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My Story
My story begins in 2003, when I met a woman, Becca, at a workshop in California who told me about making jewelry. I was interested in trying it, checked out my local bead store and took a few classes. It didn't take long for me to get hooked and fall in love with the process and the end results. Eventually, I began to make more jewelry than I could wear so I gave some away to friends and family. That led to selling my jewelry on the side while still holding my regular job as a claims examiner for a commercial insurance company. I worked part-time, but 3 long 10 hour days a week (usually 11 or 12 with the commute.) My job also involved traveling out of state for mediations and trials on my cases. The cases I handled were some of the worst type of injury, death and abuse cases. Dealing with that type of tragedy on a daily basis was quite stressful. I also had the stress of handling the household chores and taking care of my husband and 2 boys. Also, my mom had been ill with lung cancer for several years. When she passed away in January of 2004, I finally acknowledged that life is too short not to do what you love. Discovering my passion for designing and making jewelry was incredibly powerful and I realized this is what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. It was as if I didn't have a choice but to build a business out of my passion. I knew if I didn't do it, I would be miserable and the stress of continuing to work handling claims was wearing on me. So, in September of 2005, with the support of my husband,Todd, I quit my career of 16+ years handling insurance claims to make creating jewelry my full-time job. I have often told people that it was like jumping off a cliff and not knowing if I had a parachute. Since September, I have jumped off many more "cliffs" to further my business. It is truly amazing how my passion for this art has allowed me to tap into a fountain of courage that I never knew existed. But, despite my nearly daily fears and doubts, I love my job! There is still stress, of course, but when you truly love what you are doing and are following your heart, handling the stress of creating your own business and a new creative identity is worthwhile.
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IDEAL DESIGNS MISSION
Ideal Designs' Mission is to create distinctive and quality hand-crafted jewelry ranging from casual to elegant. Ideal Designs strives to provide extraordinary customer service and to fulfill the changing needs of its patrons by designing beautiful pieces meant to be enjoyed for a lifetime. Ideal Designs' purpose is to develop a profitable jewelry business with a reputation for character and quality that will attract new customers and garnish life-long customer relationships.
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Me in Hawaii on a family trip last year. We found lots of wonderful beads and shells there. Plus the warm weather and beautiful scenery was very inspiring!
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