Design Engagement Rings for Friends

I saw a movie last night where the leading female character realized towards the end of the movie that she loved designing shoes. She walked into a store, and the store clerk looked down at her shoes and gave a huge compliment about her shoes that she made. Then the leading lady began to draw sketches of these gorgeous fashionable shoes, showed them to her friend, and then at the end of the movie, the audience can see her working at her own shoe store. I think I want something like that, except instead of designing shoes, I want to design jewelry. Not costume jewelry but real jewelry using precious and semi-precious metals, like gold and platinum. I just don’t know where to start. I wish the movie didn’t fast forward from the actress’ sketches to her shoe store. I want to see how she got from point A to point B to point C - point B is the part the film skipped. I unfortunately do not have a friend that I know in the jewelry industry at all, so looks like I’ll have to figure out things on my own.

Similar to the female character, I am working at a well-paying job in corporate America, but I’m scared to leave just so I can design jewelry. And even though I do have a high salary, I did go to private university, and the school loans that I took out for my education was a lot. So my hard earned money goes to pay for my loans as well as my mortgage with the rest of it going towards my savings and fine tastes in dining, shopping, and entertainment. Should I even venture to leave my job for a career that may not be what I want or fail? Or should I just go for it because if I do succeed, I will be happier, have more time, and get paid even more?

Well, I already worked on designing a few engagement rings for my friends, one of them being a guy!, as well as earrings and a necklace as gifts for my mom and grandma. They all loved their jewelry and I loved creating them, which made me consider going into jewelry design even more. I could limit my extra spending, put it towards my savings, and go to jewelry design school in the evenings…no one at my work has to know. I bet this is something that I can do on the side, and if it takes off and I get busy to a point that I have to leave my current job, then I will. I think this will be my plan so far.