“How can you work with your mother?” is the question Lily tells me she is always asked. She now tells them, “It was destiny.” We rediscovered an entry in Lily’s Baby Book where I quote Lily (age 5) telling me that one day, we will have a design business - I will be the boss of her while she is little, and she will be the boss of me when I am old. I would say that right now, we have achieved a steady state, fully collaborating on every design and business decision to the point where we can’t remember who initially thought of what. We each bring different talents to this endeavor but feed off each other to create something much better (and more fun) than either of us could do alone.

Creating fun, transformational jewelry was born when I enrolled in a jewelry making class after the loss of both parents. My creative output was overwhelming. Hundreds of designs later, Lily suggested we think about how to turn things into a business...