Photos by http://adrianaowensphotography.com
So I
have a secret. If you already know me this isn’t too much of a secret for you.
Besides my love for nutella, adorable coffee mugs, brunettes and succulents I
have a deep love for designing jewelry. Weird right!?
Well
for as long as I can remember I’ve been making and selling jewelry. As a kid me
and my childhood best friend would put our sisters to work and crank out insane
amounts of hemp bracelets and necklaces. Oh wait, it gets better. After making
hundreds of them we would lug them all to our local beach and sell them up and
down the shore. Would you believe me if I told you we even took them on
vacation with us? I kid you not, we made some serious dough as 12 year olds. We didn’t do it for the money, we did it because it was so much fun. But we grew up,
got into cute boys and that was that.
Needless
to say my crafty drive never died out. My entire life I was always into DYI
projects. That comes from my mom- she was the queen of crafts.
In a blink of an eye I was a freshman in college...
I come from a strict Italian household so working while in school studying for my degree was off limits (although I was a full time nanny- tell me how that makes any type of sense. it doesn’t). So being a broke college student didn’t help my shopping issues- girls you know what I’m talking about. I would pop my head into trendy boutiques after class but realized $150 bracelets were not gonna happen. So I decided to make my own. Did some research? Became MEGA obsessed. Learned the in’s and out’s of every type of gemstone you could think of. Replicated a few, created my own… wore them around.
I come from a strict Italian household so working while in school studying for my degree was off limits (although I was a full time nanny- tell me how that makes any type of sense. it doesn’t). So being a broke college student didn’t help my shopping issues- girls you know what I’m talking about. I would pop my head into trendy boutiques after class but realized $150 bracelets were not gonna happen. So I decided to make my own. Did some research? Became MEGA obsessed. Learned the in’s and out’s of every type of gemstone you could think of. Replicated a few, created my own… wore them around.
That was the end of that. “Hey Adele such a cute necklace where did you get that?”. “OMG, loveeee that. Where can I buy?” “You need to tell me where you got those bracelets, I love.” I wish I was joking, but it was that easy. So after giving my number out on loose leaf paper in class for a few months I decided to make some business cards. In one day I had over 50 emails of orders (it was December- hello last minute shoppers!!). WHAT THE HECK did I get my self into? How in the world can I produce all of these orders?
Well,
that’s when (pardon my French) shit got real. I got my packaging down to a
science, created an Etsy account, figured out my profit
margins, hosted trunk shows, sold to hair salons and local boutiques and forgot
what a social life was. But it was all so worth it. I created a brand, a
business an extension of my self and it was all so real. I loved every minute
of it. I would get this crazy adrenaline rush, a sense of accomplishment. It
was insane…
But life moves on.
My house was wrecked in Hurricane Sandy. I graduated. Ended a serious
relationship. Started a new job. Moved into Manhattan. Things changed, a lot.
But with all of that sudden movement one thing kept me sane. Kept me busy. Kept
my interested.
Sometimes
things work out, other times they don’t. And quite frankly it’s okay if they
don’t. Am I going to be a jewelry designer? Probably not. But do I love it? You
bet! Never give up on something you love. Whether is a hobby, the guy you’ve
been crushing on, knitting that scarf you started 5 years ago or renovating a
new bathroom. If you have passion for something you shouldn’t see past it
because one day you’re going to question your self, what if. And between you
and me I’d much rather a life filled of “oh well’s” than a life of “what if’s”.
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