312. Starting a Jewellery Business Later in Life: Michaela's Story

What happens when you realise the career you've built no longer feels creatively fulfilling?

In this week's episode of the Jewellers Academy podcast, Jessica Rose is joined by Michaela to talk about starting a jewellery business later in life, discovering jewellery making after years in office work, and how studying the Diploma in Silver Jewellery completely changed the direction of her life.

Michaela shares her journey from evening classes and wax carving workshops to jewellery markets, Etsy and building her own jewellery brand. Together they discuss learning jewellery making as an adult, changing careers creatively, studying jewellery making in Brighton, building confidence at the bench and the realities of starting a jewellery business from scratch.

In this episode, we cover:

• Starting jewellery making later in life

• Changing careers into a creative business

• What it's like to study the Diploma in Silver Jewellery in person

• Learning stone setting and jewellery techniques

• Why in-person jewellery training can make such a difference

• Building confidence as a jeweller

• Jewellery markets, Etsy and Instagram

• Creating organic and meaningful jewellery pieces

• Finding fulfilment through creativity and making

Michaela also shares honest advice for anyone starting out on their jewellery journey:
"Just stick with it."

Whether you're dreaming of becoming a jeweller, thinking about taking a jewellery course, or wondering if it's too late to start something creative, this episode is a wonderful reminder that there is no single path into jewellery making.

02:00 : Introduction to Michaela and her jewellery journey
05:25 : How a trip to Bali sparked an interest in jewellery making
07:30 : Evening classes, wax carving and wanting to learn more
09:25 : Why in-person jewellery training mattered
11:30 : Discovering her creative style and organic jewellery design
12:40 : Creativity, fulfilment and making meaningful jewellery for others
17:50 : Working in travel, office jobs and feeling creatively unfulfilled
20:10 : Redundancy, career change and finding the Diploma in Silver Jewellery
22:45 : Why Michaela chose the 7-week intensive diploma in Brighton
25:55 : Learning stone setting and developing technical skills
29:10 : Creating the final diploma project
32:20 : Starting a jewellery business after the diploma
34:10 : Etsy, markets, Instagram and building a jewellery brand
36:40 : Advice for anyone starting jewellery making later in life
38:20 : Why Michaela recommends studying at Jewellers Academy Brighton
39:35 : Where to follow Michaela and final thoughts

 

If you'd love to learn jewellery making in-person like Michaela, you can join us in Brighton at Jewellers Academy Brighton.

We offer two ways to study for your Diploma in Brighton:

• one day a week over the course of a year, or

• a 7-week full-time intensive course, like Michaela completed.

The intensive option is especially popular with students travelling from further afield, and we've welcomed jewellers from all over the world to study with us in Brighton.

And if travelling to Brighton isn't possible, or you need more flexibility around work and family life, our online Diploma courses offer a highly supportive alternative. With mentored support, accountability and flexible learning, our online students achieve consistently high success rates while studying from home.

You can explore our online Diploma courses here:
Jewellers Academy Online Diplomas

 

Follow Michaela and her jewellery journey on Instagram: @nymferojewellery