I have always owned my own business, but jewelry making and metalwork has been a consistent passion in my life since I found jewelry making in college 20 years ago. After graduating with an art metal degree and learning the craft of stone setting, wax carving and casting, I moved to Utah to be a professional beer brewer and a ski bum, with the true wisdom of a 20 year old (I regret nothing!) I found an art jewelry maker and worked with her for several years. She was working with a vast array of unusually shaped stones and fabricating her jewelry (working with wires and sheet instead of melting and pouring into a mold). I didn't know much about this at the time but it appealed to my creative need and I have been fabricating jewelry ever since...

2002 - Moved to the mountains of NC, where my wife is from, started a restarant, catering business, then a coffee shop - did great then faild... followed by 7 years of retail customer service jobs, struggling to get up the ladder an recoup debt- at which we did great!...

When my wife got pregnant 5 years ago (2009), I thought it would be a good idea to quit my higher paying day job, take a huge risk, and start making jewelry full time again. Our parents, family and friends thought this was a GREAT idea!...yea, not really. Regardless, I built a studio in our back yard and started making jewelry. It was a struggle for the first year trying to start a new business while being a stay at home dad with my wife working as a retail clerk, but now it's going great and was one of my better decisions...Follow your dreams! (BUT ONLY WITH KNOWLEDGE FOR WHAT YOU DO, EXPERIENCE IN WHAT YOU DO, AND A PLAN...BUT THEN DO IT!!!) I now get to watch my son grow up and do what I love!