"It was really hard to have a business in that neighborhood in the [first] few years after 9/11," Jennifer Gandia, now co-owner of Greenwich St. Jewelers with her sister Christina Gandia Gambale, tells Entrepreneur. "We used to joke about tumbleweeds coming down the street. It was very quiet."
At the time, Gandia was working in marketing at a cosmetics company, but she left that position in 2003, putting her skills to use at her parent's shop. Gandia Gambale, still in college then, watched the "camaraderie" take shape and wanted to join in too. So, after graduating from GIA with a gemology degree and working at a couple of different companies, that's exactly what she did.
Along the way, both sisters have learned a lot about what it takes to build back and persevere in the face of staggering yet distinct challenges spanning decades.
