As I write this I’m less than 6 weeks away from my due date. So soon we will be welcoming our little baby boy into our hearts and home. 

For a long time I felt like I couldn’t be both a mom and entrepreneur. I had a fear that as soon as I ventured into motherhood, Dear Survivor would fall apart. But I’ve spent the past few years intentionally redirecting this ship into a place where I think I can be both. 

The first five years of Dear Survivor I operated on quantity. Wholesale was the name of my early success, but I ran myself thin as I personally manufactured thousands of items for stores across the US. At the end of 2020 I realized how burnt out I was. Because of the pandemic, I had lost all my wholesale accounts and was only relying on online sales - which is a very different game to play. I had to release new products weekly and create content constantly to appease the algorithms and keep online customers engaged. 

It got to a point where I felt like I couldn’t take one day off without my business suffering. How could I even consider starting a family?

I was exhausted, discouraged, and unsure how to move forward. 

But in January of 2021 I got an email requesting I make an engagement ring. 

The client knew it’d be my first piece of fine jewelry, and was graciously ok with the time it took. He’d followed my artist's journey for many years, so thankfully he trusted me and my process. 

It was this ring that changed the course of Dear Survivor. Sharing that one custom project brought on two new engagement ring orders…and then it’s just snowballed from there. 

Don’t get me wrong - it’s still been a wild and unpredictable transition into this new market. My costs are astronomical (has anyone else been watching the price of gold?!). And the stakes feel so much higher. Fine jewelry (especially engagement rings) is both an emotional and financial investment, and I carry that weight as I strive to make the most beautiful, lasting, and meaningful heirloom objects. 

But the transition to fine jewelry gave me a surprising new pace in life. Projects take longer to complete, sometimes months for one ring. Some days I sketch, some days I carve, some days I’m running around the jewelry district moving projects from my casters to my setters to my engraver. It’s a new dance - and one I’ve really fallen in love with. 

I’m entering my fifth year in the fine jewelry space, and I’m grateful to say that there is some rhythm to life now. I know the ebbs and flows of this industry. The slow and the busy seasons. When to hustle. When to rest. 

Having a baby will be a huge adjustment, but I no longer think this brand I’ve spent nearly 10 years building will fall apart on my first day of maternity leave (phew!). 

And for the first time in my career, I’m not afraid of taking on a new job title. Rather, I’m quite excited to be called Mommy! :)

xx,

Christine