My name is Monica and I'm a corporate cubical escape artist (read: ex Big 4 accountant) turned jewellery and home decor accessories maker and designer. I didn't always think that I was the "creative type". Growing up in a very traditional Chinese family, there was always a strong emphasis on the highly rational academic subjects like mathematics, economics and science. Studying these very rational subjects was the only life I knew. Even though as a child I loved drawing and arts and crafts, the elusive dream of using my creativity in my future career was just not a possibility at all. Almost a "joke" because anything that involved creativity was just seen as a "hobby" only. Nothing more.

I started designing and hand-making jewellery as a personal hobby during the last year of uni studying a Business/Arts in International Studies degree. The hobby came about because I was never able to find anything in the shops that was me. That was my style. So it just felt natural to start making something that was essentially me. It was fun to take a break from studying numbers and satisfying to flex my creative muscles, turning an idea from my head into a tangible piece of jewellery that was a bit adventurous, a splash of fun and pushed the boundaries.

During that time, I was only creating pieces for myself, but after receiving a lot of positive feedback and comments from passer-by’s on the street, friends, family and friends of friends about my pieces being ‘unusual and unique’ I was encouraged to entertain the idea of opening an online shop.

I began brainstorming ideas for my shop’s name in 2010. I've always loved geometric patterns and shapes. For me, it gives a sense of precision and order. It's sleek, edgy, minimalist and looks effortless. Combining this idea with the concept of ‘skies’, which represents a blank slate and complete creative freedom, geometricskies.etsy.com was born!

After graduating, I started working in one of the big 4 accounting firms in 2011. My life turned into something where I just trawled through masses of data on Excel spreadsheets, pivot tables, vlookups and writing reports.

I questioned this "life" of mine. Was this what I wanted for the next 5 or 10 years? I dreaded Mondays and felt so sluggish and demotivated having no concrete direction in my life.

In April 2013, an unexpected email inviting me to participate at the first Sydney RAW artists showcase was the beginning of something exciting. For the first time in a long time, I felt alive that night. It was electrifying connecting with people who genuinely loved what I made with my two hands. The fact that something I made could bring such joy and excitement to someone's life fuelled my confidence and self-belief in my creativity and it made the idea to pursue jewellery design full-time more real.

After this event, I exhibited in Etsy Interactive’s exhibition at the Fracture Gallery in Federation Square Melbourne as part of the L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival and debuted in the Sydney Finders Keepers Markets to name a few. So I finally did what felt right to me. I left my accounting career at the end of 2013 and decided to enroll in a Jewellery and object design course in 2014.

In my career now, I feel so much more excited and fulfilled because I get invited to share in something deeply personal and precious to my customer and can work with them to make something beautiful that represents a special moment, event or breakthrough. The jewellery we create together is special, meaningful, and something highly treasured by my customer. There's no better feeling than this!