TOS of Daughters of the River

This week Nadine sat down with Meagan and Megan - same name, different paths, and somehow the co-founders of Daughters of the River, a jewelry brand born out of communal living and a shared love of making things in the Ottawa Valley.

Megan has been making jewelry (and ceramics) for what feels like her whole life - a born creator, she spent years experimenting, soaking up mentorship opportunities, and trying even before she felt ready. Meagan's entry point was messier but equally magical - it involved cutlery, her grandfather's anvil, and the specific kind of euphoria that hits when you make something with your hands for the very first time. 

These two forces of nature met at a market and the connection was so strong that just weeks later they found themselves living together, and eventually, working together. 

This conversation is about the courage to create. To go after a life that isn't the easiest. It's about tapping into a village and seeing what life was like before we learned to outsource all the things that folks in a close-knit community would do for one another. We talk about creative wells, how they dry up and how we learn to refill them time and time again. We touch on many things, with the underlying theme of just beginning. No matter where you are in life, or how badly you are at something. Begin. Begin. 

If you make things, or you want to, or you used to and forgot why, this one's for you x

@the_otherside_pod

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Welcome to the Other Side Pod. I'm Needine. We're not experts. We're just humans having a human experience we think we can learn from, or relate to, or laugh at, or cry over. So hit download, dive in, and hear how folks found themselves on the other side. All right. Gosh, we're recording with Megan and Megan, and I'm already um over the moon in love.

unknown 0:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 0:41

Whoever wants to enter first, go for it. I want to know because of what you do, which we'll get into, and because of what you're inspired by, which we'll get into, I want to know your favorite season or month.

SPEAKER_02 0:54

I think Moog said something like, What do you think? What month would heaven be? Or something like that. She was like, What month is like in your head? We were actually driving to a market and um we were driving to Kingston took a really beautiful drive from Perth. And she's like, Yeah, what month do you think heaven would be? And I was like, obviously it's August. And I think we both kind of said like end of August, September area.

SPEAKER_01 1:19

Oh, can you same season?

SPEAKER_02 1:21

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:22

Okay, I need to know why August. Tell me more. Well, actually, sorry. It's like I like how specific it is. It's the week of August leading into September.

SPEAKER_03 1:33

Yeah, it's like end of August, where it's like still hot summer, and you can like still swim in the lakes, but then it's like getting cooler at night. I think my answer was actually specifically September. And I only thought of this question because I was like reading back in my journal to when I was pregnant uh with my son, and I had like been writing like, wow, this September day is so beautiful, and I feel so at peace, and like everything just feels like so harmonious and beautiful. And I think that if you know there's a heaven, it's always September. Um, but yeah, cool nights, you can still swim, the bugs are gone. It's just like perfect. You have all this produce. We had like a huge garden then. Oh, yeah, we did. We grew like 90 tomato plants, and I have like pictures of us. I'm like six, seven months pregnant with like buckets of tomatoes like coming up the hill. It was just such a beautiful time. I felt to like ripe, and I don't know. Yeah, it was definitely early September.

SPEAKER_01 2:40

If there's a heaven, it's gotta always be September. I've just never heard it said like that. Of course, the two of you would open this with like this poetic, beautiful like this. We're not always poetic and beautiful. Okay, introduce yourselves. Let's start with Megan. Go. Oh, okay, fine.

SPEAKER_02 3:02

Um, yeah, I'm Megan, um, which I guess like I'm I'm half of the Daughters of the River. Um, okay, what about me? Um well I'm 24 and I've been a jeweler I guess for like four or five years now. I kind of started back in COVID. Um so I've been doing jewelry and that's become like a really big part of my life. And then outside of that, I've been working at flower farms for the past little bit as well. Um and that's just like just become like a whole creative side of my life in the past couple of years. Um and yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:41

I mean, is flower farm a particular place or is it just like I was working at a few.

SPEAKER_02 3:46

So I've been working um in the past three seasons. I've worked at two different flower farms. I worked at one for the past two years, and then I recently started at another one. Um so yeah, just a lot of like creative and gorgeous things in my life in the past couple years.

SPEAKER_01 4:00

What do you do with this flower farm? Same more.

SPEAKER_02 4:03

Oh my god, just like frolic and oh my god, it's heaven. Um yeah, so both flower farms, like we've like set up the whole farm, like planted all the flowers and tilled the fields and just create everything, and then there's like weddings involved and that and just bouquets, but it's planting all the flowers and harvesting and yeah, it's really it's magic. It's a beautiful side of my life that I've had.

SPEAKER_01 4:28

Okay, Megan, we're coming. I want to hear your I want to hear you say who you are, but Megan, I need I need another moment on this. Yeah, please. It's I'm dead. It's taking me a little time to like really appreciate flowers, and I don't know what happened. Like, I've slowly been like, oh, I love this, I love this, and I still don't. I mean, we have a garden, but to be honest, my husband does it. And a couple of years ago, I'm like, maybe I'll weed, like, and then now I'm like, oh, I get how meditative this is. And now this is who I am now. Wait, if people aren't watching this on YouTube, they won't get it, but I don't care. Maybe go over to YouTube and look at this beautiful flower because now I'm the person who's out walking my dog, and then I just stop because the flowers. Okay, I just want to grow this poppy. Oh, yes, and it's gorgeous, gorgeous.

SPEAKER_02 5:18

Like, I miss this. I know it's like unreal. I know. Just like Mother Nature.

SPEAKER_03 5:24

I'm like if you're looking out the window, and the last of our poppies are just like losing their petals. We have not those, those are beautiful. We just have like classic red, also beautiful. Also beautiful. Poppies are magical.

SPEAKER_01 5:37

But if you ever watch this on YouTube, this poppy is like this beautiful blush pink with this like black iridescent center, or it's like an I don't know. It's I can't believe Mother Nature just created that. I can't believe that that wasn't someone like trying to make that for like a year, yeah. Anyway, right?

SPEAKER_02 5:56

It's like a masterpiece out of nowhere. Um yeah, no, flowers are yeah, they become like a huge part of my life, and it also flows into like jewelry making as well. But um, one of my favorite quotes that I saw about like gardening is to plant a garden is to believe in a tomorrow. Because you're planting these seeds knowing that like they're gonna bloom later. And I yeah, gardening is magical, especially in like this stage of my life, just like spending all day planting these like you can't even see them seeds, and then they're gonna come and be these flowers that are bigger than my head. Like, if that's not a magic, I actually don't really know what it is so it's yeah, right?

SPEAKER_01 6:35

Yeah, yeah, magic, magic, magic. Yeah, okay, Megan, over to you. Tell us who you are.

SPEAKER_03 6:42

Hey, I'm Megan. I am um 34. No, I'm not, I'm 33. I'm not 34 yet. Um, I am a jeweler. I've been doing jewelry for like ever, I don't know, like in different ways my whole life, but running a business like 10 plus years.

unknown 7:03

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 7:04

Um I'm also a mama. I'm a mom. I have a little boy, he's two and a half. His name's Fox, and he's fantastic. Um, yeah, that's kind of my two. I'm a wife, I have a husband, he's like the best dude ever. His name's Matt. I'm very lucky to have him. Um yeah, that's kind of the realms I'm in right now. I do jewelry and like I'm a mom. Um, yeah, it's those two things keep me very full, uh, my schedule very full, and my heart very full. Um I like nature, I love gardening, uh, we love swimming in the river. We live in a really beautiful place. Meeks and I are very lucky. We have rivers and lakes all around us. Um yeah, I I do pottery, did I take a break since having my son? Um yeah, I'm an artist. I dabble in all kinds of arts. Um, I used to have a business where I handmade clothing. Um yeah, I've dabbled in in the arts and entrepreneurship for a long time. Um but these days, yeah, I'm like mostly hanging out with my little son. Um yeah, that's where my life is right now, my family.

SPEAKER_01 8:18

So when you were a little kid, Megan, were you always like in into arts and crafts? Were you always like creating or having your hands dirty? Oh yeah. Like what did you want to be? When someone's like, what do you want to be when you grow up? Like, what did you say as a little kid? Do you remember?

SPEAKER_03 8:32

Literally, I wanted to make jewelry, and it's so funny. Like, I like forever that's been like what I wanted to do. And I um I wanted to go to university, or rather, it was college, it was the what's this George Brown um program of which I think is shutting down now in Toronto, which is a shame. But it's this like renowned jewelry program, and I got into it and I ended up not going because of um just like influence from family and you know, like well-intentioned family, being like, listen, there's not money there, like a job that like you can really which I get, you know, like it to some people it would probably seem like there's no money to be made in like the arts. Um I think that's like a common thread, unfortunately, that people carry on. But yeah, I didn't go. Um, so I got like a diploma or I went to school for something else. Um, but I knew that I should have. Anyway, so here I am. We're st I'm doing it still. Um, but mostly self-taught. So it's been like a much longer journey to get to any of this, but like also perhaps a more creative journey. I don't know. It it happened how it needed to, but yeah, I think I I knew I always wanted to make jewelry, so I've been doing that in different forms for yeah, a long time.

SPEAKER_01 9:53

What's the first thing you made? The first piece of jewelry, like think way, way back.

SPEAKER_03 9:58

You know, it's so funny. I was thinking of that last night, and like I can't remember my first like specific piece when I was like a kid or anything, but I do remember like the first piece that I made when I started doing wax casting, which is what Meeks and I do now. Um, and it's actually this ring that we just re-released or released for the first time last year, it's called our Canyon Ring. And I it have this original version that I made, I don't know, 10 years ago that's just chunky and terrible, but like the idea is there, you know? Right. And for some reason it took me all of this time to like hone it in and fix it because it's beautiful, but just like not wearable. Um so yeah, like I still have that piece sitting upstairs, but we now actually sell like a beautified uh functional version of that piece, which is pretty special. Yeah, that that was the first one I did that like really felt like oh, I'm like really, I know what I'm doing, kind of.

SPEAKER_01 10:58

Oh, okay. Can we so what's so beautiful about that is you created this thing nine years ago, and nine years later is when you're like, I'm ready to launch it and sell it. And you were like, I know I'm I know I'm good at this, even though you knew it's not ready, but you were like, This I just think that's amazing because we want things so quickly now, right? Like we want we want to be. Myself included. I'm surprised they waited this long. I I want this yesterday, you know? So the fact that you could have made this thing and be like, it's not wearable, it's not perfect, but like this this is something, and I'm good at this, and I'm gonna figure this out. And then you kept at it. I mean, if that like that's just there.

SPEAKER_03 11:44

I remember me like seeing it. Um I remember me seeing it and being like, you should make that, like do something with it. It's really cool. We should we should figure this out, it's a gorgeous ring, and then yeah, um, and then we did, and it's it is, it's beautiful. So it is on your website, yeah. Yeah, it's like a little like rectangular, almost like signet style, but a little different, and it has like a little sun and like a wave, or actually it's like a landscape silhouette. Okay, Megan.

SPEAKER_01 12:16

You're a little kid, and someone's like, What do you want to be when you grow up?

SPEAKER_02 12:19

What do you say? Oh my goodness, everything. I think, yeah, same as mo with Mega. Like, I just I think I always knew I'd end up doing something like creative and like different. I didn't I didn't have like a call to do one specific thing, like I wasn't like, Oh, I want to be this, or like, oh, I want to I wanna be that. I just think I kind of knew like everything I would do would bring me to like something that I wanted to do. Um, and this soon after I was talking to my mom on the phone, I was like, How would you describe me as like a kid? And she was like creative and outgoing and like interested in so many different things, and I think that rolled over definitely into what I'm doing now. Um, but definitely like for as long as I can remember, I've always worn like a lot of jewelry, and like my hands have always like had like just endless, like I would fill them up, like every finger I thought needed a ring or two or three.

SPEAKER_03 13:13

Um, and so I remember when I met you, you had like three on each finger.

SPEAKER_02 13:18

Yeah, I was like, if I I was like, why was I giving ten fingers to not like wear ten rings? Like it just didn't make sense to not. Um, and yeah, so like wasn't shocking when I like started making jewelry that I was like, oh, like this is also a form of art, and like I could do that, like I could turn this fun passion into like a job. Yeah, so something creative I always knew amazing.

SPEAKER_01 13:44

Okay, what's the first piece of jewelry you made?

SPEAKER_02 13:47

Oh, I remember this so well, actually. It was so the first like medium I started working with, I used to make spoon rings, like I would use old cutlery and and turn that into jewelry. Um, and that was during COVID that I started doing that. I feel like everyone needed a little like side passion project, and that was mine. Um, but bless my mom. I remember I took one of her like kitchen spoon rings, like her really sweet um small teaspoon. She like, let me use it, and I turned that into a ring. And I like I could I remember it perfectly. I could have done it yesterday. I remember it so well. I had this great big anvil in the basement. That was my grandfather's, and I took my brother's car socket because it was the perfect shape to make like a circle, and I just like smashed the hell out of the spoon until it like took some form of a ring. And then when I took it off and it was like wearable, I it was like the most euphoric high ever. I was like, I was like, I've done it. I like I made a piece of jewelry and the jeweler. Yeah, it was so it was such a euphoric. With like safety glasses on. I was like, I couldn't. I mean, I remember I did this in my basement because I was still living at home, and I I ran through the house showing everybody. I was like, everyone needs to look at this, like this is the coolest thing. I was so excited, and it became like it was such a high that I was like, okay, I need to, I need to like hide your spoons.

SPEAKER_01 15:14

I've turned my there's like not one utility on the spoon girl.

SPEAKER_02 15:20

I was like, hide your spoons, they're all gone.

SPEAKER_01 15:22

Like it was so did you go to like antique markets and stuff looking for old?

SPEAKER_02 15:26

Yeah. Oh my god, I spent so much time. Um, and then because it was during COVID, things were closed. So once they started opening up, I was like, oh, my mom and I would go for hours and just sort through all of these spoons and like bring home oodles and caboodles of everything I could get my hands on.

SPEAKER_03 15:44

I remember going with you when we first met to this antique place around here, and you were like hunting through this massive house stuff for spoons.

SPEAKER_01 15:55

I was like, how did this come to be that you end up pulling Megan on your utensil hunting?

SPEAKER_02 16:03

Oh but how did we meet? Oh, so she was living with me. We was literally living together.

SPEAKER_03 16:07

Um yeah. Uh how did we meet? We actually met Well, we met through a mutual friend um who was like, hey, you guys are like a basically have the same name and you're both jewelers. Um you guys should meet. So we ended up coincidentally having a market we were doing, I don't know, like within the next couple weeks after that. Um we met both signed up for the market.

SPEAKER_02 16:31

It was so we met on a Saturday. We did one market, and Megan and Matt, so her husband, I happened to meet them at this market. The next day we were doing a market together, we didn't even know. Um and then funny universe foreshadowing. The market happened to be at our really good friend's place, um, which is on the next road over from where we now live.

SPEAKER_03 16:53

But we didn't live there. Yeah, but we still lived up north at that point. Yeah, we ended up moving a street away. Yeah. To this market. And then we just I remember like our booths are facing each other. Yeah, and uh, we were like, oh my god, cool. Hey, so we hung out all day and somehow ended up being like, so no, so we must have been living here because then we asked you to live with us. You just got the keys to this house. It was like you had just gotten it.

SPEAKER_02 17:21

You were like we're moving, we're moving in a week later.

SPEAKER_01 17:25

I was like, that's so cool. You no, oh, you didn't live in together a week later. Megan moved into the house. Megan moved in. Okay, but then got you.

SPEAKER_02 17:35

I was not.

SPEAKER_03 17:37

We moved into like it's a large, like it had, I don't know, five bedrooms, and we were like, it's just the two of us. Like, and I don't know, Matt and I have lived communally like you know, a few times before and quite enjoyed it. We used to live on a farm in Mexico with friends, and it was so magical. And just I don't know, I love communal living. I love sharing my life with people outside of just like my husband, and so does he. So we were like, Yeah, let's like ask around and see if there's any cool people who want to move in. I was like, I'll take it. Yeah, people you maybe mentioned like because you were what 21?

SPEAKER_02 18:15

Yeah, yeah. What do you mean like 21? Like just about that.

SPEAKER_03 18:17

And I was like So you were like, Yeah, I'm like trying to move out of my house. I want to like move out here because you were in Ottawa, and I was like, Hey, you should totally just come live with us. And then I don't know what, like two weeks later, you like showed up with all your stuff and it was happening. We were like, You were moving in.

SPEAKER_02 18:32

It was they were like, Yeah, like you should it's funny now, knowing like Megan how how quickly she should like offer something like that up because at the time she was like, Yeah, you should only move in. And I was like, That's super cool, like I would love to, but then I didn't like think too much of it. I was like, Oh, that was a really nice offer. And then Megan messaged me. She was like, I like really do move in. I was like, Oh, okay, like I could do that. And then I remember so well. You sent me a message being like, Yeah, so when are you thinking? And I was like, How does next week sound? I was like, Can I just move in? Yeah, and then I was like, I've been so like actually. I was like, so I started to pack. I was like, um, next week, like does that sound good?

SPEAKER_01 19:12

Yeah, and you've lived together since, yeah. And joined together and created Daughters of the River, your jewelry company. We did, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:20

We did, we were operating like our two separate businesses, like we shared a studio space here, so we were like working back to back, and the longer we were working together, Meek started like showing an interest in the the wax casting, and so I was starting to teach her it, and um it just kind of made sense. I also had my son at that point, um, so like that extra help was very welcome, and you know, she was trying like moving into like a new era of her jewelry making, and it just made sense perfectly. I don't know. We were both making and like sending each other like such cool inspiration, and it was all the same. And I was like, why don't we just do this together? Just seemed like a no-brainer for both of us.

SPEAKER_02 20:09

It was like, yep, uh it's actually funny. My so the house that we live in, we actually renovated part of it into a separate apartment, like it's in the same house, but um, we're just separated. Yeah, we chopped it up, we did some chipping and chopping, and my I was like nine months pregnant, like painting with like my giant belly, being like, we gotta get this apartment. Me and Matt, like I'd come home from work and we'd I'd get home from work, I'm like, we need to continue like working on this because Megan was due. It was supposed to be a deal on Christmas Day. And it's like December 20th, and we're like, we gotta get this done. But the what is now my apartment used to be our jewelry studio. Um, and it was really sweet because I still sometimes find like little pieces of jewelry when I'm like sweeping. If I go and sweep up by the walls, um, because our jewelry would just like go flying while we were making, but it's kind of funny because our old pieces of jewelry still are in here sometimes. It's like stuck in the baseboard, yeah. But yeah, if it came really naturally, I think, like Megan was saying, I was getting ready to like move out of working with cutlery. I'd felt like I had not like learned everything I could learn from it, but I'd kind of outgrown it. I was like, cool, I've done this for a few years, I love it. Um, what else can I do? Yeah, and so we were like side by side in our benches, and yeah, I started being like, what is this like wax cristing that you're working on? Like, I really like this felt like a new type of jewelry I really wanted to get into. And yeah, I think Matt would also hear the two of us like sharing these ideas, and he's like, Why, like just like he's like, Why are we not just putting this together? Um yeah, so it it flowed pretty naturally together at that point.

SPEAKER_01 21:50

Okay, tell me about wax casting. Is this yeah, how how does that work? Is that is that how is that how all of your jewelry now is made? Yeah, yeah, okay, yeah. Because like number one, I'm gonna put the link to your jewelry in the podcast notes and in and but like it's beautiful, like it's absolutely beautiful. Thank you. Okay, so every piece on the website that people can go see um is all made from wax casting. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's the stuff. Correct. Yeah. How does that go?

SPEAKER_03 22:19

It's uh it's amazing. It's a long process. I'm gonna give you like the the cliffs notes. So we do the designing, we do the refining, and then the casting we send to a casting house, which is pretty typical. Um, it's like quite an industrial process. You're working with like molten metals, you need like a workspace that's safe. Um, so we outsource our actual casting. Um, so basically you begin, let's say I want to make a piece of jewelry. I take wax, so you start with wax. Everything we make is carved out of wax or mold. You carve it, one of you wax. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:55

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 22:56

Correct, yeah. So it starts off with a lump of wax and there's soft wax that's kind of like um like a dense play-doy consistency that gives you the opportunity to like mold it and um, you know, add a lot of textures, and then we there's hard wax for for something like um, let's say like this ring here, which is like uh just you know more symmetrical, something you know, a ring you want it to be hypothetically symmetrical, and you want the hole to be like a specific size to fit a finger. Um so you would use we use a hard wax and you're carving it with files. Um so yeah, there's like a million ways to get to the finished piece of wax, but essentially you have this in wax. We then take that, we send it off to the casting house, and they cast it for us, which is a really cool process. Um essentially what is happening is they're taking this piece of wax and they're more or less burying it in like a sand-like substance. And um then you take molten metal and whatever metal you wish. We work in um bronze and silver, and you take the molten metal, and that gets poured into that kind of flask that the sand is packed in, which then has the wax in, and then it's it's sent into like a centrifuge, it like spins it and it shoots the molten metal into the flask that the sand is like, and it goes through and it um it burns off the wax, so it's called lost wax casting. You lose the wax, and the molten metal place uh takes its place, yeah. It's made and then there's like a ton of refining uh to do from there, and actually back in like a rough form and then you refine it.

SPEAKER_01 24:49

So Megan.

SPEAKER_03 24:51

Yeah, yeah, no, that's okay. It's exactly what I was gonna say, and then we actually have to send it back. Um, if we decide it's something that we want to produce, uh like numerous pieces of, um, we send it back and they'll make a mold out of it, and that's how they get each wax. They just inject that mold that they make um a million times um with wax and go through that process again, and then we do all the refining and then the soldering of earring posts and you know finishing, uh connecting damaged pieces, yeah, polishing till it looks really pretty.

SPEAKER_02 25:23

But it's like a really beautiful and ancient way of making jewelry. They used to like so the wax that we use now is obviously you know more refined, it's um more designed to be used for jewelry, but they used to use like beeswax for it, like that was originally a type of wax, and they would carve everything out of the beeswax, um, and that was how they would make jewelry, like they would they've carved these things, um, and so there's another type of wax called soap wax, which like in some of our designs, there's a lot more texture shown in it, yeah, and that comes from like our fingerprints or like our hands making this, and it shows the texture. Um, which I just think is is yeah, it's so cool. It's such an ancient way of making jewelry to like replicate now.

SPEAKER_03 26:05

It is, yeah, like the Egyptians. That was how they would make their jewelry. Um, and yeah, they would use beeswax, and there's a really cool like ancient Egyptian jewelry that has a lot of like odes to bees carved into them, and um yeah, pretty funky. It's been around a long time. So it feels cool tapping into that like river of knowledge that's just been, I don't know, like past I can't tell you how many years since the Egyptians, but many, many, many.

SPEAKER_02 26:32

Yeah, it's fine to like do the same thing that someone was doing, like you know, uh years and years and years ago, but like doing it in such a different way. But at the root of it, it's still the same process.

SPEAKER_01 26:42

Aren't you fascinated by the person who first picked up beeswax and was like, I'm gonna try to do this, I'm gonna try to do this. And like I know it was like hundreds of years in the making, the process, but some it began somewhere, and and it it got hit.

SPEAKER_03 26:57

Someone picked up a chunk of wax and was like, I'm gonna make a ring. I think about that with like all crafts, yeah. And like the first person to like do any of these things, like bless bless you. But like, who is your brain is amazing.

SPEAKER_01 27:11

The first person that was like, I'm gonna share this sheep and I'm gonna figure out how to knit like amazing.

SPEAKER_02 27:18

I'm gonna make a sweater from my sheep, this is a good thing. But like I think that's where art connects all of us. Like, it's such a cool thing. It was you know, you go to a museum and you see these pieces of art, and you're like, We're doing the same thing. Like they're probably you know, women that were already. Yes, humans have been wanting to express themselves for forever. And I think adorn themselves.

SPEAKER_01 27:38

Yeah, yes. Oh, I love that. Yes, and adore themselves, and also that it was passed down through stories, like it was I mean, I'm sure there were still a lot of men creators, but like we heard about we've heard about them many times. So let's just talk about the women for a second. I just picture like women just gathered together, um, just doing this craft together and like sharing pieces of their lives, but also like how you both came together, and you're like, you know, kind of back to back, working on your own thing, and then you kind of like come side to side, and then all of a sudden you join forces and you both get better because of it.

SPEAKER_03 28:12

And like gives me goosebumps actually to think of all these women from our lineage and from a bunch of lineages, just it's like a tale as old as time, like artistry bringing women together, or women coming together because of art, and then like you know, who knows what happens from there, right? If it's community or it's just like building strength or finding themselves or supporting each other, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:34

Like, I think it is a real way to yeah, totally.

SPEAKER_03 28:38

But they think that's and let me tell you, you need help, and like having TT, he calls her his TT, his aunt. Uh yeah, like having another woman to support me through, and like one as awesome as her. Like, I'm so lucky. Like, everyone should have a woman supporting them as deeply through like life's difficult, beautiful, difficult moments.

SPEAKER_00 28:59

Yeah, um, but yeah, it's just her, it's like not, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:03

Yeah, I mean it's just magic when like two women get together and then more, but like one woman creates magic. Imagine what like everyone put together does. And I think it's also like where we live, there's just so many delicious people, like everyone has a craft, and a lot of them happen to be women, which is extra delicious in the sense that like you're just watching like cool people make cool things and doing cool things together, and we just get to do it incredibly close together. But it is, it's cool that you people just create cool things and it just amplifies when you're around it.

SPEAKER_01 29:36

I read something this morning about how we all used to, or a lot of us, used to be um supported by a village, and now we've outsourced the village and we pay for it. So instead of like your friend driving you somewhere, it's like we call Uber. Uh and this isn't a slight against Uber.

SPEAKER_03 29:54

I've Uber the culture we live in.

SPEAKER_01 29:58

We've outsourced learning a craft, and then Megan is like, Megan, I'm gonna show you how to do wax casting, and then you both dig further into it. Like we've outsourced so many things, and then if we get back to that village mentality, actually, uh like the things we could share. Like, I was at this um event last week, it was this these two women from Toronto, it's called high vibe women, and a friend of me, a friend of mine wrote and was like, Do you want to go to this with me? And generally in the past, I don't know, sometimes I'm like, I don't know who's gonna be there. Like, I appear very outgoing, and I am because I'm like comfortable and I'm very curious about people, which is why I think I appear so like outgoing. But in a room full of strangers in a big group, I'm like, oh god, like um, like I love one-one connection or like um being invited to a small table. I'm like, I'm in, I will ask everyone at this table a million things. Anyway, all that to say, I'm like, yeah, let me let me let me get to know a different side of Ottawa through different things now. Because I used to have a brick and mortar place where I met so many people, and now I don't. And I'm like, oh, how do I miss it? Where's my yeah, I'm like, where who's who's in my new village? Anyway, point of this is I'm at the table with this lovely woman, Sarah, who's a naturopath, and we're talking about podcasting, and she's telling me how she's doing it, and I'm like, oh, I was like, look, this this took me a long time to learn, but like, let me show you if if you want to try this other way. Yeah, it's like it took me a little bit because I was like, I gotta start scrappy, I want to figure this out. I don't have uh like a big investment of funds to try something. Um I'm gonna learn how to do it myself and watch a bunch of tutorials. And then I'm like, let me like let me just sit with you and show you. Also, because you're an incredibly smart woman and like you know so many things that I want to know. Like she's really great with perimenopause and menopause, and she's this incredible wealth of knowledge. I've gone to see her speak many times. Amazing. Anyway, the point of this is it's like you don't, yes, uh of course, people spend a lot of time and money and energy learning something, and like you want to pay them for their time to teach you things. But sometimes when you have this beautiful village, and it's like, here's what I've learned, let me show you, here's what I've learned, let me show you, let me hold your kid while you go make us dinner. Like, it's just such a beautiful way to live.

SPEAKER_03 32:11

It is, yeah. Yeah, it is. Well, it just makes everyone's life a easier, b more enjoyable. Like you, you know, a life where you have like deep connections all around you and support, and you're providing that, like it's yeah, it's just a better way to live. And I'm yeah, we don't always have a hundred percent of that, right? Like, but yeah, I feel like we've tapped into that here, which is really nice. I think there's a great community.

SPEAKER_01 32:37

Yeah, it's like I can go Google how to plant a poppy, but I'd much rather go to my mother-in-law who has a beautiful garden, and be like, come show me how to plant this poppy, you know, like totally or go to Megan, I bet you you'd be like, I'll tell you.

SPEAKER_02 32:51

Oh, yeah, but there's this really brilliant, it's like a Maya Angelo quote, and I I think I'll get it wrong, but something like when you have give and when you like learn teach, and I think that's a great way to look at things, like when you have something, you give it, and if you don't have something to give, then you have something to teach it. And I think that goes back to like, yeah, like you know, Megal taught me how to do wax casting, but then I'll teach her this about gardening, or like I think it's just like so cool to share things, and I think it also takes away the gatekeeping that has become like a really big thing, especially in different industries, like for both especially in like the artistry industry.

SPEAKER_03 33:25

It's like I struggled to learn it, so you have to struggle, and it's like, can we just like help each other not struggle?

SPEAKER_02 33:30

Because we're all struggling enough in every other area. Simple things where you're like, oh, where do you get this jump ring or where did you get that solution to clean? I'm like, here's the link. Like, why here you go? Like, you're gonna make something cool with it. Like, it's there's like a weird thing.

SPEAKER_03 33:45

It's never gonna be like, Yeah, I think like, you know, right, there's enough space for everyone to be creative. It does come from like this um competitive place, I think, in people's hearts, not wanting to share this. It's like, well, I don't want you know, competition, but there's so much room for all of us to explore.

SPEAKER_02 34:02

To make it I could give you the same tools that I'm going to use, and what you're gonna make is so extraordinarily different than what I'm gonna make. Yeah, and then and there's a place for both of it. There is so much space for art in this world, like make more art than we ever need. Oh my god, please. Like, yeah, what is the point of now making more art? It doesn't matter. Like, it's endless. Make as much as you want. It's so cool.

SPEAKER_01 34:23

Yeah, okay. Where does the name come from? You joined forces. Wait, when did you join together? How many years ago?

SPEAKER_02 34:30

Oh, this is like one year. We've only been doing this for one year.

SPEAKER_01 34:34

Yeah, this is a very new baby thing. And then you named it daughters of the river. Say more.

SPEAKER_03 34:43

Yeah, you go ahead, Minks.

SPEAKER_02 34:45

Yeah, there's I I think there's like kind of like two little bits of it. Um, I think one, we like to spend a lot of our time in the rivers, and that kind of like flowed naturally from it. We would spend all of our time just sitting by the rivers near home, and we would go multiple times a day. Um, and then like another little part of it was that my last name means river. And um, kind of when I was thinking about like getting out of the one style of jewelry I was doing and I wanted to rebrand, it was actually Matt, so Megan's husband, who had the idea of that name. He's like, What about Daughter of the River? And I was like, Wow, like I really love that. And so when Megan and I started talking about doing jewelry together, we're like, Well, why don't we just call it Daughters of the River? Like this, and it kind of just came to be naturally very beautiful.

SPEAKER_03 35:33

Yeah, so her last name is Portuguese Ribeiro. Um, so and it's like the family of the river, people by the river. It just made sense. We also have like spent so much time when we first met, like bonding over our love of like swimming and like water, and um, we're both daughters.

SPEAKER_01 35:51

Um what is your favorite part of what you do?

SPEAKER_03 36:02

Um, I love the connecting with folks over it. I mean, like I I love the designing and the creating, but I quite love um going to like markets and meeting people and um and getting to adorn people. Yeah, I love the social part of it and the just the experience of like getting to connect with other lovely folk um because of what we're doing. That's yeah, that takes a big place in my heart. I love just the aspect of getting to know people.

SPEAKER_02 36:36

Yeah, I think like getting to pass something from like our hands to theirs is really cool. Like I I made this with my hands and now it's on your body, and you get to have that for the rest of your life, and I think that's a really cool process. And I think especially for Mego and I, like still when we see people wearing our jewelry, which in this town is really sweet because a lot of people have it. But you do like you see your piece of jewelry on someone, you're like, that is so magical that like I made that, you wear that, and like it's just like a little uh web that gets woven between people. You're like, This is yeah, it's just a connection. Yeah, it's pretty beautiful.

SPEAKER_03 37:11

Actually, I ran into a woman in the grocery store the other day. Um, and we kind of like passed each other and and at the head of an aisle, and she was wearing this really cool poncho, and I was like, Hey, I love your poncho, that's gorgeous. It was beautiful in it, and she was like, Oh, thank you. And we kind of passed and we went, and then we like crossed each other in the next aisle, and she was like, I think you made my ring, and it was actually the same ring, a little sneak ring. I don't know if you can see it. Um and I was like, Yeah, I did. And she was like, I got this for me like four years ago, and I wear it every day still, and it was just a really special moment because I think like in the midst of um of mothering, it's like I've been a little shaky on like my on the grounds of myself, like outside of mothering, and like you know, inevitably having a business has felt harder. And I've had moments where I'm like, oh my god, do I have the capacity to like continue this? And it was like a real I think she said something along the lines of like, yeah, please keep making jewelry, like it's so beautiful. I love your work. And I was like, Oh, thank you. Okay, I needed that. Like that actually touched me in like such a profound way and like really just like pushed me to keep going. So yeah, I think just the human connections, the interactions, I love that. Love getting to like, yeah, I think we love sharing ourselves with other people and getting to experience them sharing themselves back to us.

SPEAKER_01 38:30

I think what you just said is so important to remind people to just say the thing you're thinking because you might think like they don't care or they get this all the time, or but like the minute someone sends you a message, like whether that's in person or a DM or an email or a text from someone you haven't seen in a while, it's like like I'll get something, it's like uh I listened to that episode and it made me feel XYZ. Like someone connected one of the episodes one time to being a a new grandmother, and I didn't, I was like, I didn't even see that connection from this particular episode.

SPEAKER_03 39:02

I didn't even know that audience was like available to me.

SPEAKER_01 39:05

Yeah, I'm like, oh god, that is and like I s I screenshot it because I'm like, I I I don't know if this person even thought twice about sending me that message, but I planned it, and maybe same as Megan, like it landed on a day maybe when I was like, what am I doing? you know, and yeah, yes.

SPEAKER_03 39:22

Now I'm like, if I do seem to come at that time, agree, they really do.

SPEAKER_01 39:26

It's like the universe being like stick is a little something for it, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:31

Yeah, if you're on the right path, you're on your journey, is you're where you're supposed to be.

SPEAKER_01 39:36

And like back to the village mentality. If someone like has an effect on you, whether that's like a piece that they made or something they said or something they put out into the world, like just let them know. It's so nice. It's like being lifted. It's like, what is it? Um, like uh a wave lifts all boats or something. It's I'm quoting this terribly, but like it just yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 39:59

I gotta Google it. And it's just another chance for a connection.

SPEAKER_01 40:02

Yeah, a wave lifts all boats. I'm gonna get this word for word. Wave lifts all boats. Here we go. A run. A run tide lifts all boats. It was close.

SPEAKER_02 40:16

It was close. A wave lifts a boat. That's great. That's what I'm gonna use from now on. I'm like, yeah, a wave lifts a boat, babe. Wave lifts a boat. Thank you. Did you know? Did you know that a wave lifts all boats since you're good?

SPEAKER_01 40:31

Yeah, don't worry about it. Um in your designs, uh, is there now that I'm bringing it back full circle to the poppy, there's this beautiful seed. Is that a what is that? Is that a poppy seed?

SPEAKER_02 40:43

It is a poppy and it's from our garden. Yeah. We harvest it from our garden. We okay.

SPEAKER_01 40:48

Here's a sign. I mean, I gotta go, but that's a cart that is meant to be in my hands.

SPEAKER_03 40:53

Yeah, and like funny because when you first showed us the picture of the poppy, I was like, that's so funny. That like the only like flower seed pod that we've experimented with doing fast, like a live casting from or like an organic casting from was a poppy. And I was like, we'll probably touch on that later.

SPEAKER_01 41:09

Yeah. Your girl needs a poppy necklace. It's so beautiful. And I also love the circle necklace with the the it's like a little like not a ball, but a little ball on on like three sides. Yeah, little like three little points.

SPEAKER_03 41:21

I love that.

SPEAKER_01 41:21

Yeah, Sonora and Sun. This is how I met the two of you. If anybody's listening and wondering, Lorraine Hogan will come back into this podcast every episode, I'm sure. Mom was in town visiting, and the two of you were at the parlor, not another market, market. And mom and I walked up uh because it's close by where I live. And anyway, I'm over chatting with my friend Kat who's got Bloom in Studio and she's at had this big beautiful flower display. And then I hear my mom, she was like, Natine, and I look out, and she's all about like envelope, the two of you in her own. She's like, look at this jewelry, look, and like these beautiful women, and like you should you should polypast, you should chat with them. I'm like, yes, uh, like your mom was our hype girl that's fun.

SPEAKER_03 42:04

She was like pumping our tires, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 42:06

You will sell out. She wore those earrings because then we traveled to London together for a few days.

SPEAKER_00 42:12

Yeah, those earrings.

SPEAKER_01 42:13

I mean, they're stunning, one number one, but like with every outfit, I'm like, oh my gosh, they like are a standout piece. But anyway, back to like, yeah, I get how that she was so sweet.

SPEAKER_03 42:23

I really enjoyed her company. She's hilarious.

SPEAKER_01 42:26

She's hilarious.

unknown 42:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 42:28

Um but yeah, like it goes back to I it just it was so natural how it came across, how much you love connecting people, and like it's so now I'm like, right, that's your favorite part of your job. That makes total sense, and like that's how we met. I love it.

SPEAKER_03 42:41

Is it obvious?

SPEAKER_01 42:42

Is it how many markets do you do?

SPEAKER_03 42:46

Like a year. Do we do? Oh, it depends. I mean, considering we've only like been doing it together for one year, we really only like got into gear like last summer, so we really focused on like the winter, fall, or like the fall, Christmas markets. Um, and then and then we were away for the winter in Mexico. So we haven't done that many. Um, but separately, I mean that was like the bulk of both of our businesses.

SPEAKER_02 43:15

So like we had many, many, many other markets. Right. Um, yeah. But then we also like sell this a really beautiful boutique, so that like is an another place that we like pour.

SPEAKER_01 43:25

Oh, where are you? Where can I go find you? Um like in this area or like in Perth.

SPEAKER_02 43:31

Wait, what's new in Perth? Yeah. There's two. So there's one called Lita. Yeah, two. One one Lita, which is like a really beautiful consignment shop in town. Um, and then the other one And new stuff. And new stuff, yeah, they're amazing. And then there's um it's called Ephemeral Studios, but I think their Instagram is The Red Shop next to the Fred Shop. Um and she's like a brilliant lady. She's also a jeweler and she's fantastic. So we sell them there as well. And then um Chloe shop in Toronto.

SPEAKER_03 44:01

Um no, in St. Catharines. In St. Catharines. Um yeah, an old friend of mine, or not old friend, she's still my friend, but I used to live in St. Catharines. And um yeah, she's got a great boutique there called Citrus, and we also And live in Mexico. Yeah, a shop in Mexico, and then um in Byron Bay in Australia.

unknown 44:23

Cool.

SPEAKER_03 44:24

Is that all we have right now? Is that the goal?

SPEAKER_01 44:27

Like what is the goal of the business?

unknown 44:30

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 44:31

Yeah, that's definitely one of the goals for sure to do more. So, I mean, I used to do like primarily wholesaling um back before I moved out this way. So I moved to like the Ottawa Valley in 2021. Yeah. And so for like the few years prior to that, I was pretty much only doing wholesaling. Um, I didn't really do any markets. Um, so I was in like I had my stuff in like Asia and Australia and Mexico and all over the US and like many, many boutiques and many different states and all over Canada. And then when I moved out here, the idea was like, hey, I need to like get to know people, so I'm gonna jump into like real life markets and getting you know like a sense of the community here, and so I kind of stopped. But it's I really enjoyed doing the wholesaling, and so yeah, Meeks and I have been trying to sort out how how we get back to doing that, um and also balance like having a presence here and also like managing like she's another job, and you know, I have like a child, so yeah, I think we're just we're still trying to figure it all out and like sort out what the direction like what i is best for our lives right now.

SPEAKER_00 45:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 45:50

Is that new? I mean, I know you've only started a year ago, but like did you both have separate websites? Is this or is this a new way to sell?

SPEAKER_02 45:56

No, we both had two separate. Yeah, we had like two fully like little separate different businesses, and then we just redid um Megan's old website actually. We just took it and then redid it and added in um all of our new pieces together.

SPEAKER_01 46:11

So, how do you get people to go there? Like, what is is markets the best way to like start spreading your name and then handing that out, like cards out so people know who you are, and then they go and they see this beautiful collection.

SPEAKER_03 46:23

Yeah, yeah, that's a great way. Yeah, I think markets like a really great.

SPEAKER_02 46:28

Yeah, yeah. Social media is great for that. And then yeah, I think you know, you get to like meet. I really I think we both really like meeting the person behind the art. Like, I think whenever we go to markets, it's cool to meet the other artist. Um, but yeah, social media is like really. I think people appreciate that too. Yeah, it's like I really like meeting the person and being like, This is this, and like knowing the face behind it. But yeah, social media market story.

SPEAKER_01 46:52

I'm like telling who you are, why like this is why I want the two on, totally. I love a story, always have. It just makes me feel more connected to what I'm totally purchasing, what I'm wearing. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, um, what is the hardest part of your job?

SPEAKER_02 47:09

Oh, I wouldn't even say there is a hard part. I mean, like, in like retrospect, it's a pretty wonderful job that we both get to do. Like, I'll say that first. Like, it's I think it's definitely like a pinch me moment where I'm like, oh, this is like this is work, like this is what I get to do. This is kind of cool. Um, the hardest part, I think we would probably both say, like, yeah, we're just you know, like I'm 24 and Megan's 23 and can be in very different seasons. No, I'm 33. Sorry, yeah, 33.

SPEAKER_01 47:38

Um, you certainly take me for a decade younger, Megan. I was like, wait, I was like, hold on, keep that. Um give me another 10 years to live on this planet.

SPEAKER_02 47:48

That'd be great.

SPEAKER_01 47:49

Right. I think we're in very different seasons of life.

SPEAKER_02 47:52

Yeah, like Megan has a little guy. So that's hard. Yeah, in a way, I feel like he's our third employee because he has a huge like role in the company. He dictates everything. He's actually our boss. This is our CEO of the company. Right. And he doesn't know it. Right. Yeah. So that's definitely.

SPEAKER_03 48:07

Yeah, I would say having a son is the most difficult part of it. And I but you know, it's it's just like a barrier to work around, right? Like my there have been many in markets where like he's been sick. I don't know. If you have kids, you know they get sick all the time. Um, and he they want mom, and he I mean he that he really wants mom, and I want to be with him when he's ill, and so that's like made things complicated. Um yeah, like we're just you know, your your mid-20s to your mid-30s are like you're living in different worlds, and I mean we have this like common ground of home where we come together, but you know, like Mies was like in Montreal this week and she's like going out at night, as you should in your 20s, right? And and I'm like at home with my, he's not a baby anymore, but my my little guy, and I'm tired because he's wonderfully exhausting. And so trying to like sort out how to run a business when we're like very preoccupied and in very different ways in our our own lives has I think been maybe the most the definitely the most difficult part. Yeah, yeah, definitely. Other than that, it flows quite well. Like we work well together, communication's great. Like, yeah, we're very good at like I'll do this and you do that, and like getting things done.

SPEAKER_02 49:17

But yeah, definitely like life throws a curveball in here, and yeah, like there's been markets where Megan can't come, which is like totally fine, but you know, it's not it's like the morning of it's like okay, like he woke up sick, and that changes how we do things, and it's fine, it works, and we make it work. But yeah, I think that you know, like you just gotta go with the flow. Sometimes you never know what a two-year-old's gonna pull out of the cards for you.

SPEAKER_01 49:39

Yeah, I also think it's important to develop flow. Like, be like, right, I'm in my early 20s, you're in your early 30s, we are in different phases of life right now. Yeah, like and it couldn't it's not even necessarily the 20s and 30s. Megan could be the one with the ch with the toddler, and Megan could be the one that's like winding out at night. Like it's just it's very different phases, but unless you name the thing, it's almost like you try to like push it aside, and then that's uh I like I think that's where the where the like cracks in the foundations come through in partnerships, whether it's like a business partnership, um romantic partnership, a friendship partnership. It's like if people are afraid to name the thing, but it's such an obvious thing, just like bring it to light, and then and then it's so easy to talk about, you know? Yeah, and I think that's well, yeah. I think it's gone with sorry.

SPEAKER_02 50:30

I was I think and we're also like not two strangers that started a business. We live together like it is we know each other so she knows what my life is like it is. This isn't like you know, like you and I, Nadine, like started a business where I'm like, I don't really know this babe's life, like I don't really know this. Uh I can hear Megan through the wall. Like we live so close together that it's not like we we understand each other's lives in like very close weaving ways. Um, so no things like that easier.

SPEAKER_01 50:59

Like, I love that you're like that makes it easier. That could make things so much more complicated. Like, how do you do it? Because, like, let's be honest, we're two humans in the or we're three humans in the world, like people drive each other crazy. How do you do it when you just like are like you're the last person I want to see today? I love you. Stay over there. Like, do you have those moments? Because I do with my husband. I'm like, I love you, but I don't like you very much. Yeah, he's like singers, girls.

SPEAKER_03 51:26

Yeah, we like luckily don't have I mean, like, to be honest, like I don't have a sister. I was I'm an only child, but like, yeah, like we've very much come to like feel like sisters, so yeah, there's moments where you're like, oh, you're annoying me. Yeah, like you know, that's kind of it. Like, I think there's so much love there that it's like, okay, if she needs space, she just like goes to her house. Like it's a fully self-contained apartment, separate entrance. She has her own, like everything, she has a bathroom kitchen. Like, it's so we have that like good boundary of not just like busting in on each other's lives. And I don't know, I think we've also just become really content with like just having a close-knit live, and so yeah, sometimes she like rubs me the wrong way, and I know I do with her the odd time. Um, and I, you know, my son can be a lot because he's tuna, he's a toddler, right? Like he's loud, he's up early, or he's up in the middle of the night, like last night, and our bedrooms. Unfortunately, the way it's the houses laid out are like rooms are stacked on top of each other. Um, so I think you just have to acknowledge that like living communally is not necessarily um gonna be perfect or or quiet all the time, and the the benefit of like sharing a life outweighs like the negatives of of hearing that shared life or experiencing that shared life. Yeah. When it's not pleasant.

SPEAKER_02 52:52

Yeah, but honestly, I think our lives are just so like sweetly woven together that I mean, like even if we like go away, we come right back like 15 minutes later. I'm like, you want to hang out or you want to go sit on a porch? Like it's it's like our lives are so woven together, and we do like everything together in the sense that like we all live together, so it's you know, dinner's often buried together, we're sitting on the porch together at the end of the day, or like we reconvene multiple times during the day, and yeah, it's yeah, it's but you both can like be like I I'm gonna have some space or ask for space and and put up boundaries and yeah, absolutely. Or like, you know, yeah, Fox, you know, sometimes it's like you know, like, okay, you guys need that, I'm gonna go over here, or like it's yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 53:34

There's like certain hours where we tend to not you know, when it's like her making time and it's chaos, and he's like kind of wired before bed, and like it's you know, she like tends to disappear, which like I would too.

SPEAKER_02 53:45

It's like but then also like I'll come back over and be like, Oh, you want to play for like I'm like and I love Fox to death, like, and it's and then that's where I'm like, hey cool, I'll take you for an hour. I'm like, you want to come hang over here for an hour? Like it doesn't yeah, like our lives are just really woven together.

SPEAKER_01 53:59

What about work-wise? Like, do you have not like a safe word, but I don't know, sometimes you just don't want to talk about work, but you live together, you work together. I know being a creative and being an entrepreneur, I like can relate to both of those things. You don't really ever turn off. So how do you how do you do that? How do you take time to make sure you don't talk about work? Or do you?

SPEAKER_02 54:24

I don't think we do.

SPEAKER_03 54:25

No, I think we both I think we both really like talking about it. I think it's something that excites us so much and it's so woven into like our person, yeah, that it doesn't necessarily like it doesn't feel like work with a capital W, you know? I I never I don't know. I think we're always kind of like jazzed because it's like, ooh, what are we gonna make next? Like, what's your next move? Oh, do you want to make this?

SPEAKER_02 54:44

We should make this, or yeah.

SPEAKER_03 54:47

And I think we covered We haven't had that problem yet.

SPEAKER_02 54:49

No, we cover so many topics in a one-sitting conversation, like we go with such a wild range, and it's always in there. Like, I think often we're texting each other being like, we should make this, or like, I want to make this, or let's do this. And it's like, yeah, I think it just isn't our daily conversation of like things we want to make and do, and yeah, I think it's just amongst like also a lot of like silliness.

SPEAKER_03 55:11

I'm like, what do you want to do for dinner?

SPEAKER_02 55:13

Also, we should make this really cool pendant. Like, do you want to go to the river? We have a market tomorrow. Like, it's that's often like where our text go. I'm like, I'm in the studio, and I was like, Can you do that? Yeah, it's yeah, it's really fun.

SPEAKER_01 55:25

What is inspiring each of you the most right now for creativity?

SPEAKER_03 55:32

The season. Yeah, it was like we're getting into summertime, baby. The flowers, yeah, yeah, feeling good again after. I mean, mind you, I can't really complain. We are gone for like two months of the winter in Mexico, but you know, March to May still felt long. Um, yeah, the season, yeah, and just like enjoying being outside and connecting to Mother Nature again, and I think we all experience like feeling more like ourselves when we get to do that and feeling more calm and at peace, and um all of those you know, beautiful buzzwords, yeah, they start to feel more alive within you when you get to be outdoors, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 56:16

Going back to the river and gardening, and yeah, I think just getting back into our favorite selves where we're out there.

SPEAKER_03 56:22

And seeing, like, okay, so we've been seeing lots of snakes lately because we've been going to the river for swims and uh the rat this one spot we like. The snakes also really like it. And so, you know, we have if you've ever looked at our work, we have a lot of well, like a little snake on this. Is one of our pendants, it's hard to see. It has like a little snake emblem, snake ring. We both happen to have snake tattoos.

SPEAKER_01 56:45

Wait, what is it? No, yeah, and it's all done again. I love the idea. My mother was like a snake. I'm like, here's what's beautiful about snakes. Um, no, I'm not afraid of snakes, um, but but I also think they're very beautiful, and the fact that they can shed their skin to grow. I'm like, isn't that what we're doing as humans? If we're not if we're not shedding, we're just emulating that.

SPEAKER_03 57:08

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 57:09

Yeah, I'm like, we're stuck, and I don't want to be stuck, and it's a lot of work to grow and to grow intentionally, and like sometimes we all like go to sleep on ourselves. I've definitely had those seasons, but like then you come back and you're like, I'm gonna do this work, you you know, and that's what that reminds me of. It's like you like it's it's continual growth, evolution. You you outgrow your old skin, you outgrow your old self. And anyway, I love that the three of us have snaked out too. Yeah, it's so fun. You know what?

SPEAKER_03 57:35

I find like the cool some of the coolest girls that I've met, women have to be a little bit of women, yeah, have and you know, like specifically on their right-hand side, always on the right hand side. I don't know what it is. Me either. I don't know why I chose that side. Something fascinating, yeah. So I have no like real concrete reason. It just felt like yeah, it's going on my right side. It's going on the right.

SPEAKER_02 57:56

Yeah, same. Um, yeah, but yeah, definitely outside and nature, and yeah, especially for me being at the flower farm this time of year, like everything's just starting to like pop, and it's like, yeah, I feel just so inspired by all that when I come home as well.

SPEAKER_03 58:14

What's uh Mexico felt pretty inspiring?

SPEAKER_02 58:16

Yeah, actually, Mexico was a huge uh inspiration for both of us to be there. That was really my own.

SPEAKER_01 58:21

What brought you to Mexico? Like, how do I get to Mexico for two months? Tell me everything.

SPEAKER_02 58:25

Yeah, you just do it. You just you just um yeah, um, yeah, we decided to go for the winter. It's something that we like talked about doing since we like met each other. We wanted to go. Um Megan and Matt lived there for many years. Um, so we were like, I we really wanted to go back and yeah, we decided to go for the five.

SPEAKER_03 58:44

I really wanted to take her to the farm we lived at and show her all of the things that I've like been talking about for so long.

SPEAKER_02 58:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 58:52

And um near Mexico. Sorry, Baja California, which is um just south of San Diego, so it's like the peninsula that runs along the west coast of um of Mexico and is separated by the Sea of Cortez, so it's like its own peninsula, but it it's it's Mexico.

SPEAKER_01 59:11

It's called Baja California.

unknown 59:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 59:13

Okay, Megan, sorry, you were telling us something about your time in Mexico and I cut you off.

SPEAKER_02 59:17

Oh my gosh, no, I think we were all saying the same thing. I was saying it was really inspiring to go back there and like see all the things, and yeah, I think spend two months in the desert amongst all the big cactus, and yeah, I think for Mego and I it was like a really re-inspiring trip. And we ended up going down to one of the shops that we sell at, um, which was not a part of the original plan, but was really beautiful to see our jewelry um down there and got to meet the lady, and yeah, that was a really huge thing. I think to be in like a foreign country, and then to be like, oh, there is the same jewelry that was my workbench a month before.

SPEAKER_03 59:48

That's pretty magic.

SPEAKER_02 59:49

It's so cool. Yeah, it was pretty cool.

SPEAKER_03 59:52

Yeah, I've been like like before Meeks and I joined, I'd been selling to her. Her name's Morgan, and the shop's called Zocalo. Um, I'd been selling to her for like eight years and had built this really great working relationship slash like online friendship. And so A, we got to meet her, which was so fun. We went to like a little cafe and we just talked about life and sat for a good while, and um she's got two stores down in the south of Baja in Totos Santos. Um, so yeah, seeing our stuff in her beautiful shop is a really cool experience for those of us.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:27

From idea, like okay, you go to Mexico, you get inspired, or you're at the flower farm or at the river, and you're like, I want to make this, and you're like sending each other text. Uh I'm guessing, and like I'll just say it, and then you can correct me if I'm wrong. I'm guessing like it starts with like an idea that one of you see, or you think about, or you dream about, and then you maybe draw it, send it to each other, work on it. Like from idea like seed being planted, to here it is in our hand, ready to go to a market tomorrow to sell, how long does that take?

SPEAKER_03 1:01:02

Hmm. Well, it depends on the season of I mean it's there's many things we've never brought to fruition. Uh, but you know, when we're like really dedicated and we've had like release uh you know, like we've honed in what we want a month?

SPEAKER_02 1:01:17

Yeah, not yet the um the return, like so when we're sending it to the casting house and getting it back, that process can take you know a couple weeks in there because you're mailing it, they've got to work on it, it's gotta come back to you. Um, so that chunk of time definitely, you know, it's more of like the transit time in between there. Um, but yeah, once like the piece is made and it gets sent out and then it gets sent back to us, yeah, yeah, probably about a month and like in the long on the long end, probably like a month.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:42

Is there anything that you're in the process of creating that you're like, oh, I'm so excited to make this live for people to get?

SPEAKER_02 1:01:49

What are we? We haven't like we've haven't been super down in the studio like in the sense of like creating new pieces, but we both really want to bring out a few new pieces for the summer season.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:00

Um yeah, it's been a busy season. I mean, obviously, like springtime, I guess we're moving into like early summer now. Um, is like really busy at the flower farm for Meegs. And um my mom has now returned from Mexico, so she's staying with us here and we're spending tons of time together. My mom lives there. Um, so no, it honestly hasn't been like the biggest season for actually physically creating. Yeah. But I think there's a lot like flowing back between us that we um are inspired by and like wanting to create when we have a little more space.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:34

Yeah, and I think you need that time to like you know also not create, so just later. Yeah, um, but it is like endless like screenshots of things and that we're sending, being like, okay, this is let's get down to the studio, like it.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:50

That's so cool. And then when you're in Mexico, there's no studio, you you're just kind of like take in the day to day and soak it in. And then because there is like like I love that the thought of an incubator, because they're as a creative, like I write. And so I can sit at my keyboard every day and write. And I've had periods of my life where I've done that, and then there's periods of my life where I don't write a word for months. And it's not that you're not like something's always flowing, right? There's something even if it's not conscious. I just think creatives, we think we always need to be at the thing that we do or our craft, and you don't, like you're always soaking up stuff, and I don't know. I I also find like whether you travel or you just I don't know, walking the dog now and just seeing all the beautiful flowers popping, like that all feeds this well of creativity that needs to get full again because you can't just put out all the time creatively.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:46

Yeah, and I think you need to be like living your life and getting inspired. I think so much of like actually quite a small percentages percentage of the creative work is actually like the physical making, you know. It is it's all of like the dreaming and like coming together of ideas and and yeah, that that's a huge part of it. Yeah, you like you said, like it is a well that you have to let fill back up.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:12

Yeah, yeah, and I think like when you start to look at everything in the sense that like everything is art, so even if there's days like you haven't created something, everything is art that you're doing, and at least for me, like I'm like, okay, maybe I didn't like make a piece of jewelry today, but like I planted thousands of flowers, or I made a meal, or I wrote something, like that can also be that day's piece of art that you made, and then that stuff can inspire like a later piece of art that comes into it.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:40

A thousand percent.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:42

Yeah, I think like yeah, take the pressure off yourself that you're like, I have to like make this thing today. Well, everything I did today actually was like a little bit of art, it just looked different.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:52

Yeah, we've been trying to like you know, like sorry, go ahead. No, you go tell me more.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:56

You should I was just saying, like, I think we've been good at not setting our expectations like too high in a sense, yeah. Unrealistically, just being like, you know, not that I don't sometimes feel like guilt about not having more time to give to it because I would want I I ultimately would love to give endless time like I used to. Um, but I think we've been good at just acknowledging like it's a huge part of our life, but like it's not the only part of our life. And so like when it's flowing really well, it's flowing really well. And when there's like periods of like perceived stagnant, like it's okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:29

It's okay. Yeah, you know? Yeah. And to take the pressure off. And again, let me say this one more time. It's it's saying the thing, being like, hey, this is a this is a season where it's like growing, this is amazing. And then it's like, well, this is a season that that I feel a bit stagnant, and then you both can be like a reminder of each other to each other that that season is as needed. Like yes, Ottawa gets cold, but we need it. Like it's like mother nature's like, we need to like rest, we need to regenerate our. Yeah, and then like a beautiful flourishing spring where you're like, oh my god, you know, like look at all this the trees, they seem to like burst out overnight. Oh my god. Yeah. Um and you need that rest in order for that to happen. So it's like it's reminding each other of that. And like also, that's what's really beautiful about the marketplace is I'm assuming because I feel when I connect with other people that are artists in what in whatever way their craft is or in whatever whichever craft they practice, it's so nice to get that reminder of myself because we can say to ourselves, but you know, we put a lot of pressure on ourselves.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:34

Oh, it's so validating when other people are like, I'm on the same page, I'm doing the same thing, I'm feeling the same slowness or pause.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:41

And I think like Megan and I both share like a lot of our lives online, like we both love like posting our lives and sharing that. And I think it just adds a human part of it because you know, like I think it's very easy to get like one perception of someone when you see it online. Like we all do it, and it could be easy to look at both of our lives and be like, wow, like so delicious all the time, which it is like it is so delicious all the time, but we're also just like two babes that like are also figuring life out, going through it a lot of times. Going through it.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:10

Totally. Life is beautiful and life is fucking hard, and both of those things are true at the exact same time.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:16

And I think the Tibos are very good at being very honest when people sometimes ask us, and we're like, no, it's this like that. I showed like a one-minute clip of that video where I showed I turned the audio off in the back of the jewelry, you didn't hear this.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:29

Like it's yeah, I think it's very important. Yeah, while even like going to Mexico, it looked quite beautiful, and it was quite beautiful. It was incredibly enriching for the soul and the spirit to be back in this place, but it was also really hard. Like we had my son was who's two and a half, and um my husband, he stayed here because he had to work, and so two months away from dad was really dysregulating. And so while it was a lovely trip and it seemed very lovely online, you know, it was like kind of chaotic and like truthfully quite challenging for everyone.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:02

Um yeah, there's a video that I posted of our jewelry where I did turn the audio off because Fox is just losing his marbles in the background, but it's like this gorgeous clip of like our jewelry, I'm like panning over it, and in the background he's I'm like, I'm just gonna turn that off. But it is, I think that's why I'm like, would you ever know?

SPEAKER_01 1:08:21

But it's so important to name it and say it and be like, it is fucking challenging, and I'm gonna go try it anyway. Because here's what it also was it was like it was like enriching and like helped fill my creative well, but also I cried a lot.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:35

Yeah, totally, and I think also it's stressful.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:40

We both we both cried a lot, but yeah, I know it's like the important side of it isn't you can put one thing out there, but like I'll be the first to tell you what also happened outside of the video, and I think it just makes it a bit more human, which is really fun. Totally, yeah. I mean, even at the start of this pot, even at the start of this podcast, like Mego and I could not get this audio to work, and we're like running back and forth. Like it's just yeah, it's also in chaos, but it's great. Takes a bit of a lot of time.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:06

And I'm coming to know that that everyone's life is a little chaotic, and that's quite reassuring.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:12

A thousand percent which is also why I wanted to start a podcast, and I've said this in a million of them, but like it is a place to share like the really cool shit we're all up to, and like also the challenges, and also like, oh my god, remember that was so fun. Remember, I cried, like it's just like, yes, this is a beautiful business, and I wanted to hear how you make jewelry, but I actually also want to hear the like the human behind the jewelry because I know it's not all easy, and it looks it's beautiful, and and and like thankfully, you both are like this is worth it. We love what we do, and it's challenging. And here's the background of that story, and here's where we feel uh stuck as creators sometimes, and and all the other things, because I think, and my last question will be it's important for other people that are starting, or whether or not they're younger or older, they're just starting a new thing to hear the real side of it. So I would say to you, or I'd ask you, if someone was coming to you and they're let's say jewelry maker, what was like what's the one piece of advice you'd give them as they're starting out, regardless of where they are in their career? This could be like a new career for them, they could be retired and starting this. Like, what would you share about your experience?

SPEAKER_03 1:10:22

Just start it, just start doing it and like acknowledge that you will um you will mess up and you will make terrible things that you hate and you feel like you're failing and just do it anyway and keep doing it. You know, I look like I look back and I'm sure same with you, Migs, at some of the early stuff, and I'm like, oh that's terrible.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:43

Yeah, what the hell?

SPEAKER_03 1:10:44

Yeah, yeah, it takes a while to like evolve into um your own style. It's right, yeah. You're just keep going, just keep going. Uh find mentorship. That was huge for me. I had a really lovely mentor um who's also who is a wax casting jeweler. Um her name's Jillian, and she's been a lovely friend and um mentor. Uh she was just like, yeah, like we talked about early, so willing to share in the knowledge and like help me and guide when I needed without like feeling like I was trying to take something from her, and so that's huge, like for mentors. Um but just like believe in yourself and and do it even though it's hard and that's all I got. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:35

I feel like a good one is like to create more than you consume, but also to still consume art. Like it's just I don't know, just create something in it, and then I mean, bad art is still art, and I think i it is like you just create stuff, and there's the great quotes that are like if you want to be an artist, you have to make art. If you want to be a gardener, you have to garden. You're not gonna get to be doing the thing if you don't try and start doing it somewhere in it. And I think, at least for me, like when I started looking at everything in my life as a form of art, I was like, Oh, okay, then this will all they will all somehow find a way to weave into each other, but you just gotta you never know until you try. You just gotta start smashing a spoon and see where it goes. And then, you know, I think if you told me like when I made that spoon ring that cut too, I'd be selling a boutique so it's be my full-time job. And I think I would have believed you for sure. I would have been like, yeah, absolutely, because it's just made sense. But I mean, bless that babe who just gave it a try, and every other cool person that's done something, yeah, you just gotta try it.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:36

And yeah, yeah, and don't try and have all the answers all of it figured out. I think I'm really bad for thinking I need to have like this like profound full understanding of things before I can act. Um, but I think that actually really holds you back. Um, I think you just begin with what you have and you build your skills, you build your tools, be it physical tools and mental tools. Um but just jumping in, I think you just have to go for it. You just have to go for it and then like yourself.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:06

Surround yourself with people that also inspire you. Like that's like a huge thing. I think we're surrounded by so many like incredible artists and so many different mediums, from like music to florists to jewelers to painters, and like I find just impossible. Yeah, through all of their work. I'm like, wow, okay, like it makes you want to make more when you're surrounded by by art in general. I think that's really great. Yeah, the more art, the better in every form that you can get. That is so lovely.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:33

Love chatting with you both. Oh my god. David, we're gonna live community. Please we're not baby.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:42

Nothing we love more than talking. You know what? The more the merrier. We would never shut up if we all lived together.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:49

I think okay, if you gave me a shot. Yeah, thank you. This was so yummy. I loved every part of it. That was so lovely.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:59

I can't wait to go buy my poppy necklace. I'm very excited. Yeah, we can't wait to come buy it in person and come visit us out of the house. Come to the property. Oh my god, I will. Yeah, come welcome. Oh, I will. I'm gonna I'll message you later. Oh, okay. I want to get in person, give you guys a big squeeze. Yes, please. A big squeeze. You're delicious, the both of you. Thank you. Thank you, thank you. This is really keep creating, keep doing beautiful things. The world the world needs this energy.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:32

Yeah, but we also need people that give like people space to show it. So I think you're doing a really delicious job on your end, like letting people come and talk. I think that's really good to do.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:41

Thank you for connecting people.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:44

Yeah, you're doing uh love you forever.