Founder, Designer
& Maker
About Melissa Panszi Riebe
Hi, I’m Melissa Panszi Riebe – jewelry maker, community builder, and firm believer that something is always missing when we hide.
I make one-of-a-kind statement pieces for women who are done making themselves smaller. And I create spaces where makers who’ve been overlooked finally get to be seen.
But to understand why any of that matters to me, you have to know where I started.
Something Was Always Missing
Family visit in mexico
I grew up in Indiana as a Female Latine.
Every summer, my family went to Mexico to visit family. I wanted to feel at home there. But I didn’t speak Spanish – my father had made a deliberate choice not to teach us, worried we’d come back with an accent that would mark us as different.
So I’d stand in rooms full of my own family, catching pieces of conversation, feeling the warmth but not quite able to reach it.
Then we’d come home to Indiana, where I didn’t quite fit there either.
I was caught between two worlds, fully belonging to neither.
My father had immigrated from Mexico, growing up in poverty before becoming a neurologist in the Midwest. He was brilliant and driven and he wanted the best for us. So he taught us to assimilate. To blend in. To do what it took to succeed in the world we actually lived in.
He also taught us to dream. To reach. To believe that education and hard work could take us anywhere.
He was right about all of it.
But somewhere in the blending, something went missing.
The “Right” Path
I did everything I was supposed to do.
I earned a master’s degree in social work. Worked with inmates on death row. Became a social worker at a cancer center. Earned a graduate degree in nonprofit management.
I was good at it. I cared deeply. And at the end of a long week, I’d sit at my desk and feel this quiet, persistent ache that I couldn’t name. Not unhappiness exactly. More like… incompleteness. Like I was living someone else’s version of a meaningful life instead of my own.
I just didn’t know what my version looked like yet.
MyThe Night Everything Changed
Her name is Edie.
We’d only just met – barely acquaintances, really. But sometimes the people who change your life are the ones who don’t know you well enough to talk you out of anything.
One evening we met for dinner. I told her about the jewelry I’d been making as a hobby – how I’d pour myself into it after work, how it lit me up in a way nothing else did, how I’d started dreaming about turning it into something real.
Edie looked at me and said something I’ve never forgotten.
“You may never feel completely ready. But you’ll never be ready if you don’t start.”
I went home that night and started planning.
A D’Zine
In 2016, I took my first steps toward launching A D’Zine – named by combining the first initials of my two sons, because everything I build, I build with them in mind.
It didn’t happen overnight. I moved slowly, carefully, figuring it out as I went. By 2019, I was ready to go all in.
A D’Zine sells one-of-a-kind handmade jewelry – crafted from new and vintage materials, pieces donated by families who want to see their loved ones’ jewelry live on in new designs, and global treasures gathered from around the world.
But here’s what it’s really about.
I spent years caught between worlds – not quite fitting anywhere, learning to make myself smaller so I’d blend in more easily. A D’Zine is the opposite of that. Every piece I make is designed to help you stand out – to celebrate exactly who you are, where you come from, and what makes you different.
That’s what “make a statement” means to me. Not loud for the sake of loud. But visible. Unapologetically, beautifully visible.
Because something is always missing when we hide.
If that resonates, you’re in the right place.
Make Your Mark[et]NY
The same belief that drives my jewelry drove me to create something bigger.
Make Your Mark[et]NY is a pop-up marketplace I built to spotlight local makers – especially those who are underrepresented. Because I know what it feels like to be talented and unseen. To have something real to offer and not quite find your place at the table.
Make Your Mark[et]NY is the table I wish had existed for me.
Giving Back Is Part of the Design
I never left social work behind. I just found a new way to live its values.
A D’Zine donates a portion of every sale to a featured nonprofit each month. To date, we’ve supported work in women’s healthcare, food accessibility, social justice, and employment training.
When you buy a piece from A D’Zine, you’re not just wearing something beautiful. You’re part of something that gives back.
The Part That Fills Me Up
I am honored every time someone tells me how they feel wearing my jewelry.
Whether it’s a piece worn to a milestone moment or just a Tuesday – knowing that something I made with my hands is out in the world, on someone’s body, making them feel powerful and seen… that’s everything.
““I am honored when I hear compliments from people who wear my jewelry and they describe how it makes them feel when they are wearing it. It is a privilege to know that my work is worn during an important life event or just every day. One of my favorite parts of making jewelry is getting to know the people who wear my pieces. I celebrate their beauty, inside and out.””
You Found Your Way Here For a Reason
If any part of my story felt familiar – the in-between feeling, the something missing, the moment someone finally said “just start” – you’re exactly who I made this for.
Browse the collection. Come to a pop-up. Follow along for new pieces, maker spotlights, and the causes we’re supporting each month. However you find your way in, I’m glad you’re here.