Encouragement...It's Free!

When I was a little girl I liked to draw. I wasn't Van Gogh but I was good enough that the kids in my class wanted my drawings. Being entrepreneurial at a young age, I charged about a nickel a picture. I remember feeling such a sense of pride. These weren't adults indulging a little kid, these were other kids like me that wanted to pay hard earned money for something I had created. And then the teacher found out. She made me give back all the money, let the kids keep the pictures and told me I wasn't good enough to charge money for what I did.

Maybe I shouldn't have been selling the drawings in class, but I was 5 what did I know?


Luckily she was the exception and not the rule. Once I figured out that jewelry design was what I wanted to do I was blessed to have people encourage me and help me along the way. From my parents and step parents to Elizabeth Spahr of Wagoner's Jewelers who gave me the my first paid internship when I was just a  30 year old with a dream. Not to mention all the fabulous people who have paid good money for my designs for the past ten years or so.


Now I make a living doing what I love to do which is an amazing gift that I am thankful for every single day! Imagine what would've happened if I had been encouraged at 5!