Welcome to Threadlines
Welcome back to Threadlines, our monthly celebration of the extraordinary people who bring Mansawear to life. This month, I’m introducing you to someone who has become much more than a Mansawear customer. Heather Sterenka is a customer, creative collaborator, and friend of Mansawear whose talents have become woven into the brand itself.
She is the talented maker behind the Toma bracelets and necklaces sold at Mansawear. Using Krobo beads I bring back from Ghana, Heather works her magic here in Rochester, creating the colorful accessories that have become a signature part of the Mansawear experience. But Heather’s story with Mansawear goes far beyond the beautiful pieces she creates. To understand that story, it helps to first understand the remarkable beads that brought our creative paths together.
The Story Behind Krobo Beads
Krobo beads, named after the Krobo people of Eastern Ghana, are handcrafted glass beads made primarily from recycled glass bottles. The bottles are cleaned, broken, and hand-pounded into a fine glass powder. The powder is then carefully arranged in clay molds, layered with color and pattern, and fired to transform the powder into beautifully patterned beads.
What makes the traditional process particularly remarkable is the kiln itself. Krobo beadmakers have traditionally built their wood-fired kilns using clay from termite mounds, or anthills. These simple, locally made kilns can reach temperatures of approximately 600°C to 1,000°C (1,112°F to 1,832°F), depending on the type of glass bead being produced.
After firing, the beads are allowed to cool before being removed from their molds. They are then washed and painstakingly polished by hand using sand, water, and a stone, revealing the color, texture, and character of each individual bead.
The result is something extraordinary: discarded glass transformed by hand, fire, earth, and craftsmanship into beads that carry a distinctly Ghanaian story. And it is that story—carried in glass, color, and craftsmanship—that has cemented the Heather and Mansawear bond.
How Our Paths Crossed
Our story began in 2023, when Heather invited me to be the keynote speaker for Lewis Services' annual Black and Women’s History Celebration. As we got to know one another, I discovered that Heather was already exploring her own creativity through glass and beadwork and had an Etsy shop where she created handmade accessories. I immediately saw an opportunity for our creative paths to come together. For years, Mansawear’s Toma bracelets had been made in Ghana and shipped to Rochester. Since opening the Mansawear boutique on Park Avenue in 2013, we had proudly kept the bracelets at $15 each. But rising transportation and fuel costs meant that continuing to ship the finished bracelets from Ghana would eventually require us to raise the price to around $20.
Instead, I thought, why not bring the beads here and have Heather create them locally? So now, when I travel to Ghana, I bring back the raw, unstrung Krobo beads. Heather transforms those beads into the beautiful bracelets and necklaces you see at Mansawear. It’s a collaboration that connects Ghana, Rochester, creativity, and community—all through a strand of beads.
From Customer to Collaborator
Before Heather became our Toma jewelry maker, she became a Mansawear customer. And after getting her first Mansawear garment, something wonderful happened: Heather began sharing the brand with the people she loved. She has made it part of her mission to introduce her Ohio family and friends to Mansawear. Whenever they visit Rochester, Mansawear is on Heather’s list of places they simply have to see. That kind of enthusiasm means so much to me. There is something particularly special about watching a customer become an advocate—and then becoming a creative partner as well. Heather didn’t just discover Mansawear. She found a way to become part of its story.
The Woman Behind the Beads
Heather is an HR manager at Lewis Service, a company that plays a fascinating—and often overlooked—role in keeping our communities connected. You might assume that when a storm brings down trees and disrupts power lines, your local utility company handles everything. But companies like Lewis Services are often part of the critical infrastructure response. Lewis Services specializes in utility vegetation management, helping keep trees and plant growth away from power lines, energy grids, and communication infrastructure. Their work helps utilities maintain reliable service and prevent outages.
It’s a world quite different from the colorful beads, glass, and handmade accessories Heather creates in her free time. And perhaps that contrast is part of what makes her so interesting. By day, she works in a field connected to infrastructure and essential services. In her creative life, she works with her hands, experimenting with color, texture, glass, and beads. Somewhere between those two worlds, Heather and Mansawear found one another.
From Ohio to Rochester
Heather relocated to Rochester from Ohio for work, but she never left her Ohio roots behind. She remains deeply connected to her family and friends there and continues to maintain close relationships with her graduate school friends, many of whom have developed an appreciation for the Finger Lakes.
Heather is a Senior Manger of Employee Relations at Lewis Services. She has been married to Tony Petit for 27 years, and they are the proud parents of Ben (a mechanical engineer), William (a physical therapy assistant), and Isabel (a junior at the University of Akron, studying Natural Resources.) Along with creating jewelry, she loves spending time outdoors with friends and family - especially in New York State’s Finger Lakes and beautiful parks.
Even though Rochester is now home, Heather’s life remains beautifully connected to the people and places that have shaped her. And perhaps that is another reason our collaboration feels so natural. Mansawear itself is about connection—between Ghana and Rochester, tradition and contemporary design, clothing and the people who wear it.
When Creativity Finds Its Way Home
There is something beautiful about the journey of a Krobo bead. It begins in Ghana, where recycled glass is transformed through fire, earth, water, and human hands. I bring those beads home to Rochester. Heather then gives them another life, transforming them into jewelry that eventually finds its way onto the wrists and around the necks of Mansawear customers.
Think about that journey for a moment.
Ghana → Rochester → Heather’s hands → Mansawear → you.
What began as a practical solution to rising shipping costs has become something much more meaningful: a local creative collaboration rooted in Ghanaian materials, Rochester talent, and a shared appreciation for beautiful things made by hand.
That, to me, is the beauty of community. Sometimes the most unexpected connections create the most lasting ones.
Here’s To Heather
Heather, thank you for being part of the Mansawear journey. Thank you for sharing your creativity, your craftsmanship, your friendship, and your enthusiasm for Mansawear with the people around you. And thank you for taking those beautiful Krobo beads from Ghana and turning them into something uniquely ours. Every bracelet and necklace you create carries a little piece of that journey—and now, a little piece of you.
Shop Heather’s Favorites
Explore Heather’s favorite Mansawear styles, including the signature Maisha, along with other made-to-measure pieces that reflect her timeless sense of style. And while you’re there, take a look at Heather’s Toma bracelets and necklaces—handcrafted in Rochester using Krobo beads from Ghana.
Because sometimes the best accessories come with a story.
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