Emily Winters | Strings For Hope
CEO of Strings For Hope
Emily Winters is the CEO of Strings for Hope, a social enterprise that transforms donated guitar strings into handmade jewelry crafted by survivors of trafficking, addiction, and abuse. In this video, she shares how a part-time job turned into a purpose-driven business.
An Unexpected Beginning
Emily didn’t set out to become a CEO—she just wanted to help. At 19, she started selling handmade jewelry on a small cart in downtown Nashville. The strings came from broken guitars. The mission came later, when Emily began working with women in recovery. When the founder decided to step away, Emily saw something others didn’t: the potential to grow a business that could restore dignity, not just recycle strings.
The Shift
What began as a side role became something much more. Emily leaned in, building partnerships with nonprofits to provide steady employment for survivors of trafficking, addiction, and abuse. By asking for help, listening deeply, and focusing on people, she helped transform Strings for Hope into a collaborative engine for change—where the product and the mission are equally strong.
Lasting Impact
Today, Strings for Hope creates jewelry with meaning, made from real guitar strings donated by Nashville musicians. Each piece carries a story of redemption—both the artist’s and the maker’s. Emily continues to grow the brand, not just through sales, but by mentoring young entrepreneurs and modeling a new kind of leadership: one grounded in purpose, resilience, and second chances.
“When musicians give us their trash, they’re helping us continue that hope and that purpose.”
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My name is Emily Winters and I'm the CEO of Strings for Hope. We take broken and used guitar strings and turn it into everyday jewelry, and it's made by survivors of human trafficking, interpersonal violence, and substance use disorder. I got started as an entrepreneur by accident. I actually got involved with Strings for Hope when I was 19, and I was one of the first little.
Cart girls, we would sell on Broadway with a little cart. Long story short, the founder wanted to end the company pretty early on after we started working with a halfway house. And, um, I fell in love with the women there and really saw an opportunity to create something bigger and outside of what we were currently doing.
I think what's great about our product and about working with musicians is that this string is. Donated to us, and these musicians keep us going. And it is Nashville that defines what Nashville is, is is the strings and turning it into jewelry. And we're able to then give that to people who don't live here and they're able to carry that story on and carry that musician's story on.
Um, what's amazing about that. Is they're actually carrying a piece of hope. And when musicians give us their trash, they're helping us continue that hope and that purpose Here at Strings, probably a year or two into it, I realized asking for help and partnering with other organizations that are like-minded is actually the way to grow.
A huge part of my success now is we have a collaborative model. We actually partner with other nonprofits, um, as their social enterprise arm. Providing job and employment for survivors. So we're just as much focused on the mission and survivors as we are succeeding in entrepreneurship and succeeding in sales.
And so I think that adds another layer of mental toughness. Some advice for aspiring young entrepreneurs would be ask for help. Use your resources, ask other entrepreneurs. We're not scary. I was. I was terrified of the version of me I am now. It's so funny to think about because I would love if someone came up to me and asked me for mentorship.
Or asked me for advice. We have to continue to extend that to up and coming entrepreneurs in Nashville in any level of entrepreneurship. If we're able to stay in for a year or five years or 20 years, it doesn't really matter if you're able to do it for. A little bit of time you've succeeded. I found that it's very grounding to measure your worth in your business through your mission and the impact that you're wanting to leave on your community.
You can find strings for Hope online@stringsforhope.com. We're on all of the social media platforms at Strings for Hope, and we're also here in Germantown, in Nashville at an art collective. The music you're listening to here in Nashville lasts for a few minutes, but you are actually able to take that.
Piece of music home with you. It's a beautiful way to continue what we have going on here in Nashville.
Why We Share These Stories
We believe that celebrating Tennessee’s entrepreneurs will inspire the next generation of bold thinkers, risk-takers, and community builders. Entrepreneurs don’t forget where they come from—and they carry the power to transform not just their businesses, but entire neighborhoods, towns, and local economies. See more entrepreneur stories from the Patton Foundation.
