We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Shelly Bacon Kelnhofer. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with shelly bacon below.
Shelly bacon, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
WOW, that’s a good question.
I grew up in a household as an only child, with a mother that always told me I was worthless, would never amount to anything, was never as good as anyone else, and to top it all, told me she wished I had never been born. Years and years of hearing that was the beginning of my life.
When I was 10 years old, I walked home after school with a friend to her house to work on a homework project together. I’ll never forget it…we walked in the door and her mother was all smiles and hugs , giving her a kiss, hugging me (and this was the first time I had ever been there), asking us “how was school today girls? I know you have a project to do, but can I get you a snack first?” Oh my goodness, I had never felt such love. At that moment I made a decision to be like that mom, to love my children, to be there for them after school and care about them! My girlfriend and I have talked about that day, we are still friends after nearly 60 years. By the way, her mom made pineapple squares for a snack, and I still make the recipe.
I had a gramma that loved me so much, and I did spend summers with her and long weekends. I also had an aunt that treated me like her own. It was through these women that I decided to be something, do something, for myself.
I knew I wasn’t worthless, or stupid, and I knew that I would prove it.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Well, at this stage in my life I am still doing a little bit of personal training with clients, one on one. Covid really changed things as far as group training, many people moved away because of work situations, so a lot of my clients are online. Same with teaching yoga. I had my own studio on the mainland and loved it, now I mostly do my own practice.
I’ve gotten away from my catering career, mostly because living on Maui with prices so high it was just too difficult to make any profit. I had a great business for over 20 years in Ohio and loved cooking and teaching classes at the local cooking schools.
About 12 years ago I started making jewelry. My husband loves the water and would go surfing nearly every morning and he started picking up pieces of seaglass. I really hadn’t done much jewelry making, but thought…Hey, I live in Hawaii, why not? So I mainly work with sterling silver wire and seaglass that my husband finds. I do a lot of earrings, bracelets and pendants. We don’t tumble or change the seaglass at all, except for washing it and drilling a tiny hole in it Several years ago I learned the art of weaving lauhala bracelets, and really enjoy that. I’ve always loved doing hand work, weaving, embroidery, crochet, knitting, quilting. I started incorporating Tahitian pearls a few years ago, but they have gotten really expensive, almost triple the price as when I started, so when my inventory is done I might be done with pearls except for a custom order.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I think that first off, find what you like. If you are interested in something, if it makes you happy, investigate it and learn more about it.
Ask questions…if you don’t know something don’t be afraid to ask. Don’t “fake it till you make it”.
If you’re not happy with what you are doing, try something else.
Work at what you like doing. Whether it’s teaching a class, cooking, writing, painting, sewing, whatever it is…work hard at being the best you can be.
Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
Two books
The Wind in the Willows and The Little Prince
I read these at least twice a year, always over Christmas time (not sure why) and just whenever I am really happy or really sad. The thing that I get out of both books is friendship and how important it is. I don’t have a lot of friends, but I treasure the ones I do have.
Contact Info:
- Website: seaglassmonkeyjewelry,com
- Instagram: seaglass monkey jewelry
- Facebook: shelly bacon kelnhofer and seaglass monkey jewelry
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