The Story of the Goddess Collection

I’ve been making bracelets lately. It’s not something that I’d planned, I just figured I’d give it a try since I should be able to do the work myself, in order to design better. Turns out I love making bracelets. So I created a line that we’ll make here in San Francisco, not just me, but friends who want to get involved too. We’ll be donating 15% and up of proceeds to Bay Area charities.

I couldn’t believe the response people had to my little collections of bracelets. First there was a small collection of fire agate, aventurine and turquoise bracelets that sold out as soon as people saw them. Then I made a small collection of lava bead and matte jasper bracelets. I have one (I made around 10) left. As a result, we donated to the Haven Humane Society in August, to support their efforts caring for animals impacted by the Carr Wildfires.

So then I started thinking about what I wanted to try next and decided to be more adventurous. The Goddess collection of bracelets was inspired by my amazing mother Anne.

My mother was an entrepreneur at a time when it was considered unusual for a Sri Lankan housewife to have a job. She left Sri Lanka, went to Bangladesh where she started a school that she ran with her friend, and taught English, History, Literature and Geography to pre-O/Level and A/Level exam students. When I was at school, she taught English, and ran a Sapphire cutting factory. After leaving Bangladesh and returning to Sri Lanka, she then became GM of one of the largest flower businesses in Sri Lanka. And she sent me overseas to University in Australia, and single-handedly paid my fees for the duration of my degree. This was an almost impossible dream for us, but she did it.

Anne is my inspiration for doing what I am doing, she is always my inspiration for anything I achieve in life. She taught me to be kind, to look beyond myself and take time to care for the world, animals and people around me. She also had impeccable taste in jewelry.

It seemed fitting that I create a line of semi-precious bracelets with properties that were nurturing and supportive for women. I’d already picked my Charity - the SFPCA, because Mother dear loved dogs a lot. More than she liked people. And I am fast turning into her. And I’m OK with that!

So I sourced some beautiful beads from all over the US, a few from China, India and Sri Lanka. And I set about creating.

The Goddess collection evolved around a few different design questions (because I can’t help it - I’ve worked in tech a long time, and like any product quality obsessed techie, I can’t help making lists of questions and iterating):

1. Is it beautiful? To that end I picked delicately hued stones and graded them so each bracelet has not just a thoughtful color palette, but also has the placement of stones and graduation of color carefully designed.

2. Is it functional? I really thought through the sizes of the stones. I realized that making one side of the bracelet in a smaller stone made it easier to work if you were on a laptop all day. I also realized which sized stones just don’t work for all day wear, and which were really optimally sized and comfortable.

3. Is it meaningful? Each bracelet is named after a Greek Goddess or a woman who was powerful and unique in the ancient world. My mother raised me on stories of the Trojan war and Greek and Roman mythology. In today’s context, I wanted to celebrate the power we have as women. No matter who tries to dim our light, we will overcome, and we will endure. That’s what women do, and have done for millenia.

4. Is it powerful? Each bracelet has been triple cleansed in the light of the new moon, purified with Palo Santo, Salt and Sage. The stones have been selected in combinations that are complimentary, to enhance and help develop your strength and spirit.

This little collection of 18 bracelets - well, I put a lot into it. I even kept one for me. It’s Aventurine and Snowflake Obsidian. Aventurine stone is known in the gemstone world as one of the luckiest stones, which makes it a must-have for inviting good luck and prosperity into your life. Snowflake Obsidian has healing energies to help you achieve a balance in your body, mind, and spirit, and clears fear, pain, or worry. Perfect for me as I did an aura reading in Sri Lanka - and aventurine was a hugely balancing stone for me. I have a dodgy hip (I realized yesterday that it’s due to a tailbone injury from that one time five years ago that I fell down the stairs - don’t ask), so I need the healing! My bracelet is called the Demeter Bracelet after the Goddess of Harvest - a foreshadowing of propitious times, I hope!

My husband Bart also has one. His is called the Thetis bracelet, after the sea nymph Thetis who sought to make her son Achilles immortal and invulnerable. It’s made of Blue-Tigers-Eye, which is known to ease eye problems and is known to fortify the blood and increase physical strength and vitality.

I was really pleased with my efforts and had really positive feedback from everyone who saw the bracelets, so I was all geared up to launch them on our website.

Then I was invited to attend a beautiful event hosted by my friend Nimisha, a talented holistic healer and nutritionist (her business is called Mooncycle Nutrition.) I met the fabulous Felicity at the event, and she told me about her business Potli - hemp/CBD infused honey. I am a huge fan of Potli. CBD (cannabidiol) is a non-psychoactive component of the cannabis plant, and the honey offers so many benefits. Not to mention the honey is sourced from their own hives, and they are caring for bees - so it’s a beautiful and holistic story. It also resonated for me, because my father Manik, was a long time advocate for legalization of cannabis, speaking out about it’s medicinal properties for decades. Felicity and I chatted about what I’m doing with Now Chase the Sun, and she reached out to me after the event. She told me about a beautiful private event she’s putting together for select Bay Area women entrepreneurs, and she wanted to see some of my jewelry to purchase as gifts for the talented and incredible women she is bringing together.

Enter the Goddess Collection.

I totally believe in serendipity. The sheer alignment of what Felicity is doing, and the incredible coincidence of this little collection I’d made, was simply astounding. One meeting and two cups of Golden Milk in my living room later, I think I’ve acquired a new friend, and the Goddess Collection is on it’s way to grace the wrists of some truly inspiring ladies. #womensupportingwomen

I’ve added the four bracelets we have left to our shop because I started getting pings from people who wanted one.

Best story, best morning, best everything! Happy Friday all! xoxo