Alene Geed is an artisan jeweler who lives and works in Chandler, Arizona. I interviewed her about her book Inside The Mind of A Jewelry Designer and about her jewelery design business.
Alene’s book talks about creativity — what inspires an artist to create and how to start living a life that you may now only be dreaming of. Alene Geed is a fabulous role model for anyone who feels stuck in a routine job or business and who wants to change. A section of the book “A Five Step Journey to Living Your Passion” gives you gentle guidance to becoming the creative person you were mean to be!
Melanie Rockett: Can you tell me a bit about yourself and your background in jewelry design?
Alene Geed: My main career has been in marketing. Specifically Sales of Promotional Products. In 2006 I was looking at a necklace a friend was wearing and KNEW I could create something similar. After scouring bead stores, I began creating and never looked back. It became an obsession; a passion; a fire that wouldn’t die. From that beginning I found metal work classes. The rest is history!
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Melanie Rockett: How did you come to write a book on the transformation process you went through … from business woman to artist?
Alene Geed: The idea was suggested to me by someone I met on Facebook. It had never occurred to me but once the idea was planted, I could not stop thinking about what I would write, what my message would be. My father had written and published articles and two books during his lifetime, so I guess it was in my DNA.
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Melanie Rockett: Being a writer is a different kind of creative process. Some writers are very disciplined about writing a specific number of words at a specific time, others wait for inspiration. What kind of writer are YOU? How did you go about creating your book?
Alene Geed: I decided on the format ahead of time. An outline to follow. Then I tackled each section separately. I did not write daily or set a specific schedule. Rather I set aside a few hours during a day at random times. This seemed to work best for me.
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Melanie Rockett: You are STILL a business woman, selling your one-of-a-kind jewelry creations. Has the change in how you approach your art and creativity changed how you do business?
Alene Geed: Yes, business and marketing are a huge part of my life. Since my venture into this passion, I am more interested in my clients. Not just as clients and revenue, but as people. I also find that I choose more carefully who I want to work with. Those that don’t see the transactions as a co-creation are not my ideal client. I love knowing that ‘we all are in this together.
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Melanie Rockett: In your book, you have a section titled “A 5-step Journey to Living Your Passion.” Do you believe that everyone has an artist hidden inside?
Alene Geed: If you define ‘artist’ as anyone who creates from their heart, then YES I know that each of us has something from within that is screaming to come out and be introduced to the world.
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Melanie Rockett: I know you have a blog, which requires regular doses of writing. Do you have any other writing projects in the works or on a back burner?
Alene Geed: I have nothing in the works, but on a back burner?? Of course! I want to write some articles on creativity, inspiration and steps to follow. Basically an expansion on the book.
You can find out more about Alene Geed’s beautiful one-of-a-kind designs on her website Alene’s Adornments and catch up with her on her blog Alene’s Adornments Blog
Here’s Alene Geed’s book Inside The Mind of A Jewelry Designer
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