I wanted to take the time to share my story with you all. My name is dd and I am the owner of dd's pendants, a small business that specializes in electroformed jewelry. But let me tell you, this wasn't always my plan.
I began my journey as an art teacher in Omaha, Nebraska. For 11 years, I taught middle school and was very passionate about it. I thought teaching was what I was going to do for the rest of my life. However, in teaching, I had to put all my eggs into one basket, focusing on only one thing: being the best teacher I could be. I never really had time to create and focus on my personal art. My time was devoted to teaching my students, lesson planning, making art samples, and classroom management. I loved my school and my students, but it just got really difficult my last year. I was the only art teacher, so I couldn’t keep up with the amount of work I had to do. On top of that, I was also going home to a two-year-old and a newborn. My passion slipped away, and I was doing everything I could to just get through the day. I didn’t realize my life would take a turn like this.
My original plan was to go back to teaching after a few years, but here I am with a small business trying to make it happen. In 2018, I moved to Austin and became a full-time mom. Not too long after that, my creative energy was fuming, and I was ready to make my own personal art. I started creating and opened up my first Etsy shop. I played around with digital art for a short time, but that didn’t last long. I love all art mediums and I love learning, so I was all over the place trying to find my niche. Jewelry-making was a class I never took in high school or college, so it was something I was very interested in exploring. I started by playing around with rocks and wood using wire wrap techniques. I learned from others on the internet by watching tutorials and reading posts.
Then I came across this art process called Electroforming. I instantly fell in love with the organic and unique look of this technique, and I became hooked. Through my first year of learning the process and making a lot of mistakes, I knew this is what I wanted to do. So, I started dd’s pendants. After spending quite a lot of money on supplies, I realized that I needed to take my online shop more seriously and also grow my business in other ways. A section of my garage has transformed into a chemistry lab, and my kids' toy room has been downsized to share space for my workspace.
My business is not where I want it to be yet, but I have passion, and I’m ready to take on this new chapter in my life. Thank you for taking the time to read my story. I hope that it inspires you to pursue your passions and never give up on your dreams.
