To those of you whom I haven't had the pleasure of working with yet, I'm Taylor, Lead Designer at Baraka Gems. My time at Baraka has been some of the best years of my professional life as an artist. That's why I hemmed and hawed for years before I made a big decision - I'm headed to the other side of the country where I was born...looking back to home...and I'm taking a piece of Baraka Gems with me!
Back in 2012, I was happily living in Western Massachusetts, still fairly new out of undergrad and beginning my life as a professional artist. I had graduated a year before with my BFA, and spent a year living at home with my parents in Connecticut. I was working over fifty hours a week as a nanny to save some money. In 2012, I moved to Northampton because I had been visiting Western Massachusetts throughout college and always loved it. I was having fun, but struggling to find work that I considered truly compelling and sustainable. By fall of that year, I was unexpectedly approached by a college friend from Bainbridge Island, Washington - a place I had never heard of before! She was starting a digital arts collective and creative studio on the island and thought I could be a great fit. I knew virtually nothing about the PNW besides the fact that it rains a lot, they eat a lot of salmon, lumberjacks, coffee, and it was the home of Bigfoot. However, in early winter of 2013, I made a week-long trip out to see said friend. She gave us the grand tour of Bainbridge Island and as much of the city as we could cram in. I went in the winter because I wanted to see it at the ‘worst’ time of year - which turned out to be pretty tolerable. So green! I’m perpetually cold, and that winter I dug my car out of the snow over 4 times in Massachusetts. I was admittedly also ready to experience somewhere with a milder climate. After that visit, I was hooked. My ex and I began making plans to drive cross-country in the upcoming summer.
I had been making myself sick trying to decide what the ‘right’ call was ever since the opportunity to move was presented. Most of my immediate family was still in the Northeast. I would potentially be one of only three of us to venture far from New England. I had a lot of anxiety about the passage of time back then and was scared to leave the family and my beloved friends. Ultimately, it came down to one thought: I want to live a life without regrets. I was lucky enough to have my health, realistic expectations about money, and most importantly, family to help me if I ever needed them. I didn’t want to look back and kick myself for not at least giving it a shot - so I did. July 6th, 2013 we landed in Seattle after a 6-day cross-country trip (with my chinchilla, Turnip!), exposing us to parts of the country previously unknown to us.
Over the years, I found myself landing in my career with jewelry, an art form I have always loved. I was privileged to be an apprentice bench jeweler for several fantastically talented jewelers and designers, and continued to grow my skillset. I began at Baraka Gems in 2020, right before the pandemic. In August 2023, I attended my best friend’s wedding back home in the northeast. It was at that time that I really started to seriously consider making my way back home for the next chapter of my life. Since my initial move I had grown and changed so much for the better, and felt like I was finally ready to put my feet back on home soil and bring all that I’ve learned over the last 12 years to serve my communities there as well. It’s bittersweet because I am truly incredibly excited to be closer to my family and look for a house back there - but I also have been out in the PNW for the last twelve years! It’s hard to say goodbye to this other home I’ve made, and friends that I couldn’t imagine my life without. In those moments of turmoil, I remind myself that it is a blessing to have a home on either coast, with a chosen and blood family ready to welcome me with open arms.
The wonderful thing in all of this is that I am staying on in my role at Baraka! While the details are still being ironed out, I’ll be opening a private design consultation studio outside of Boston, Massachusetts with the plan to return to Seattle at least two to four times a year to meet with my team, clients, and update the merchandising plan for the store. I’ll continue to design remotely for Seattle and with any other long-distance clients, as well as build a clientele base there.
When I first approached the business owner, Jamie Jockwig, back in 2023, with my conflicting thoughts about moving, I assumed I would be helping him train my replacement until I left. I thought maybe I could be a contractor for Baraka, as I didn’t want to cut ties with a place I had come to love and be so thankful for. I had no illusion of anything more than that being on the table. Being raised to always be humble, truly never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that Jamie instead would ask me, “Well, how can we make this work?” Over the last five and a half years we have been through a lot together and watched the business change and grow in so many ways. We work really well together, and we began brainstorming how we could keep a good thing going. That’s the core at Baraka - taking care of each other. The respect between us is something I have never truly experienced in a professional environment with an employer, and I am so incredibly grateful.
We have since hired two new wonderful designers in Lauren & Ashlen, and I finally feel like I can physically step away from being in the Seattle showroom location full time. I know Baraka is in good hands with people who also care deeply about their art, the history and sentimentality of jewelry, and their personal impact on the world. We all care deeply about leaving the world a better place than we found it, and I’m super proud and honored to be a part of this team. I have no desire to leave them. Going forward, I will be fielding virtual clients from around the country and world, as I develop an additional in-person Baraka clientele out east. I’m happy to virtually meet with my regular Seattle clients when I am up and running again. So many wonderful things can be accomplished virtually nowadays, and we look forward to implementing more of that for those who are interested in the future. We are hoping to have the studio location set up in New England sometime in the fall, but I will be actively working again by no later than September regardless. You’ll know that I’m back in full swing when we make the announcement on a new page of the barakagems.com website (coming soon), highlighting our East Coast venture. I will also be assisting with the visual art around the Seattle showroom. I look forward to still being a part of your lives in that way as well when you visit us in Seattle!
When am I leaving you might ask? Well, actually, I just departed for my trip out east today, July 15th, and will be traveling for about two weeks! I’ll continue to make sure any projects in motion stay in motion with the help of my team. I thank you all for your patience and understanding in this time of transition. To all my beloved clients and friends I have made over the years, we’ll most certainly send out an email blast when we know I’ll be in town and available so we can reconnect.
Please know that this is not the end. This is a new beginning. I do want to wrap up this note by saying that my time with Baraka and you all has changed my life immeasurably for the better. Thank you for allowing me to express my creativity and passion for this art form, and for the honor of creating family heirlooms to be treasured. I do not take your trust lightly. Life is a book that you can’t turn the page on until you are ready, and I know I am so very excited for this next chapter. I’m not gone…just out of sight, but I’ll miss you Seattle! Until next time, take care of those you love, our planet, our communities, and yourself. If I’ve learned anything in this Seattle chapter from age 24 to 36 - we’re so much stronger than we think. On to the next great adventure!
