Well… To be brutally honest, I didn’t want to work for someone else anymore. I’ve been studying and working in the jewellery industry for almost 5 years now and I have learned so much about both jewellery and business. I by no means know it all, barely even a fraction of it, I would say, but I believe you are always learning, no matter where you are in life or what kind of job you have and my plan was always to work for myself eventually.
Since I was a child and was able to recognise what work is, I knew I would some day work for myself. As I didn’t start off my working life in the jewellery industry, I never would have imagined that I would be starting my own handmade jewellery business, but I am so, so happy that this is the business I am starting.
Being able to make jewellery marries so many parts of my life. Firstly, I am absolutely a magpie. I recently counted all of the pieces in my jewellery collection, I think I ended up with 60 necklaces and 75 rings… 75 rings! And that was after I had purged the pieces I don’t or won’t use again. I mean, I truly believe you can never have too much jewellery (and a side note to anyone that ever wants to buy me a gift, I still love receiving jewellery!), but I do recognise 75 rings is perhaps more than the average person. Getting to work with silver and gold and sparkly jewels every day really satisfies that magpie in me.
Secondly, I am a very creative person and absolutely love making things with my hands. Again, since I was a child I was interested in making things. With my Nan, I used to make glass mosaics, would knit teddy bears and very, very small scarfs (much to my Nan’s chagrin, I was never very good at knitting or crochet), stringing beaded necklaces and earrings, any Art Attack! project that I had the supplies to do… The list goes on, and on and on. As I’ve grown up, I’ve taken up embroidery, tatting (a type of lace making), sewing and miniature making. The last of these newer hobbies has been inspired by my jewellery making. By working in such small measurements with solid metals, it gave me the dexterity to be able to work on making miniature models of rooms. Anyone who has seen my miniature room models asks “how do you have the patience for working with such fiddley things?” and my response is always “how do you not?”.
Anyway, this is getting into more of a “this is your life” post, rather than why I started my own business. I am truly grateful for the jewellery businesses I have worked for in the past. I have lived through some of my best life experiences while working for these businesses. But when my last job came to an end, I had to ask myself the question “what is it you want to do?”. I really thought about it and decided that if I didn’t start my business now, fear would take over and I would never do it. At least now I can say in the future that I took the leap, as scary as it is, and I’m proud of myself for it. I’m also very grateful for my family and my wonderful husband, Oisin. I genuinely could not have done this without their love and support through the difficult decisions and the paperwork and the designing.
If you’re still reading, you have my undying love. Rereading this for me was even a trek. To sum up a very long story that I didn’t set out to write but just let the words flow, don’t let fear ever hold you back. I let it hold me for so long and I can now say that it’s been wonderful to let it go and make my dreams come true.
Starting your own business is… Well, the absolute business!