About
I grew up on the move, in a show business family with roots in both Toronto and Vancouver. With an artist mother and a music-industry manager father, I learned early on that creative expression and business smarts are complementary skills. During an adventurous youth that included time working on fishing boats and tending bar in San Francisco, I found my first calling quite by accident: a holiday job in an import/export company introduced me to the world of jewelry-making, and that became a passion that eventually brought me to the top of the field.
Over ten years, I learned the ropes of the jewelry trade and acquired experience in every aspect of the business, eventually managing the company’s Southeast Asian manufacturing division. My strong visual sense and gift for design also led me to start imagining my own pieces. In 1991, I took a leap of faith and launched my own jewelry design and manufacturing business - Soul Flower.
Soul Flower grew to become one of Canada’s leading design houses of sterling silver jewelry and my interest in music made for a natural connection to the pop world; I've been commissioned to design jewelry as merchandise for superstars including the Rolling Stones, Sarah McLachlan, Dido, the Queens of the Stone Age, the Barenaked Ladies, and Michael Franti. At the producers’ requests, I designed a signature “X” ring for the cast of the “X Files” television series, and I worked with the surf company Quicksilver, making a special collection for its Roxy division.
In 2004 I was included in Business in Vancouver’s list of 40 Under 40 achievers in business.
That same year Soul Flower partnered with the RBC Financial Group to create the Circle of Hope, raising over $30,000 dollars for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation BC-Yukon Chapter. My charity efforts took a more personal turn a few years later, when I was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. This confrontation with mortality caused me to re-evaluate the greater meaning of my work, and come up with a design that has become a powerful talisman for many whose lives have been touched by cancer.
The F Cancer bracelet sends a spirited message in an elegant and understated way, featuring the defiant phrase rendered in an elegant script. People love to wear or give the bracelet as a way to express their support of friends and family (and selves) who have cancer. Nothing against pink ribbons, but this bracelet tells it like it is. And it benefits a visionary aspect of cancer treatment – integrated cancer care , raising over $100,000 since it's inception in Oct of 2008.
In early 2010, I decided that it was again time to explore new possibilities. I sold Soul Flower to the company’s long-time general manager, in order to focus my creative and business talents on projects with a social impact. Current projects include a special collaboration with Sarah McLachlan for Lilith 2010 and beyond.
Over ten years, I learned the ropes of the jewelry trade and acquired experience in every aspect of the business, eventually managing the company’s Southeast Asian manufacturing division. My strong visual sense and gift for design also led me to start imagining my own pieces. In 1991, I took a leap of faith and launched my own jewelry design and manufacturing business - Soul Flower.
Soul Flower grew to become one of Canada’s leading design houses of sterling silver jewelry and my interest in music made for a natural connection to the pop world; I've been commissioned to design jewelry as merchandise for superstars including the Rolling Stones, Sarah McLachlan, Dido, the Queens of the Stone Age, the Barenaked Ladies, and Michael Franti. At the producers’ requests, I designed a signature “X” ring for the cast of the “X Files” television series, and I worked with the surf company Quicksilver, making a special collection for its Roxy division.
In 2004 I was included in Business in Vancouver’s list of 40 Under 40 achievers in business.
That same year Soul Flower partnered with the RBC Financial Group to create the Circle of Hope, raising over $30,000 dollars for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation BC-Yukon Chapter. My charity efforts took a more personal turn a few years later, when I was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. This confrontation with mortality caused me to re-evaluate the greater meaning of my work, and come up with a design that has become a powerful talisman for many whose lives have been touched by cancer.
The F Cancer bracelet sends a spirited message in an elegant and understated way, featuring the defiant phrase rendered in an elegant script. People love to wear or give the bracelet as a way to express their support of friends and family (and selves) who have cancer. Nothing against pink ribbons, but this bracelet tells it like it is. And it benefits a visionary aspect of cancer treatment – integrated cancer care , raising over $100,000 since it's inception in Oct of 2008.
In early 2010, I decided that it was again time to explore new possibilities. I sold Soul Flower to the company’s long-time general manager, in order to focus my creative and business talents on projects with a social impact. Current projects include a special collaboration with Sarah McLachlan for Lilith 2010 and beyond.
