We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lea Audrey a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Lea , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

I am truly lucky to have the family that I have. My parents have always supported any creative venture that I have tried out. They have purchased art supplies, musical instruments, dance outfits, you name it. They have always shown up to support me at recitals and shows and that continues into my adulthood. Not only do they come to almost every single craft fair that I am a vendor at, but usually my mom helps me sell my work, too! My parents believe in my visions before they exist, and that is a magical thing to have in my life.

Lea , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Sparkle Shanti was born in quarantine. I had a lot of time to start making the magically glittery accessories that I dreamed of wearing, so I just went for it! I have had so much fun creating things since I was a young child. My overactive imagination made for an entertaining youth and luckily for me the imagination continues and grows with age. I actually just graduated with a degree in photography from the Savannah College of art and design in June. I am a creative type who can’t just stick with one creative outlet I like to try them all. I have my ears pierced 3x and I also love to wear stretchy chokers! They really started making a comeback in the past few years to my delight. I was bored with the plain black stretchy chokers, though and I wanted to mix it up by adding charms and a little personality to them, It grew from me making accessories for myself to having a whole living room filled with jewelry findings so I could supply any other magical fairies with their dream glitter accessory.
Sparkles is my nickname because I always wear so much glitter and Shanti is Indian for Peace. My main mission is to spread love + peace and to encourage honest, *shiny*, personal expression for every person that joins the #SparkleFamily

How did you build your audience on social media?

I did a lot of Youtube university! But also just really paying attention to trends (as annoying as that can be sometimes) and adding your own twist on a trend can really help with social media interaction!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

When someone comes up to my table and says “wow, this is beautiful” it’s an immediate payout, whether they decide to accessorize that day or not. Spreading happiness and joy, especially through something that somebody can wear, is a satisfying role. There always needs to be more color and love in life and I hope to bring that to everyone I have the chance to meet and make jewelry for.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sparkleshanti.bigcartel.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artwithsparkleshanti/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artwithsparkleshanti

Image Credits
@the.other.eye.photo