[Jewelry making - Article 00303] - Re: [Orchid] The first step to starting a jewelry business

[CeltCrafts]

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    Tania, a lot of what you are describing sounds very familiar to me!
    I don't have the specialized degree that you do, but I can certainly
    relate to the politics and undermining in the work place tearing your
    own self image to shreds. 

    First of all, see a doctor. What you are feeling is not normal... at
    least not to the degree you are feeling it. It's always hard to say
    that word depression. But as one who does suffer from it, the relief
    will be incredible. (I think I would stay on the medication just for
    the good night's sleep alone!) There may be other factors involved,
    thyroid and other things our body does do us can often make things
    seem out of our control. Find a doctor you trust, and try a
    combination of different things until you feel normal again. 

    Don't jump into opening your own store off the bat, especially if
    your items are more complicated to make. Try several art shows, and
    even put the money into traveling out of Australia to find your
    market. Running a store brings its own level of stress, dealing with
    land lords, utility companies, suppliers leaving you short (as you
    are already finding out). It took me seven years of running a bead
    and jewelry store to find out that my local area just does not have
    enough interest in what I make to make it worth while. I'm just
    starting to find my market in some tourist areas doing shows, and I
    could have saved myself some wasted money if I hadn't been impatient
    and took some time to figure that out first. This is my personality
    to just be impatient and go ahead with what I want with minimal
    research, however, I learned so much during that time and have
    developed my skills in other areas that I don't consider it a lost
    effort and I met some wonderful people. I think things happened the
    way they were supposed to, and once you get feeling great about
    yourself again, grab onto the lessons of these horrible experiences
    you've had. You now know how to treat people should you get to the
    point of hiring others. You may even know at this point that
    production work just isn't for you. Some of us just feel incredibly
    strongly about things, and sometimes working in an environment with a
    large group of people just isn't for us. 

    Please do what you can to bring back YOU. Who are you? Who do you
    want to be? What can you control? How can you deal with the things
    that are out of your control? Be strong and even though so much of
    our validation comes from what others think (otherwise they wouldn't
    buy our stuff!) please yourself first! Do what you need to feel good
    about you, never lose the need to explore and the rest will come, if
    you keep your eyes open! I wish you well, and feel free to contact me
    off list if you wish to talk further. Good luck, girl! 

Kerry
http://www.celtcraftdesigns.com
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