find a simple heart pin, I fashioned one myself out of a tiny earring and gave it to Neil with a little note that read, “Whether we are near or far, we’ll always be heart to heart.”
The impact was immediate. Neil told me the pin gave him a source of strength and a reminder of our love, whether he was running errands around town or “flying the line.” His comments made me realize the power of love carried in that tiny heart.
My nursing colleagues loved the idea. They agreed that sentimental gifts for a man are few and far between, and they wanted to give a Loving Heart Pin to their own husbands. I encouraged them to ask first about the idea of a small heart hidden inside a jacket. The men’s enthusiastic responses helped bring The Loving Heart Collection by Jean Schnaak® into being.
More than thirty years on, what began as a simple pin is now a collection that includes pocket hearts, necklaces, earrings, and more — each piece accompanied by a verse card to help people express what is in their heart toward someone special. As I fill each order, I say a little blessing for the tiny heart, that it may serve others well. I like to think that, in a small but significant way, I am still nursing the hearts of others.
And in case anyone wonders: my husband still wears his Loving Heart Pin in his jacket, over his heart. I wear one too.
“Gifts from The Loving Heart Collection by Jean Schnaak® are designed to help people express love, caring, and encouragement to others — in the good times and the challenging ones. My hope is that by telling the special people in our lives how much they mean to us, our world will be a better place.”
— Jean Cotten Schnaak