13 June 2025 |
The founder of FoundRae and the actor reunite for a special collection.
To celebrate the launch of FoundRae’s new Resilience Collection, founder and creative director Beth Hutchens asked her friend, actor Robin Tunney, to reprise her role as a face of the brand. The pair initially worked together in 2017 for FoundRae’s first official campaign when Robin was heavily pregnant with her first child and doing a play in New York. A lot has transpired since then, adding to the beautiful evolution of their decades-long friendship. 10 Magazine USA caught up with the pair to discuss the power of jewelry, symbolism, and being co-conspirators since their teen years.
1. You’ve known each other since you were teenagers. What are your first memories of each other?
Robin Tunney: Beth had a canary yellow car, bangles going up her arms, rings on every finger, and that was before anybody else was doing it. I loved [her vibe] from far away, and then we had an English class together. I remember being surprised that she had a Southern accent. I’d imagined she was from somewhere far away, like England or France.
Beth Hutchens: When Robin transferred to our school, she was already famous as an actor. So there was already a mystique around her, but now that I know her so well, I find that funny because Robin is so genuine. She’s straightforward and approachable, but in high school, it was a little more intimidating.
2. What do you want to convey with this collection which is centered around the idea of resilience?
BH: What I’m trying to tell people is that being resilient doesn’t mean that you’re never going to experience stress or sadness or be free of adversity, but you will recover. The whole point is having the capacity to withstand difficult circumstances and to overcome them. Once you do that you’re more willing to take risks.
RT: Beth listens to herself and makes decisions that, from anybody else’s perspective, would be considered insane. She walked away from lucrative situations [Hutchens was previously the CEO of Rebecca Taylor from 1996 until she left the company in 2014]. When she did that, she was listening to her heart and realized, This is not who I am. This is who I want to be. That’s hard to do. The idea of pivoting and switching lanes requires resilience because nobody wants to see you do it.
3. What was on your mood board when you were conjuring up this collection?
BH: The symbol of hope, which is a sparrow, because I felt like hope is a big part of resilience. And I included the Latin motto, dum, spiro, spero, which means as long as I breathe, I hope.
RT: We’ve all witnessed somebody who has given up hope, and there’s nothing worse. You have to have it within yourself. If you order a coffee from somebody and smile at them, they might hope for happiness for you, too. It can be a cultural movement.
FoundRae founder Beth Hutchens
4. Robin, you’ve been open about going through different things in your life that have required resilience [being an actor, several rounds of IVF]. How do you draw your strength?
RT: Everything in my life requires resilience. Waking up and taking every day as a fresh new day. It’s easy to sit in things. I still get rejected constantly, but it doesn’t hurt in the same way.
When I started acting, I was like, This has to work out, I can’t afford to go to college, I don’t have a plan B, I am going to make this work. My parents were terrified as they should have been, but I wasn’t. I feel like in every aspect of my life, everything’s been a fight, and it’s been so worth the fight.
5. What are some of your favorite designs from the Resilience collection?
BH: We just started doing limited-edition pieces, which allows us to be more creative and make more things. Working on them was a way to really liberate creativity, and it is also rewarding for people who collect FoundRae, as it’s something special that is not going to be available for long.
RT: Everything that Beth makes, she makes because she believes in it and not because she thinks it’s gonna sell. There’s integrity in the designs.
6. Beth, you wear your jewelry 24/7; there have been stories done about this. You’re always covered in gold. What’s your approach to jewelry, Robin?
RT: My husband has bought me other necklaces. He’s like, what about the Cartier necklace I bought you? I have to have [this FoundRae necklace] on every single day. I sleep in it and I wear it in the shower, which is probably why they have a shine to them. I don’t like wearing uncomfortable jewelry. Everything about this feels nice.
7. FoundRae is based on tenets and has a certain mysticism to it. Do you consult tarot card readers or psychics when coming up with designs?
BH: I believe in all divinatory tools. I do meditate daily, but I also believe that I have a connection within that I’m trying to listen to. That’s my most constant. But then any other tool I’ll also use.
RT: One of the things that I wish someone had taught me growing up was to listen to myself. If I look back on all the things I look back on in my life, I knew. The feeling is enough, and to be able to listen to it is powerful.
8. Beth, in the statement for the collection you wrote about how it’s an individual’s right to make their own choices, and once that person sees that they are the author of their own life story, it changes them. It’s a nice thing for people to be reminded of.
BH: People can’t hear it enough. I always say that I have a real purpose, and I feel the purpose is to tell people that their greatest inheritance is not jewelry; their greatest inheritance is the birthright to reach their full potential. So that’s why we offer symbolism as tools of self-discovery and self-expression, because our whole point is that we want to inspire or even accelerate that discovery process.
In many instances, FoundRae jewelry becomes a talking point, and you’re verbalizing why you chose the pieces you did or why you’re wearing them. That gets people talking, and I think those conversations are super important.
9. How does this idea of resilience relate to your plans for the future?
BH: I guess it’s about the idea of continuing to take risks and continuing to grow. I will make mistakes and face adversity, but I’m going to continue to try. We have to.
RT: Beth and I talk about aging a lot. The body might be getting older, but I still want to be interested in whatever’s out there: music, clothes, experiences. People get old when they stop growing and having different interests. You’re always young if you’re learning.
10. This chat was very therapeutic. I feel like you two need your own show.
BH: I’ve decided that Robin should be on all interviews from now on!
RH: Yes! I’ll be your emotional support animal!
