My Membership With the Women's Jewelry Association

About three years ago I got an email from my friend Lauren Priori asking if I'd help establish a Philadelphia Chapter of the Women's Jewelry Association. We had noticed that even though we are a craft centric city, there was a lack of communication and camaraderie amongst designers and artists.

In recent years, I have noticed a shift in this field from secretive and competitive to more communal and uplifting. It was great time to create an opportunity for people to meet up and share what projects they were working on and have a safe place to learn a new skill.

Needless to say, here we are today as an official chapter with 30+ members and have had three different presidents, including our current President Lauren Volovar. What had originally started as social happy hours has turned into a mentoring group. Each member brings their own unique perspective and has valuable experience to share.

Our younger student members are experiencing the pinnacle of technology while our older retired members have ushered in a more female friendly environment in what was a traditionally male dominated industry.

In helping curate this group I have learned how to project manage, event plan, and have tremendously improved my public speaking.

Through WJA I was given the chance to grow and have blossomed into a flourishing jewelry professional. As a president I was offered a trip to Austin, Texas to gather with other chapter leaders to discuss challenges each city faced and to framework a plan for continued gender equality research that will allow us to keep passing a better tomorrow for women in art.

I am so thankful for this group that took someone like me who was very frustrated with their degree and felt like a spinning wheel going nowhere in a huge machine. Through networking I was able to find a passion in jewelry history and appraising that I wouldn't have had exposure to otherwise. These women have supported me in changing my career as well as giving me the connections to do so.

Even now in this uncertain time WJA has been a guiding light. Each Monday we highlight one of our members and their work. On Tuesdays we focus on an opportunity to give back with a featured fundraiser.

I've also have been thankful to be able to continue to develop my skills through webinars and courses. Most recently I participated in the webinar educating on Google advertisement and SEO optimization, something that directly improved my ability to work at home.

As a member, I'm also offered a special discount on continuing my GIA courses in my pursuit of my Graduate Gemologist title.

This group has been fundamental in who I have become professionally and I look forward to helping others navigate their paths to find a fulfilling career.