Pride Interview: Andy Glickman

At Angela Monaco Jewelry, we recognize that while Pride Month is only one month, we are always celebrating our friends, community, and customers in the LGBTQIA+ community. This month we have a series of interviews of our friends and customers recent custom projects.

The first of our Pride Month interviews, we are so excited to introduce our friend, energetic healer, and stylist, Andy Glickman. Andy is the owner of Root and Refine Studio, yoga instructor, and a Reiki master. Andy recently consulted a vedic astrologer for something that works for them energetically, allowing them to harness the energies he needed in his life and practice. He immediately came to AMJ, something he has done before, for a cosmically and energetically-aligned piece allowing him to harness the energies and boundaries he needed. He has built and created a life that is aligned with their values, and their story is a testament to living your life with intention.

Read the full interview below:

Tell us a little about who you are and what lights you up most in this season of your life.

My name is Andy Glickman. I am the owner and founder of Root and Refine Hair Studio in Philadelphia, Pa. I am also a yoga instructor and Reiki master. I am so grateful to be living my dreams. I have curated a life that is in alignment with my values. It is a gift to help people feel their best inside and out. Whether creating community in a yoga setting, exchanging healing energy in mindful moments, or creating beauty behind the chair… I am a person who has the privilege of living their passions. I have gotten to connect with so many amazing people over the years, and especially now, as a new business owner, it means the world to me to receive the support of the community.

What inspired you to create or redesign your jewelry with Angela Monaco Jewelry, and what did you want the piece to symbolize for you?

A little more than 10 years ago I completed my first project with Angela. At the time, I was teaching a reiki- restorative yoga class weekly in addition to taking private reiki clients and catering to my clients behind the chair. I had been working with crystals to help direct the flow of energy during my sessions. As it turns out, at times all of this energy would overwhelm me. I would have moments of anxiety and ungroundedness. Although it is a beautiful and positive channel, I hadn’t yet learned the importance of grounding and boundary setting. I had the idea of wearing a crystal specifically for myself so that I could remain centered and calm regardless of the situation, client, or energetic experience. I asked Angela to make me a custom smokey quartz ring to help me stay grounded through all of the energy work. Smokey quartz is often associated with grounding, energetic protection, and the ability to stabilize, anchor, and neutralize chaotic energy. She delivered beyond my vision and I still wear this piece today.

Most recently, I felt the need for more crystal jewelry. I have been working with a vedic astrologer and paying close attention to the transits in my chart. He had recommended the use of a Rhodolite garnet to help me harness and direct the energy of the sun. He recommended that if this were to be worn as a ring, it should be worn on the ring finger of my dominant hand and the back should be exposed so that the crystal could touch my skin. The spiritual properties of this gem are associated with a softer, heart-centered strength. Energetically, it’s considered a bridge between grounding and emotional openness. It can help release emotional exhaustion while encouraging vulnerability and emotional courage. It supports strong boundaries while maintaining a soft heart. Angela sourced this stone specifically, and created another gorgeous and functional piece for me.

How did it feel to create something custom and deeply personal instead of choosing something more traditional or mass-produced?

It felt very special and unique. Energy work is something deeply personal to me. Not only is it a practice that I get to share with others, but it truly is the throughline of all of my life experiences. The intentionality behind each piece has aligned with my vision and supported my evolution and growth. I value when something is tailored specifically to me with my own intention in mind. I am so grateful to be able to trust in Angela and her team to curate and deliver such profoundly meaningful and custom energetic talismans.

What does adornment, personal style, or jewelry mean to you as a form of self-expression and identity?

My aim is to always express myself authentically. Personal style feels symbolic to me– I don't wear things simply because they look good, I wear things because they feel like an extension of my inner world. The way that I approach adornment is rooted more in energetic alignment than trends or aesthetics alone. Style, jewelry and fashion feel ritualistic for me. I am drawn to pieces that make me feel more embodied, magnetic, protected and refined– pieces that hold intention. I value the idea that what we wear can influence how we move through the world; there is real power in the concept of “look good, feel good.” I don’t see identity as something fixed. Personal style gives me the freedom to evolve, explore, and express different facets of myself authentically and creatively. To me, adornment is not superficial– it is art, self-expression, story telling and liberation all in one.

As a queer person moving through the world in 2026, what do you wish more people understood about the LGBTQIA+ experience, love, identity, or community?

As a queer person, moving through the world in 2026 I wish more people understood how important it is to fully be yourself. We live in a world that constantly conditions us toward comparison, conformity, and categorization, but the beauty of the queer experience is the freedom to exist beyond rigid expectations.

We are all unique, and that individuality is one of the greatest strengths of the LGBTQIA+ community. Yet even within queer spaces, there can still be pressure to label ourselves based on appearance, attraction, identity, or how others perceive us. I wish more people understood that identity can be fluid, expansive, and deeply personal.

The most important relationship you will ever cultivate is the relationship you have with yourself. When you embrace your truth unapologetically and release the need to fit into predefined boxes, you create space for real joy, connection and authenticity. In doing so, you naturally attract a community or people who celebrate, uplift and support you for who you truly are.

What does feeling safe, celebrated, and fully seen in a space or community mean to you personally?

For me, feeling safe, celebrated and fully seen in a space or community means being able to exhale. I crave spaces where refinement and authenticity coexist, where I don’t have to perform, prove, overextend or shrink myself to belong. Where beauty is intentional, but not superficial. Where people are emotionally intelligent enough to celebrate each other without jealousy or performance. There is a vulnerability in being fully seen, visibility without self- abandonment. I hope to be seen not only for what I create, but the visionary behind it. The person who leads with compassion and kindness, who values meaning, reciprocity, and emotional safety. Celebration is less about attention and more about resonance – being seen, accepted and embraced for who I am genuinely. A feeling of being held, elevated and witnessed at the same time.

What are some creative pursuits, passions, businesses, or dreams you’re currently pouring energy into that you’d love people to know about and support?

I am the creative vision behind Root and Refine Hair Studio in the East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia. We are a salon rooted in grounded luxury with a mission centered around helping people align their inner experience with their outer expression. In addition to detailed haircutting and custom coloring, we specialize in bridal and event styling, offering on-location services designed to help clients feel calm, confident, and fully embodied for life’s meaningful moments. I am especially passionate about incorporating intentional experiences into the wedding day environment through offerings such as yoga, meditation, or reiki to help ground the nervous system, raise the vibration of the space, and bring a sense of presence and ease to the start of such an important day. My goal is to create an atmosphere that feels restorative, elevated, and deeply supportive from the inside out. My intention is for Root and Refine to feel like a sanctuary for self expression, refinement, and renewal.

I am also currently teaching yoga at In Flow Studio in Fishtown. My classes are rooted in intentional movement, breath, and presence, creating a safe and grounding space for people to reconnect with themselves. Whether teaching a dynamic flow or a restorative practice, I strive to cultivate an environment that feels calm, supportive, and energetically nourishing. I'd love to meet you on your mat.

What does “wearing your truth” mean to you?
(You can answer this emotionally, spiritually, stylistically, politically, personally… however it resonates.)

For me, “wearing your truth” is about energetic congruence, or rather, allowing my outer presentation to become an honest reflection of my inner evolution. It’s the moment where my appearance, fashion, presence, values and energy all say the same thing. It's dressing and accessorizing in a way that feels aligned, intentional, embodied, honest, self- respecting, and quietly powerful. I am deeply connected to aesthetics as a form of expression. Clothing, grooming, fragrance, jewelry, tattoos, movement, atmosphere; they're all extensions of identity and feeling. They become a daily ritual, a means of communication, and energy work in physical form. It is all connected to visibility and allowing myself to take up visual space. I choose pieces that make me feel more like myself and embrace my own duality. Strong and sensitive, masculine and soft, spiritual and stylish, grounded and aspirational, disciplined and artistic. The embodiment and intentionality behind it all is an act of self- recognition. It’s the practice of being fully seen– unapologetically, artistically and with presence.