We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tori Freeman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tori below.

Alright, Tori thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

I created the Venus bralette in the summer of 2022 as my first major body jewelry project and it definitely altered the trajectory of my career. I had only started making jewelry a year and a half prior to the completion of the project and had spent that time exploring techniques, developing my style and cultivating the various skills that were needed for the Venus bralette to work.

After I had really gotten into making what I was calling ‘fairy chokers’ (which were really just intricate chandelier chokers), I started getting bigger and better ideas for continuously more extravagant jewelry pieces. I think something clicked in my brain when I saw the 1992 Chanel chain dress, and in that instant I knew I needed to follow that train of inspiration and make some sort of wearable jewelry body piece.

At the time I was selling crystals alongside making jewelry, and I had received a shipment of spiralite gemshells – spiral shells from the Tethys sea that have been agatized over millions of years. One of the gemshells I pulled out had such a striking appearance and almost symmetry that instantly spoke to me as being a specimen that I needed to keep and use for a special project. From there, the concept for the Venus bralette was born.

I ended up spending 60 hours and a few hundred $$ on materials to bring the project to life. I had never spent even close to this amount of time on a meaningful creative project in my life and I think it changed the chemistry of my brain – there were at least 2, maybe 3 straight weeks that I spent focused wholly on the bralette, spending hours making pearl links into the evening and day after day layering beads, charms, and chains until I felt like the bralette was where it needed to be. I honestly feel like I found a piece of myself in the making of the Venus bralette.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I started making jewelry on a whim in 2021. I’ve always been a deeply creative person and was at a point in my life where I felt that I needed to figure out “my thing”, so when my personal training client at the time suggested I try out wire wrapping crystals, I picked up the materials I needed without hesitation and threw myself into it. Over the next year and a half I experimented with many different jewelry making techniques and skills until they began to coalesce into a single concept – the fairy choker – which then spiraled out into varying concepts using the same techniques.

In 2023, my business focuses on creating intricate, fantasy inspired bespoke art pieces for weddings, photoshoots, and related special occasions. Chokers, earrings, crowns and headpieces, body jewelry, etc., if it’s within the realm of my style and creative ability then it’s on the table. I love a challenge, and I love the feeling of growth/change, so creating totally new and one of a kind pieces every time is a huge source of pride and satisfaction for me.

I’m well aware of the many misconceptions that come with independent artistry, and I’m a really big proponent of transparency. With that said, being very visible and open on social media opens you up to allllll kinds of opinions, and people are very quick to judge on social media these days. Having faced a fair amount of criticism from others online regarding exactly why I do what I do the way I do it, especially regarding my prices and materials choices, I’ve been able to turn my frustration and hurt into what I feel are productive messages that not only serve to inform my potential clients on the ethics at the core of my business and educate those who are looking to understand more of the “why”, but also lift up anyone who might look to me for reassurance in their own craft. Having experienced difficulties with communication and self confidence my whole life, it’s very cathartic and important to me to be able to share my experiences in a way that adds value to someone else’s life beyond simply making pretty things.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

There was a while in my small business journey where I wasn’t really happy with anything I was making, so I began to experiment with selling crystals to supplement my income and see if it could be something for me. I really enjoyed it for a time – curating collections, doing promo for them and then packing and shipping all the orders out was a thrilling process in the beginning.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your persective), a few months down the road I noticed things were changing. I wasn’t as motivated or excited by the process of buying new inventory and doing all the promo. I felt so much pressure and and crystal shop FOMO that led to me burning myself out on social media and overspending on stock that I wasn’t able to sell. The whole thing started to feel like way more effort than it was worth, and the unsustainability of the track I was on made itself clear to me.

At the same time, I noticed my passion for creating jewelry was reignited, and all of a sudden I had a constant stream of creative impulses taking up all the available space in my brain. It made me quite uneasy to think about the risks and unknowing that would come with dropping the crystal business to fully focus on creative pursuits, but the more stressed and burned out I felt, the more I understood the need to pivot and take the risks. (Pro tip: maybe don’t start an endeavor focused on buying and reselling if you struggle with a shopping addiction!)

I had my last crystal live sale in june of 2022 and after that, I closed that chapter of my life and focused on structuring aspects of my jewelry business that would allow my hobby to thrive and grow – and it was totally worth the swtich!

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I think a big portion of this would be meeting artists where they are: Stop expecting people to have one price or another, or getting upset because you don’t see eye to eye on the value of an item they made. Understand and accept that fast fashion and consumerism has created a really f-d up world where we’ve completely disassociated the maker and the item for the sake of convenience. Be kind, and remember that even if you don’t totally agree with someone it doesn’t make them any less of a person that deserves respect. Have a mind that’s open enough to understand the value that an independent artist can provide, even if you personally don’t see yourself buying or even enjoying that persons art

Additionally: Take the extra effort to find a handmade alternative as opposed to the same item from a big box store – there are countless small businesses and independent artists out there who might take a little more work to find but your dollar will be SO much more impactful to them compared to a massive corporation. It doesn’t even have to be about spending money though – share, like or comment on your favorite artists work for free. Suggest a shop to your family, go to a craft fair and show your friends your favorite booths. Maybe take up a hobby yourself to the capacity that works for you and your life just for the sake of understanding the work that goes into it. Above all, I think the best thing any one of us can do is be aware of the impact we have on the world – even if it’s small, it IS there, and you never know the extent of the butterfly effect that your one action may have.

Contact Info:

• Website: soulsocietyjewelry.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/soulsocietyjewelry?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@soulsocietyjewelry

Image Credits
Venus bralette pictures: Kiranna Kain shot by Elizabeth Elder Spring Fairy pictures: Kanyinsola Adebayo shot by Ari Le Persephone pictures: Tiffany Wong shot by Ari Le