i. I work as a:
By day, I work as a social media marketer for artisans in the Vancouver community, and by night I am the jewelry designer behind Amara Blue Designs, a company that primarily specializes in personalized jewelry.

ii. I do this creative work because:
I do this creative work as a way to connect. My work allows me to create incredibly meaningful connections in my community. Due to the nature of the work I do with personalized jewelry, it is an honour to create physical representations of the stories that people share. It is incredibly fulfilling!

iii. Personal qualities that help me in my work are:
Empathy. I find that people naturally enjoy sharing their stories with me.

iv. The greatest challenges around doing this work are:
Scaling a business of such a personal nature, while maintaining those personal connections.

Collecting stones! I was determined to be a geologist when I grew up… I almost got there.

vi. Other creators who inspire you:
I share a studio space with Lana Lepper from Lanabetty, and Laura Uy from Art + Soul Creative Co. They are constantly inspiring me to take risks in my business creatively, and always holding me accountable for always rising to be the best version of myself.

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vii. Training that has helped me in this career:
I have extensive training in psychology, and workplace mental health. This has helped quite a bit in maintaining grounded in stressful times.

viii. A common trap that can hurt people in this career:
Burnout! Creatives (and entrepreneurs in general) put immense pressure on themselves to keep doing better and better, rather than congratulating themselves for all of the things that they have already achieved.

ix. Some proud career moments:
Last Fall, we launched an American Sign Language line, with 10% of proceeds going to the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association. With this, we collaborated with Feelosophy to create a necklace with “Feel” in ASL to promote dialogue around mental health.

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Find balance between business, and passion. Many creatives lose their love of their art, for the sake of making profit. Find an outlet that you love, and don’t put so much pressure on yourself!

To continue meaningful partnerships with organizations in mental health.