We recently connected with Mishell Theriot and have shared our conversation below.
Mishell , thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
Having to face trials head on, it’s made me more patient and stronger. When you’re faced with a natural disaster, you have to make quick decisions. I faced those decisions when I lost my home and businesses to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. When I first started to design jewelry, I was also working as a professional singer in the New Orleans area. I was also an accomplished hairstylist of 18 years. Little did I know I would basically be starting all over again. When you love what you do, however, you will do anything to continue to grow and do it. The next huge disaster in 2020 when I had to recover from a four month hospital stay from Covid and rebuild my business. This time, my voice was taken from me due to being on the vent to survive for too long. It saved my life but paralyzed my vocal cords. It took two years to recover health-wise. I never did recover my voice or that career. So I adapted!
I retired from hairdressing, which was overdue, and concentrated all my energy into my jewelry making business.
Whenever I face an obstacle, I always use it as an avenue to switch my direction, but still keep me headed on the right path. I use the challenge as a possible new adventure or a better one since I was redirected, so to speak. Change is always good really.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I am an electroform artist with an eye for design. Electroforming is the process of flowing electricity through a premixed acid solution where copper particles are deposited to form thick layers onto a pre-treated object. It is a bit like electroplating but a little more time consuming and more extensive.
Most of my pieces are always more than a simple chain with a pendant on it. I put a lot of thought and effort into each piece I create. I hand draw each one separately and hand pierce each one out of sheeted copper. There’s a lot of prep work done. And you have to follow through and design something spectacular to hang each one on. But that’s me. I believe you should stand out from the crowd. Everyone is so unique and diverse. It makes life more interesting! I am ever-growing with new shows and events to sell my wares at. Being a published artist allows me to step into the more art-based shows., gaining the correct exposure to my type of audience. My pieces are original and not duplicated. So they are definitely for the artistic crowd.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Learning resilience, patience and being more understanding and forgiving. It’s hard to tighten your skin and in this type of environment you have to be able to face criticisms. You cannot take it personally. You have to rise above it and learn to step up and out of the negativity. Don’t stay there. Keep moving forward a little more everyday.
Looking back over the past 12 months or so, what do you think has been your biggest area of improvement or growth?
Production. I’m a one woman show. Can I do better??? Yes! Knowing I can keeps me charged to do better. In this past year, I’ve been able to produce a steady supply of product to be stocked for festival seasons. Not having to rush to make stock between back-to-back weekend shows is essential to keeping your peace and not being overwhelmed with all of it. Working social media, custom orders for customers, and filling orders are my daily challenges and I have succeeded to accomplish them daily. That sense of accomplishment helps me feel I’m doing something very productive and good. It makes a habit out of those tasks.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.reddivadesign.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reddivadesigns?igsh=Y3MycXNuNGVxdG9l&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Reddivadesigns/
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