We were lucky to catch up with Shannon McGowan recently and have shared our conversation below.
Shannon, appreciate you joining us today. We believe kindness is contagious and so we’d love for you to share with us and our audience about the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?
When I was 18 I found myself living in a small town in Northern California, with a strong desire to learn how to silversmith. It was a way for me to focus my energy inward, and to find a positive outlet during a difficult time in my young adult life. I met a woman named Jenna who practically took me under her wing, upon meeting me. She showed me the basics of silver jewelry making. Not only did she teach me endless skills that I needed to get started on my journey, she provided me a safe place to learn at no cost whatsoever. When I first started silversmithing, I had no idea that I would be making a living off of my jewelry just a year or two later. Jenna facilitated that for me with her generosity. I cannot thank her enough.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Shannon. I grew up in the Bay Area. I’ve always been a creative, and I got started in the jewelry industry at a young age. At 18, I started mentoring under a silversmith in Mount Shasta, CA. It took me several years to learn the skills I needed to make various types of jewelry, and 10 years later I am still learning every day! I started my business (Southbound Smith Jewelry) in 2014, but started treating it as a real business in 2019. Most of what I’ve learned I have taught myself through trial and error, books, youtube videos, and a couple of classes. What I love about this craft is that it’s so multi dimensional. I primarily work in Sterling Silver, although this year I am focusing more on teaching myself goldsmithing! My work sets itself apart from other jewelers because I hand make cabochons out of old dishware. One of my hobbies is finding broken pieces of old china along the railroad tracks and turning those fragments into wearable art.
Something I want my potential clients to know is that I am very interested in learning how to make fine jewelry. This year I made a promise to myself that I would learn as many new techniques as I can, and take some fine jewelry making courses. I want to blossom this year with my designs, and I hope you guys are ready to see a fun and exciting shift in my line of work!
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
When I first moved to the Olympic Peninsula. It was 2019 during the middle of a snow storm. I landed here and moved into a little old shack in the woods. My place was heated by a pot belly wood stove, and it was nearly falling apart. I quickly learned that I did not have a place for my jewelry studio to be. For a while, I was in limbo. The housing crisis is very real up here, and finding anything to rent is mainly run off of word of mouth. I landed a short term rental and set up my studio for a brief few months but that sublet was coming to a close. Jewelry making was my main source of income, and I was soon going to have nowhere to set up shop. Determined, but full of anxiety, I took it upon myself to walk around our small town’s downtown, to ask around, and see if any of these buildings had vacancies. I lucked out, and snagged a really cool studio space in the heart of our town. It took a lot of mental resilience for me to get here, and I’m so happy that I pushed through. Self determination has always been a strong suit of mine, and I felt very proud of myself after I made that happen. Sometimes going into survival mode is a blessing.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
I started my business with less than $1,000 in my bank account. As some of you know, silversmithing is not a cheap craft! Over the years, I’ve been slowly acquiring the tools that make my job easier, but when I was first starting out I had a pretty bare bones set up. Before I started solely working for myself I worked seasonal harvest jobs during the fall. That allowed me the freedom of not commiting to a 9-5, while also giving me plenty of time to focus on how I would afford to keep my business running. I did everything the non traditional way, completely by myself without much advice from others. If I could go back in time, I would have definitely taken a class or two about business but you live and learn!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.southboundsmith.com
- Instagram: southboundsmith
Image Credits
Travis Gillett and myself