When life tries to slow me down, Unhada keeps me going

How do I stay sane raising three girls under 13, and running a business full-time? I don't.

But I keep going.

This has become my mantra over the years, ever since my first trade show, and it works. Life will never wait for you to live it.

Three Christmases ago, I sat on the floor of my home office, delirious with high fever, packing Unhada’s final holiday shipments. I couldn’t even drink water, but you bet I crawled into my home office and delivered orders, as promised.

The next day, after a near-death moment in the ER, I was diagnosed with sepsis.

 
I spent a week in the hospital and made a full recovery, released on Christmas Eve. I was naive in thinking that when I got out, I’d keep my holiday plans and fly to Disney World. The doctors shook their heads. It took months to fully heal. At first, it was a struggle to even make it up and down the stairs. I kept telling myself I was alive, and that was enough.

The craziest part was that, almost exactly one year earlier, my father had entered that same hospital and passed away from sepsis. He didn't survive, but I truly believe he had something to do with me doing so.

This wake-up call of an experience changed everything.

So many people along Unhada’s twenty-year journey have told me to take a break… But I keep going because Unhada makes me sane. It’s as natural to me as breathing.

When you're doing what you're meant to do, they say, you feel uplifted.

Unhada makes me feel like I'm sitting on magical clouds. In those tough mom moments, through life’s challenges, I can pause and be whisked away through the worlds I have created. 

The Dynasty Collection transports me to an Asian fantasy world where I feel like a powerful Empress.

The Tea Party Collection brings me to an elegant, enchanted tea party that I never want to leave.

After twenty years, the power remains the same.

I hope to share this wearable magic with those who can see and believe in it. To help others escape during their own tough moments, as well as to their happy memories.

Jewelry is more than just an object we possess. It is almost alive, and, like water, it holds memory. It gives us what we need, brings with it a story, and takes on a life of its own.

This year, I realized fear was ruling me as a designer.

I take my job as magic maker very seriously, so I went sideways, releasing two entirely new projects. Lucid, my new 9K line, which is for dreamers. 

My second project, The Middle Way, coming soon, is about balance and finding “the way.”

Life is perfect when we find a little of both.

The Middle Way is meant to make a statement. Six one-of-a-kind pieces that remind us: when things are in balance, we thrive. We see "the way."

And for the first time ever, I'm unveiling this project to the public on November 21–23 at the Jewelry, Antique, & Object Show in New York City. Since my foray into the jewelry world and the reason I moved to Bangkok to study gemology and design was to open an antique jewelry shop, this feels like coming home.

If you find yourself in the city this November, I would love to gift you with a complimentary ticket. Click here to attend as Unhada's guest.

In honor of my father, who taught me to dream.

And to my mother, who taught me the importance of individuality.

Without those, I would be out of balance.