I've always been creative, even as a child. When my sister wanted dolls, I wanted rock tumblers and easy bake ovens. I built frog condos out of shoe boxes and made necklaces out of jute and giant wooden beads that my daddy used to make macrame' plant hangers. I was always drawing, gathering, seeking out possibilities in the tiniest of things. I would see a tiny lizard and imagine his whole life story...or, at least make up one.

When I was 16 years old, I started working at a Life Insurance Company as a part-time file clerk. I got the job through the COE program in high school. Once I graduated from high school in 1979, I stayed on and got promoted to full-time file clerk! I ended up working for that company for 21 years! I was promoted and promoted until, when I finally decided I had had enough, I was manager of the Annuity Department and I had two secretaries. whew...what a whirl-wind that was.

In 1980 my son was born and I was a single mom, working 4 jobs at one point [including my full-time job at the Life Insurance Company], but always finding a minute or two here and there to be creative. I would paint flowers on the walls of our tiny townhouse, sew Christmas ornaments out of felt and make cross-stitch gifts for friends and family, since I couldn't afford to purchase gifts that often.

Ten years later, in 1990, I had to have an operation that had me unable to lift anything over 10 lbs. or drive for six whole weeks. I was going crazy! After 2 weeks, my mom drove me to the local craft store and I was intending to purchase a few cross-stitch kits, or something that I could make while recovering from my surgery. Lucky for me, the store had just started carrying imported beads and real stones [up until then, all you could find was plastic stuff in bags at TG&Y...and this was way before the internet!] My mouth started watering and my heart started pounding...I thought I had died and gone to heaven at that very second...I think I even pinched myself. All I had was $25 to spend and my mom gave me $20 more, just because she could feel my excitement. The girl in the shop taught me how to make an earring and that was the only "bead lesson" I've ever had in my entire life. So, with my $45 worth of beads, I started making jewelry. I was just making things and giving things away...not really thinking about "selling" anything at that point. But, those beads were my new obsession...every extra dime I had was spent on a bead, or two.

About a year after I started making jewelry, the craft store had a contest. There were 5 categories and you could enter something in each one. The winner of each category would receive a $100 gift certificate to the store. I entered a design into each category and waited for the winners to be announced. Days went by and I had heard nothing, so I finally called the store to see if I could pick up my entries. The woman on the phone said "well, we want the winners to leave their designs here for the remainder of the month". I said "oh, I won one of the entries" and she said "Kathy, you won all of the entries..we were going to call you today". At that exact moment my life turned around. Here I was with $500 to spend on beads!

Around this same time, I met one of my dearest friends, Pam. She had just opened a gift shop and was also making jewelry and her husband made metal furniture. She talked me into making jewelry for her to sell in her shop. At first I thought "nobody wants to buy my jewelry", but Pam convinced me that I was truly meant to be a jewelry designer and was really good at it. And so, that's how it all began. I was selling things in her shop and basically supporting my bead buying habit.

Ten more years went by and in 2000 I married my soul mate, Wayne. He was and still is, my biggest fan and my biggest supporter. When we got married, I was the office manager/marketing manager for a small financial services company. I loved my job, but I was just really getting burned out with the everyday sitting at a desk, 8 to 5. Especially since I had been doing that since I was 16 years old! In 2005 Wayne told me I could quit my day job if I thought I could make it selling jewelry. The internet had been born by then, so I sat at the computer one night and searched for handmade jewelry and stumbled upon "Etsy". It was brand new and still in beta testing. I joined immediately and by the 3rd day had already sold 3 items. Almost exactly one year later, I was making enough money on Etsy to quit my day job and I've never looked back. Etsy has truly changed my life and now I'm selling jewelry to people all over the world! I still have to pinch myself!

So where did "Dornick" come from? I knew I needed a business name, so I sat down with a glass of wine and the dictionary and started with "A"...when I finally came across "Dornick", an Irish word for "small stone or piece of rock", I knew I had found it! And so, Dornick Designs was born!