B RO OK E GEORGE.
Brooke George is all things jewellery. She is a born and bred Coffs Harbour woman. Here she shares her story.
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ives: I have lived in Coffs all my life. I love it here; I realise how blessed I am to live in such a beautiful part of the world. I married my childhood sweetheart, and we now raise our four kids on the Coffs Coast. Your passion derives: I have always loved creating things and making art. I dabbled in glass painting when I was a teenager and sold what I made at the Bellingen Markets for some extra cash. I wasn’t so great at that, but I never stopped looking for that one thing that I was good at. I didn’t start designing and making jewellery until I was 27. I did it casually between having my kids, but when people started buying it and stores asked to stock it, I felt like I had finally found that one thing that combined my love of textures, colour and design that other people liked and enjoyed wearing as much as I enjoyed making it. Training: I am self trained and have picked up many different ways of forming my designs over the years, just from experimenting. From polishing shells to drilling, my 12-year-old son taught me how to tie killer fishing knot to finish my necklaces. I would love to put some time into learning the art of pottery and do some copper work at some point to incorporate into my work as well; you have to constantly evolve and grow in this industry to stay relevant. Stockists: I stock around 34 boutique shops around Australia and a couple of international stores. Locally, I have my jewels in VAST and First Avenue Boutique in Sawtell. I only stock to one shop in each area, so they can have something unique and different to offer their customers. This is really important to me in a world where labels don’t seem have loyalty to one shop; that lack of loyalty makes it really hard for 44 coffs coast focus.
boutiques to survive. an work work from ffro rom m home. home ho me.. I Family: I am so lucky that I can s, one one girl, girl gi rl,, my husband hus usba band nd have four children: three boys, thi his interview, inte t rvie ew, is a builder, and as I write out this R with my I am actually waiting in the ER OTHson to get his arm X-rayed. NOTHING grounds you like kids do. aInspiration: I draw my inspiration from everywhere – espeI do n’ t follow ; cially the natural world. Sea, seasons or trends ry le el w sand, metals, woods, stone, je e I simply mak sic pieces all of those natural elements that I love ... clas wear now present the best textures and that are great to me. ” co WHO, and many more glossy colours. and in years to fashion magazines. Missy HigTravels: Last week I was in gins, Jennifer Hawkins, Natalie Hong Kong for a trade fair, viewGruzlewski and bunch of other ing goods from all over the world. celebrity types have all worn my My style is Asian infused; I use classic designs, which makes me really proud. I vintage pieces mixed with beautiful stones am a mum first, so to be able to achieve the and jade to create this style. I don’t follow seadreams I have with my business enables me to sons or trends; I simply make jewellery that I love inspire my kids to believe they can achieve whatever ... classic pieces that are great to wear now and in they want to do in their lives. I encourage them to years to come. dream big. Creativity: I travel to China and Hong Kong a lot; Projects: I totally love my job, my family and my life, the one thing that I can’t get over is the poor quality but as any working mother knows, it’s a huge balancof the air in those places. Every time I land back in ing act. I just got back from Hong Kong with a huge Coffs, I look at the sky and take some deep breaths haul of beautiful new stones and other goodies, so I of the clean air. I will never take for granted living will be busily making new designs to stock all of the here; it’s so beautiful. boutiques. Things just keep getting busier and better My hubby is an awesome builder. He and I love for me at home and with the business. I am really renovating; I have begged him to go on The Block lucky; I have everything I have ever wanted. with me, but he is far more practical than I am, and www.facebook.com/pages/Brookehe convinced me that it wouldn’t be a smart thing for George/160061438930?fref=ts the family ... ha! Thanks Brooke. Accolades: I have been featured in Cosmo Bride,
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