I have always been an incredibly hard worker and huge dreamer. I struggled to find the balance between working hard and making money with pursuing my dreams and being true to my soul. I would often go in huge pendulum swings of working 90 hours a week at a job I had zero passion for and completely burning myself out to hitting the road again and living in my truck with a very, very tight budget but wide open schedule to travel, create art and climb the cliffs I'd been training for.
I always knew there would be a way to live in both worlds- travel and play in nature but also be able to pay bills and have a respectable career. Sometimes, it can just be really difficult to see the 'how'. With time, and loads of encouragement, I innovated my lifestyle to incorporate my passions. It took trial and error and a lot of tears. It took living out of my truck, taking obscure jobs that allowed me to make my own schedule (inspecting power poles across the Rockies and designing fiber optic cable systems for an engineering firm). It was a hard path that eventually led to me being my own small business owner.
My passion for jewelry making budded as a teenager. I used to sit in my room and create for hours. I later worked for a family of goldsmiths as a teenager through my early twenties. I took metalsmithing classes at a senior center in the evenings during college. These experiences cultivated a love for working with metal and stones. The beginning of what is now my inventory started as a hobby. I made pieces for fun, for friends and family, for myself. Working at coffee shop in Estes Park, I took notice of the pieces people complimented and the pieces no one got excited about. My own informal focus groups.
Eventually I saw the potential to make a career out of jewelry making. It was an intimidating thought, but the trade off would be the quality of life I dreamed of—the freedom to climb, ski, travel, be with my dogs every minute of the day, enjoy my life. I took the leap and started making jewelry full- time. It was a rocky first couple of months. It tested my confidence, but I struggled through that uncertainty. By later taking metalsmithing classes at Denver School of Metal Arts, I honed in my style and expanded the techniques I could use. As soon as I went all in, it took off. I’ve spent every month, day, hour since trying to catch up.
Creating my collection has been a fascinating endeavor. I love being creative with the metals and gemstones I work with. I may still work 90 hours a week, but they are hours of my choosing and with that, I am able to give my life to climbing, skiing, kayaking, travel, jewelry making, friends, joy. My life isn’t taken from me anymore. I give it to you, even, through my work. And it’s an honor. Thank you for your business. I hope you get to play with your passions a little more each day. And have great accessories while you do it.
“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.”
–W.H. Murray