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cover storyMary Jo started her fashion career right here in Omaha at The

Avenue, a now-closed women's clothing boutique. She then moved to

Baltimore to work at a specialty store and eventually ended up in New

York City, where she has l ived for more than 15 years. With her family

and her roots in Omaha, Pane visits at least four times a year."You can take the girl out of Omaha, but you can't take the Omaha

out of the girl," she joked.Her company, Miracle lcons, creates handmade, one-of-a-kind jew-

elry that features vintage and antique medals embossed with Catholic

saints and other iconography. The idea came to her one night as she

walked home after visit ing a sick friend. Her friend had been diag-

nosed with cancer, and Mary Jo had given her a Saint Anthony medal

as a gift. Even though the friend wasn't Catholic, she found comfort in

the medal, and Mary Jo found her cal l ing.Inspired by her own sense of spirituality, which she describes as

"deeply based in Catholicism and [her own] worldview," Pane's jewelry

designs are classic and thoughtful. For Mary Jo, the meaning and im-pact of the jewelry is what matters. Her clients tend to develop strong

attachments to their pieces, as the presence of the medals is soothing'"lt makes me feel better," is a comment Mary Jo often receives fromher patrons. Pane relates to this sentiment, as she unfail ingly wears a

medal embossed with an image of The Virgin Mary.All the medals that are incorporated into Miracle lcons jewelry

are antique or vintage, sourced mostly from flea markets in Europe,and the previous owner's connection to the medal is apparent. The

medals often have softened edges and a unique patina because of

the common human habi t of rubbing them between the thumb andindex finger. Mary Jo l ikens the medals to worry-stones. lt is this hu-man relat ionship that makes Miracle lcons jewelry more than just afashion accessory.

Despite having been in business for more than 5 years, Pane sti l lhand makes each piece herself. She puts care into selecting and pair-

ing the medals to ensure that they are balanced both aesthetically andenergetically.

"lf l 'm making a piece and it has a St. Joseph and a Sacred Heart of

Jesus, l ' l l add a Mary medal to give it some feminine energy," said Pane'Mary Jo estimates that last year she created between 3,000 and

4,000 individual pieces of jewelry. Pane works constantly in order tofi l l orders and prepare for trunk shows. She also makes every effort toaccommodate requests for custom designs. During the early years of

::#::she

worked in a fashion showroom and woke up at 4 a.m'

to squeeze in some creative time. However, with the growing demandfor her creations, she quit her day job 16 months ago to focus solely onmaking jewelry.

Most businesses have marketing plans and a targeted demographic.Pane doesn't do business that way; instead she says most of her cus-tomers seek her out. Whether it 's the power of word-of-mouth adver-tising or the "karma of [her] jewelry," it has worked. Miracle lcons hasdedicated cases in nearly 20 Barneys and several other specialty storesnationwide, including Borsheim's here in Omaha' In addition, she doestrunk shows where she features her latest designs-Pane and herwares wil l be appearing at Borsheim's on December 14 and 15. Mary Jois also in the process of developing an e-commerce component on herwebsite. www.miracleicons.com.

Ofcourse celebrity clients and press coverage never hurts business'and Miracle lcons jewelry has had plenty of both. Tom Hanks was oneof the first stars to don a piece created by Mary Jo' The list has grown

from there. Pane, however, isn't fazed by her brushes withcelebrity-she only sees the human looking for spiritualconnections. These encounters have, however, given hersome great stories, l ike the time she made jewelry with MiraSorvino's kids or when, while delivering a piece of jewelry

to his hotel room, she got a peek of Dwayne "The Rock"Johnson in nothing but a bath towel.

There does seem to be one celebrity that gets her bloodrushing though, and he appeared on the cover ofthe No-vember issue of Roll ing Stone wearing one of her necklac-es-Bruce Springsteen.

"He's the real deal," said Pane.Beyond his status as an American icon, he's a fan of

Miracle lcons jewelry. He's requested a new piece, andMary Jo is looking forward to the possibi l i ty of del iver ingit in oerson. 5he restrains her excitement as if to ward offd isappointment.

"l might get to meet him," she said. "Mightl"With the saints on her side, anything is possible'

m

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17

Celebs that weal her jewelry. Bruce Springsteen. Matthew McConaughey. Jake Gyllenhaal. Lance Armstrong. Elizabeth Edwards. Anderson Cooper. Robin Wi l l iams. Angel Corella. Susan Sarandon. Mos Def. Johnny Depp.Tom Hanks. Mira Sorvino. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Justin Timberlake. Omaha Celebs: David Scott, Rick Carey,

Gretchen Radler, Susie Buffett,

Mary Will iams, Deniz (Denise Seran)

Angel Corella of the American BalletTheatre rushed over to Pane's apartment toget his necklace repaired just hours beforehe had to fly to Europe. He couldn't travelwithout it.

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DwayneJohnson

MIRA(LE ICO]IS JEWETRY KARMA"When The Rock (actor Dwayne Johnson)wanted to pay me for the necklace, I toldhim that lwould prefer he call my nephewAlex, who had cancer, in the hospital andgive him a pep talk. He did. He (Johnson)called one day when I happened to be inhis room and spoke to him for about 20minutes. lt was amazing what that phonecall did for Alex. I wil l never forget thelook an Alex's face when he realized whohe was talking to. But that is the karma ofmy jewelry." - Mary Jo Pane

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