We recently connected with Ruxi Tirisi and have shared our conversation below.

Ruxi, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I am mostly self taught in metal smithing. The jewelry industry was notorious for gate keeping back in the day and in a lot of ways, it still is. Resources, such as tips and tutorials were very limited online when I started and so for me, it was the passion that drove the learning; the desire to bring my vision to life the best way I knew how. I wish I would have found like minded creatives sooner, jewelry artists that want to pass on the knowledge they acquired through the years.
I believe passion, determination, grit and stepping out of my comfort zone were the skills that were most essential in me progressing in my craft.
The biggest obstacles looking back were fear. Fear of rejection when asking for help and fear of failure if I did take a chance that did not pan out.
I have since learned that being an artist and an entrepreneur challenges you on so many levels (personal and professional) and that not everything you do will be a smashing success. And that is ok. Even in failures, there are lessons to be learned and growth to be had.

Ruxi, 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?

Some say that when you are born, you have a mission and a purpose on this earth. As a young child, growing up in Romania, I was the one playing with beads and other findings from my family’s broken jewelry pieces. As life goes, my focus shifted away from the arts and into accounting (polar opposites, I know). My return to jewelry was marked by the re-discovery of an ancient gold mine in Romania. Following the details of this discovery is what re-ignited my passion for jewelry.

I design and create high quality minimalist, timeless jewelry pieces from precious metals and precious and semi-precious stones. My pieces are created with intention, for the human who appreciates timelessness, classic design that has a modern twist at times. I want my customers to feel like their pieces of jewelry are an extension of themselves, pieces to truly cherish through the years.

A portion of my profits go towards combatting homelessness, as well as supporting miners through different initiatives (tools, health and safety, etc.)

I am working my way towards using 100% recycled and fair mined gold in my designs and am on track to achieve this in the next 2-3 years, as well as ethically sourced stones. This is important to me because as a life long learner, I am learning the effects of the mining process on the people, the animals and the environment in the area surrounding the mines. In choosing to use recycled metals, I minimize some of the impact that can be caused by more mining. In choosing to use fair mined gold, I am choosing to support artisanal (small scale miners) who don’t use mercury in the mining process. And in choosing to use ethically sources stones, I know that the person who dug the stones out of the ground (80% of colored gemstones are mined by small scale artisanal miners), do it safely and can afford to provide for their family with the proceeds of their findings.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

I mentioned before that I am life long learner. The following books have entirely shifted my entrepreneurial thinking.
Grit – Angela Duckworth
Growth mindset – Carol Dweck
Daring greatly – Brent Brown
Getting things done – David Allen
Profit first – Mike Michalowicz

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

I wish I would have known the power of a mastermind or even just having an accountability partner that can be on a similar journey. Two brains are always better than one and the other(s) can come up with fresh perspectives in areas where you struggle.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ruxitirisi.com
• Instagram: ruxi.tirisi
• Facebook: RuxiTirisi