As a jewelry designer (and lover), it's no question that I adore "pretty and shiny" things that come in beautiful packages. When I re-branded EM at the start of 2020, I was on the hunt to find the perfect packaging that would represent me as well as celebrate my new direction. This brings me to the idea of connection this month and tells the story of how my beautiful new packaging came to be.

When everything began to open up in the Diamond District, I went to my go-to  packaging store Jewelry Display to start exploring the options. Chatting with Jaya, the owner whose 30th business anniversary was 2020, started discussing the challenges we were facing as business owners, creators and mothers.  Her daughter, an aspiring singer and recent college graduate, was working with her mom and adapting to the new normal. We were chatting about the music business and all the new challenges we were all facing when I suggested her daughter reach out to my son Matt who is a music engineer and musician. This would be a completely different story if her daughter wasn't talented  and if Matt decided not to humor me.... but I'm happy to say they have been writing songs and making music ever since. 

About a month or so later, I received this amazing and unexpected email from Jaya, thanking me for the introduction and offering to give me the packaging of my dreams. I was obviously blown away by her generosity and deeply touched by something that was an organic conversation now turning into an unexpected gift.  She actually gifted me two times, which is another story in itself, but this week a new box arrived with the Original Packaging, this one was a complete surprise and a luxurious version that she put together from our original conversation.  I'm beyond touched .....Thank you, Jaya!!!

COVID-19 has impacted so many aspects of all our lives but I'm grateful for having conversations and making new connections because we are all in this together.  Connecting and conversations will be one of my most vivid and happy takeaways from this time.

Let's keep connecting!!!