We recently connected with Dana Birke and have shared our conversation below.

Dana, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Crazy stuff happening is almost as certain as death and taxes – it’s technically “unexpected” but something unexpected happening is to be expected and so can you share a crazy story with our readers

I have been making ‘Name Charms’ since I first started making jewelry. They’re the perfect gift for anyone who wants to HONOR a loved one OR ANYONE close to their heart! For many years, as a personal gift, I would often give a name charm when a baby was born or sadly when a loved one or pet had passed. It was simply something I had always done. When the tragic Marshall Fire happened, one of the things that I found so heartbreaking were all of the pets who were lost. Living in a wildfire zone, it is honestly one of my greatest fears. Wanting to ‘help’ in some way, I GOT on various social media platforms and OFFERED to make a name charm keepsake for anyone who had lost pets in the fire. As you can imagine, there was a great response! But then one day to my surprise, 9News contacted me and wanted to do a story one me and my name charms. It was such an honor. To this day, I still have people stopping by my booth at shows to meet me and thank me for the charms. It’s so rewarding!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I started making jewelry 15 years ago which boggles my mind given it is my 3rd career (following school teacher and personal chef)! I got into it in the most wuwu of ways. I was tired of cooking for people and I asked my psychic healer what I should do!! She said she saw me as a Personal Stylist or as a Jewelry Designer! Coincidentally, (there are no coincidences ) a bead shop where they taught classes had just opened at the bottom of my road and the rest is history. I took classes, went on to work for the woman who owned the bead shop, (who also owned a jewelry store) and then launched my own business. It has been a wild ride but an absolutely rewarding one. I think my favorite thing about what I do is the inherent beauty of it. The natural beauty of the gems quite honestly fills me with so much inspiration and joy. I can’t believe I get to create lovely things as a way to make a living! My other great joys are my clients, particularly the ones I’ve been working with for years. I love to create special things for them and hearing how my jewelry makes them feel. On many occasions I’ve been told they can feel the love I put into my work and it truly brings tears to my eyes.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

In my opinion there is nothing more important than customer service and being a team player! You want that in gold, sure. You want that 18”, absolutely. You need me to rush it out, you bet. This is NOT to say, you should let people take advantage of you. I absolutely ‘own my no’ as well. Honestly, some requests can be absurd or are simply not in my wheelhouse. But every person who has worked with me knows I will go out of my way to make them happy. Team player may seem funny as I am mostly a one woman operation, but stockists, FELLOW JEWELERS AND VENDORS, show promoters, etc. are all very important to your business! You never know where your next great connection is coming from and I’ve found if you’re there for someone else, helping to support their business and endeavors, chances are they will be there for you too.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

My biggest lesson was that up until I started making my living as a jeweler, I never considered myself an artist, and I certainly didn’t think I was particularly talented. Now, all of the women I worked with, I thought they were amazing, but me I was just there by random happenstance. The woman I had worked for once said to me, “Dana, what you may lack in skill, you make up for in style and good taste” and I’ve been riding that wave for years. I definitely have more skills than I did back when she said that to me, but it helped me to understand my lane. I LOVE creating beautiful things and that is my gift and motivation. I may not be the best metalsmith or have the most precise skills but this does not make me less of an artist. It simply makes me who I am!

Contact Info:

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

Image Credits
Kirsten Boyer Photography for all of the images.