“I just want to collect shells forever,” Madison Feinstein, creator of Mad Shells, told me with a smile when asked of her future dreams. “My true passion is the beach and shells.”
Standing at a high-top inside San Diego State University’s Shake Smart, a day before her first-ever launch event, Feinstein glows with the excitement of a successful jewelry business entrepreneur. She’s wearing her own creations: gold-filled hook earrings of jade, quartz and a clam shell from New York with a delicate sunrise shell necklace resting against her collarbones.
Held at Surf Lounge, a local coffee, surf and boutique shop in Pacific Beach, on Jan. 31, Feinstein hosted a sold-out night where guests crafted their own shell necklaces, all guided by the young woman who had built the brand from the sand up. Feinstein sources every shell herself, studying the tides and moon phases, driving up and down the San Diego coast, and even collecting rare finds from Florida and local divers in Hawaii. While this may have been Mad Shells’ first official event, it was five months in the making.
Mad Shells turned from an idea to a reality back in August of 2024, but Feinstein worked hard to get to the place she is at now.
“I would just go to the beach every day and get shells after shells after shells,” Feinstein laughed. “They were all over my room. I no longer had a desk. I was literally doing my homework on the floor. Then they moved into the living room, then into the kitchen, and one day, a shell ended up in the shared bathroom…my roommate was like, ‘Girl, I love you to death, but we’ve got to do something about these shells.’”
That something started as an art project, but painting and decorating shells didn’t feel right. So Feinstein, a senior at SDSU studying interdisciplinary studies, began weaving her biology, geography and sustainability education into her shell obsessions. Sustainability would quickly grow to the core principle of Mad Shells, handpicking every shell, avoiding plastic and using gold-filled materials, but she was still lost.
It wasn’t until a trip to Hawaii in summer 2024 that everything clicked. A woman showed her how to wire-wrap a shell, and after posting a picture of herself wearing it, her DMs flooded with people asking if she made them herself. “I didn’t,” Feinstein admitted, “but I knew I could.”
Back in California, she got to work. A few weeks later, on another trip, a woman stopped her and asked to buy a necklace. Feinstein hesitated, threw out a casual $5, and the woman handed her $50.
Just like that, Mad Shells was real.
Since that first sale, Feinstein got herself into La Jolla and Pacific Beach farmers markets, and soon, her pieces were being sold in Surf Lounge.
“Building a website was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done,” she said. “But once it was up and running, I made $500 on the first day. It was a business.”
By October, she had pulled in $1,500 in sales, but quickly realized that her workload was unsustainable. Feinstein decided to take a step back, focus on refining her process, and partnered with a life art couch in San Diego who also made beautiful shell art. Craving that professional boost of confidence, she joined the coaching program with hopes of growing her brand…but it just didn’t deliver.
After one too many empty promises, Feinstein knew this experience was proving to be more of a setback than a boost. Just a week before the first Mad Shells event with tickets already purchased through the art coaches’ website, Feinstein decided to cut ties. This meant moving the event away from the artist’s gallery space and losing all her sales.
“It was rough,” Feinstein recalled. “But I knew I could do this myself.”
And she did. With a last-minute venue change to Surf Lounge and only two ticket sales in the first week, Feinstein was nervous. But, by the night of the event, it was not only packed but completely sold out.
Walking into Mad Shells’ event felt like stepping into a coastal dream. Disco balls hung from the ceiling, swim flippers decorated the wooden patio and feel-good music filled the air. JuneShine and Sun Bum were donated to the evening, and custom Mad Shells stickers, shells, gold-filled wire and crystals including tiger eye, silver obsidian, Mookaite jasper and strawberry quartz, laid on the tables waiting to be transformed into jewelry.
“I am a little nervous,” she admitted to me the day before. “Everything I’ve done has led me to this exact place. I was the lowest of the low assistants on a movie commercial, getting people coffee, but it was for the wardrobe department, so I got to learn styling and photos. All those times I went to the beach, and it was raining– it felt like the worst day of my life. But two weeks later, I went back to that random spot and found the best shells. Shelling can be a career.”
Despite her nerves, Feinstein radiated authenticity.
Before leading the group in a necklace making tutorial, she explained how Mad Shells is a jewelry brand rooted in sustainability, intention and an understanding for the ocean. As a woman-owned small business, Feinstein is committed to eco-friendly practices and ethical sourcing, she aims to minimize environmental impact while inspiring a love for the beach.
Her roommates watched in awe as she moved from table to table, smiling and laughing while helping guests, explaining the shells “Juju,” and giving out words of encouragement. It was the start of a real community being built, and you couldn’t help but feel it.
“I love watching her do things like this, because I always feel so special when she asks me for advice on what to do with these things,” Annabella Younkin, Feinstein’s roommate said. “I love seeing her create and do what she loves. She’s put so much time, energy and money into this, and she’s just really strong. And she kept going even when she felt down about it for a little bit, she kept going, and that was really cool to see. She’s grown a lot.”
Feinstein’s “shellection,” as she liked to call it, is an art. It’s an experience that can’t be rushed or taken for granted. Quality takes time, patience and, most of all, support. She emphasized how the encouragement from her friends, family, Shake Smart co-workers (who are always handing out Mad Shells stickers), roommates and even the SDSU community has been such an essential part of her journey.
As she reflected on all the support she’s received, Feinstein began to smile. “Having my mom come to a market with me was really special because my parents are so far away,” she said. It’s not a sold out event or a month of impressive sales that are defining her success- it’s these small, meaningful moments that remind her why she keeps going.
Feinstein teased a possible collection expansion, introducing waist chains ideal for spring break. She’s also manifesting a future with her jewelry in magazines, not as an ad, but editorialized, naturally styled on models.
“When you find shells they’re not so beautiful. It just shows that beauty truly is within and sometimes you have to do some work to find it,” Feinstein noted.
More details about Mad Shells and further events can be found on Feinstein’s (hand-built) website and Instagram.
