Catbird hired me as their first in-house full-time Head Bench Jeweler. At SCAD, I had learned technical skills, but Catbird was where I first started to learn about production manufacturing. At that time, Catbird was developing their own in-house collection and had everything made out-of-house. They needed my help bringing production in-house, training bench jewelers, running errands in the diamond district, managing vendor relationships, and growing the in-house team. In my two years there, the team more than tripled in size and we grew out of two different studios. The company was still small enough that I could shape my role, pitch in where needed, and learn fast.

I provided them with the technical skills to scale the in-house studio and production capacity while they gave me the opportunity for a crash course in a fast-paced, high volume, production fine jewelry company. I learned how to manage others, work quickly (I remember being proud of myself for setting more than 50 stones in one day!), and I gained life-long friendships and vendor relationships. 

During this same time period, I joined a shared studio space called Fluxwork, which became the start of my journey as an entrepreneur. I didn’t have Made Line officially formed yet, but I knew that I needed studio space to be able to develop a collection. I leaned on my newfound production knowledge and vendor connections—experimenting late at night, slowly looking for my own style and voice. I started reimagining designs that I had started in school and had coworkers from Catbird photograph and model for me. I didn’t sell much then, but every late night planted a seed for what was to come.

I moved on from Catbird to become the Assistant Production Manager at Pamela Love. This was my first introduction to the fashion industry, seasonal collections, and market. I was no longer in my comfort zone at the bench––now I was in an office behind a desk, managing spreadsheets and making sure orders were complete on time. I quickly moved on from this role to be back at the bench, but this experience was more valuable that I realized at the time. This computer work gave me the confidence to bring new systems to future roles ahead.

Around this time, I still didn’t officially have a business. I was experimenting a lot with my aesthetic and what I wanted to make. I was taking blacksmithing classes after work and became enamored with forging and pushing myself to make interesting forms from a single piece of wire. I was making a few custom pieces for friends and family, but there was nothing concrete in terms of revenue. This was my experimentation phase—learning what I liked to make with the tools and materials that were available to me.

I left my role at Pamela Love with no real plan, I just knew that I wanted to be making physical work again. I ended up working three different part-time jobs to make ends meet. 

I briefly worked for another jeweler that I met in the diamond district. I helped him polish and fabricate high-end jewelry for brands that sold at Bergdorf and Saks. He ended up being a creep so it was short-lived! I eventually took on more days at my other gigs and started cleaning and managing Fluxwork in exchange for studio rent. 

I was helping my friend, Selina King, with her production jewelry line. She was a friend and studiomate at Fluxwork, so I could help her for a few hours, then easily switch to my own work. I helped her sample make, run errands in the diamond district, and set up production management systems. 

I also started working part-time at WWAKE as the Head Jeweler and Studio Manager. At this time, the company was extremely small, I think around four people, and there wasn’t much of an in-house studio. Wing, the founder, hired me to set up the studio and bring production in-house to improve the quality of the product. One of our favorite stories to tell about the ten-year arc of my role in the company, is that in my first week on the job, I biked to the local welding supply store so that I could quickly set up a soldering station for a blogger that was coming in for a photoshoot. From here, things started to move very quickly and I soon was managing in-house production, sourcing, and training additional jewelers. 

During this phase, I was still making small custom pieces and slowly selling here and there. I was selling at a local vintage store in Williamsburg and I think I made my very first tiny gold ring in 2015. I vaguely remember it taking over a year to sell! I didn’t have much extra cash to invest in sample making, so this was a period of very slow movement. The passion was still alive, so I didn’t let this stop me from continuing. This is maybe when I realized that making my own work was a necessity––I would always continue, even if there was no financial return. It was engrained in me and nothing could change that.  

I eventually started to take on more days at WWAKE and it slowly became my only gig. During this time, WWAKE was part of CFDA Sustainability “bootcamp” and I ended up heading the project with Wing. I spent a year and a half working almost exclusively on this project. I would spend hours researching the environmental and social impacts in the jewelry industry and how the company could improve the in-house studio, systems, and sourcing. Wing and I built the company values and ethos throughout this time and eventually went on a trip to Colombia to visit Fairmined gold mines. In 2018, WWAKE participated in the Couture show in Vegas, which is where buyers search for the biggest, most extravagant new designs. Rather than simply working on production styles, I started designing and hand fabricating one-of-a-kind pieces for the show. This was the beginning of my role as Designer and helped change the way I viewed product development. 

During this time of deep research, there was no way that I couldn’t adopt everything that I was unlearning/relearning about sourcing into my own business. I started working with new vendors who had transparency in their sourcing and supported small scale miners and gemstone cutters. 2017 was the first year I went to the Tucson Gem Show and I started to collect gemstones to use in my own collection. Even though I was still working full-time, I always left Fridays and weekends open to work on Made Line. I participated in several craft shows and events in the city, but still never sold much. 

Honestly in 2016, I was burnt out, frustrated from going through all my savings to make samples, and didn’t want to just create more waste in the world. I was starting to notice the vast difference in the work that I was creating for WWAKE (and the previous brands I worked for) and my own work. I was starting to analyze my collection more and trying to understand how I could make something of value. I went on a trip to Sedona to visit a family friend who is a master jeweler and I started to fall in love with jewelry again. Witnessing his craft revived me and my passion. When I got back to NY after the trip, I started experimenting with more texture, stamping, and turquoise. It didn’t end up being the right path for Made Line, but it got me back into a groove and planted more seeds for future work.

In 2017, I applied to the Halstead Grant, which pushed me to write a business plan and start to take my work more seriously. Everyday while working at the bench at WWAKE, I would listen to business podcasts and take notes. I soaked up as much knowledge as I could so that after work, I could go home and type out my notes and new business strategy. I was finally getting to a stronger foundation, but still distracted with my career and burnout. 

I’d say that these were some of the best years in my career. I was leading production teams, designing beautiful jewelry, and had extremely high responsibilities but still lots of freedom to shape my role into what I wanted. I started to better understand how to price work and design a cohesive collection. During this time, I made some of the most exciting pieces in the WWAKE collection, which Wing and I are still so proud of today.

At the end of 2017, I was working full time to help WWAKE through the holiday season, in addition to doing freelance stone setting work for Catbird engagement rings. I completely abandoned Made Line, so in 2018 when I returned to the studio after the holiday break, I was on a mission to focus on building my collection and creating new designs. I finally started to understand what I wanted to make and how to overlap those ideas with styles that customers could connect to as well. I was still on a super tight budget, barely able to pay for samples and certainly not making much in gold. My samples at that time were silver plated in gold. 

I attended a stone setting course at New Approach in 2019 which vastly improved my stone setting skills. The quality of my stone setting now gives full credit to this course. Throughout these years, I made several custom engagement rings and wedding bands. I sold a few pieces through wholesale, but I still wasn’t able to give Made Line the full attention that it needed to flourish. 

During the pandemic, I moved out of NYC and back to California. I continued to work for WWAKE remotely and eventually became the Development Manager and then Design Director. I was remotely designing every collection, managing the development schedule, launch calendars, pricing the collections, and pivoting at every corner to make my role successful while being remote. I gained more experience in CAD, budgeting, and people management.

I had now gained a full well-rounded set of skills for every aspect of running a small business. From bench work, to design, to management. 

While living with my parents, I was able to save money and create a buffer for myself. I set up a studio in their garage and worked on my business every chance I could. I had less distractions and more drive than ever. I took a business coaching program and started to build an even stronger vision and foundation. 

In 2022, I started renting a studio space outside of my parents garage and I think that’s when things started to improve. I now had a dedicated space just for me. I never had my own studio before, so I had to invest in the equipment and tools. Now the pressure was on––I needed to make this space successful. I started to let go of my perfectionism at work a bit, and used that energy towards my own designs. I knew my goal was to work for myself, and I had designed so many successful designs for WWAKE at this point. If I could do it for them, I knew I could do it for myself. I just needed to dedicate my energy and time to it. 

At the same time, I was re-learning CAD from my partner who has been working in the program for 20 years. He taught me some new techniques that felt more natural for me to design with and I was able to create my first ever truly successful design, the Pendulum Charms. You can read the story behind them here. 

I had no idea how popular the Pendulums Charms would become. I’m honestly still in shock at how far they’ve gone and how much they resonate with others. This design has brought my work into the eyes of new customers around the world and made it possible for me to quit my job and focus on Made Line full time. 

I was terrified to leave my role at WWAKE after 10 years of helping grow the brand. It was such a huge part of my identity and confidence. I was (and am still sometimes) afraid that this success with my business won’t continue and I will need to go back to a job at another company. I try not to let that worry me and just enjoy this time, since it’s been my dream for so long.