When I was young, I loved to rummage through my mother’s jewelry and play dress up with the wigs and old dresses in my toy box. I also loved having birthday party themes so all of my friends could dress up and then we would have a contest for the best costume.

Thanks to my parents, I got to experience and take lessons in many artistic disciplines: music, ceramics and dance. In college, I wanted to be the next Emily Dickinson, but I was more into reading than writing. After graduating with a degree in English to my mother’s chagrin, I moved back in with my parents to find my purpose through different jobs. Unfortunately, they did not bring me what I was looking for.

In 2001, I started making fashionable versions of the medical bracelet because I have a condition that requires me to wear one. While working on different versions of the bracelet and selling them to customers, I decided to get away and move to the Gulf Coast to live in a slower pace among the sand and water. While working part-time for a non-profit, I honed in on my jewelry making skills and sold my work at summer fairs on the beach. Needless to say that this wonderful beach-filled life ended in 2005 when Katrina hit.

Back with my parents, I looked for another job. I started working for a local chamber of commerce and worked part-time there while I continued to sharpen old jewelry-making techniques and learn new ones. In 2007, I found a home and in 2008, decided to make jewelry full time. For once in my life, I have finally found my purpose in life…to bring more beauty into the world and “live deliberately”.