Today we’d like to introduce you to Kate Norris

Hi Kate, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?

I feel incredibly lucky to live the life I am living. I get to make the jewellery of my dreams! I took quite a while to get here but now I wake up feeling so aligned and so blessed that this is the life I get to live.

After failing my A-levels, not bothering to apply for University and a long list of dead end jobs, I started to save every penny and travel the world for as long as possible by volunteering, hitch hiking and couch surfing. I successfully lived this way for years but after a while I realised I wasn’t contributing anything to our beautiful world, I couldn’t live this way forever and if I died tomorrow I wouldn’t have left anything as my legacy other than attending countless parties and travelling to x amount of countries.

Not knowing what to do, I turned to one of best friends during this little life crisis and she made me pinky promise to at least ‘try’ to create a better life for myself. This led me to booking a 4 day silversmithing course in London in 2018. Years prior I had attended an afternoon of jewellery making in Northern Thailand and another morning in Bali and these moments of joy were the catalyst for this whole new life.

They say “If you can’t figure out your purpose, figure out your passion.” That’s what I did without even realising it. That 4 day course get me hooked and I’ve been making jewellery ever since!

Fast forward 6 years, I am now living my dream life under the swaying palm trees by the beach in Mexico. Living with my beautiful partner and our divine daughter with our ‘his and hers’ silversmithing benches side by side, dreaming about the jungle home we wish to build one day.

Life could not be better.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?

Once I found silversmithing, I knew that was how I wanted to earn a living but it wasn’t as easy as that.

Those first two years were the biggest challenge for me as I had to balance multiple jobs with my new jewellery brand (both making the pieces and all the business side of things) as well as my hectic social life. To this day I don’t know how I did it.

During these first two years, I had to get a full time job in London so I could afford to move house and that’s when Soul and Sapphire started to slow down a little. I was thinking of the long game as I knew in my heart where I wanted to be but sometimes it’s not a direct path.

I’m here to tell you you’re not failing if this happens, you’re adjusting to what life throws at you. I worked in central London for 9 months and even though I disliked the actual job, I loved the people, the location and I will never have that experience ever again! I also earned the money to move where I wanted and save as much as possible so when covid happened and I lost this stable 9-5, I had the funds to support myself full time and have been doing so ever since.

It turned out to be the best decision I could have made for the longevity of my business.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?

I am excited to say, I get to make the jewellery of my dreams to earn a living.

My absolute heart and soul goes into every single piece I make which sets my soul on fire!

Made from recycled metals such as sterling silver and 14ct gold, I make each piece in my little home studio in Sayulita, Mexico, next to my silversmithing partner with the palm trees swaying above us. He has his own jewellery brand but we’ve recently created a third joint venture to specialise in wedding and engagement rings.

Both silversmiths before we met, our passion for jewellery and travel brought us together and now we get to explore our beautiful world on our adventures in search of our beloved stones.

Our favourite place, in fact also our first date, is the opal mining town in Jalisco, where we go every month to buy Mexican fire opals from our favourite opal cutter/tequila farmer.

Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?

Never give up! Yes such a cliche but it is so true!!

Those first two years of Soul and Sapphire I was working a list of jobs I hated in order to pay the bills (personal assistant, painter and decorator, hospitality, all at the same time!). However I still listened to my inner voice, my guiding north star, to create better life for myself. I continued to create jewellery and grow however I could, albeit slowly, knowing I was still walking in the right direction.

Now I can look back on all those struggles and be exceptionally proud of myself of what I have accomplished. It wasn’t given to me on a silver platter, nothing ever is. Instead I have worked so hard to be where I am and now it feels effortless, now its flowing through me with such ease. The hard days are well and truly behind me. So push through, keep going, you’ve got this!

Pricing:

• Stacking rings starting from £120
• Silver hoops £36
• Mexican Fire opal pieces from £130
• Australian Opal pieces from £215
• Bespoke pieces from £250

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.soulandsapphire.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soulandsapphire
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/soulandsapphire

Image Credits

Alana Benitez Santacruz
@benitezalana