On a rainy spring afternoon with her two kids home sick, Markie Zimmer is doing what she’s built her life around: making it work. And a few years ago, with that mindset, Zimmer made a decision. “I’m not gonna hate my job anymore.”
Today, Zimmer owns and operates Silver Slag & Stone, a jewelry shop in Suttons Bay where she sells pieces made from stones she and her family collect along the shore of Lake Michigan. From her home in Northport where she lives with her husband, Jake, and their two daughters, Eloise and Mabel, she has built a business rooted as much in family as it is in art.
Zimmer didn’t set out to become a jeweler. Originally from the Lansing area, she played Division I soccer at Arkansas State University before returning to Michigan to work in marketing. After being laid off from a job in Traverse City, she began substitute teaching while figuring out her next step.
