In the closet-sized studio connected to her home, University alumna Madeline Ellis looks through jewelry. Placed on her hip, Ellis’ 2-year-old daughter chews on a pair of earrings while her 3-year-old son plays in the backyard. 
This is a typical day for the stay-at-home mom and business owner.
She graduated in 2006 with a degree in landscape architecture. A few years later, she began mimosa by m.e., selling necklaces, earrings and accessories.
All her jewelry is handmade mostly from bronze, and buyers can see the spirit of Louisiana reflected in the pieces. Her Lagniappe and Adage collections are filled with pendants of classic Cajun symbols like pecans, crawfish and the Baton Rouge and New Orleans skylines. 
She’s been stringing beads since her grandmother took her to bead stores, and the hobby grew with her through adolescence into adulthood. 
“I always kind of had my little Tupperware container that I was making things from for my friends in school and just carried it to college,” Ellis said.
Jewelry was Ellis’ creative outlet outside of her office. 
Sometimes in her job at a landscape architecture firm, she would work on a project for up to a year and feel somewhat unproductive without coming up with something tangible every day.
“In school, you have a product at the end of the day almost. In work, it’s not really like that,” Ellis said. “So, it was kind of my thing at the end of the day, to be able to have a finished product in my hand.”
Her husband Dawson encouraged her to start an LLC, a limited liability small business, and she began selling her handmade pieces at art markets.
The business’ name came from her love of the mimosa tree stemming with childhood memories of her father. Her engagement ring is also engraved with a mimosa leaf.
As her jewelry collection expanded and her son was born, Ellis found herself unable to juggle the daily responsibilities of mother, career woman and jewelry designer.
She quit her job in 2012 and committed to running mimosa by m.e. full-time.
“I had these three major things in my life, and one of them had to go away. So, the easier thing for me [was] to be a stay-at-home mom and have jewelry, which was so flexible,” Ellis said. “When I finally [quit], it just felt right. And I haven’t looked back ever since.”
Ellis said the designer she is today is shaped by the top-ranked landscape architecture school at the University. 
It was a perfect fit — competitive, detail-oriented and global. Her adventures included an internship in Beijing and with her now-husband in Costa Rica after graduation.
But the more Ellis traveled, the more she realized how special Louisiana and Baton Rouge are.
Besides the convenience of living in the capital city, where the history is as rich as the endless attractions, Ellis enjoys living in a college town. She loves the diversity it brings and the exciting events, like football games, she can enjoy with her children.
She said she is drawn to the live oaks that line the Capitol City, particularly special to her is the 44 percent tree canopy cover. 
Her pieces depict the Louisiana icons that unify residents. She said having something in common, like enjoying the beloved crawfish icon, makes it easier for Louisianians to stick together.
“We just have so many unique things here that you can grab onto that are only Louisiana. People like to have those things so they can feel connected,” Ellis said.
Ellis said she credits the success of mimosa by m.e. to the help and support of family, friends, repeat customers and the community she was a part of at the University. She still keeps in touch with fellow graduates and former
professors.
“I don’t think I’d be at all anywhere I am with mimosa if I hadn’t graduated in landscape architecture,” Ellis said.
Though she is comfortable with where mimosa by m.e. is now, Ellis said she hopes she can hire someone to help her with the creating the pieces. She has one employee who assists with assembling and packaging orders.
Ellis now focuses on creating more custom pieces and raising her children, Charlie and Lillie, with her husband.

Gallery • 9 Photos

Emily Brauner

LSU landscape architecture graduate, Madeline Ellis, started her own handmade jewelry business, Mimosa by M.E., which features pieces inspired by Baton Rouge and Louisiana culture.