How Something Successful & Beautiful Can Come From Pain & Suffering
There are an endless amount of ways that you can be creative, and although I've mainly featured painter artists for Creative Tuesday, I'm adding another jewelry designer to the lineup. The first was celebrity jeweller Shauna Neely whom you can read about here.
Simone I Smith, is not only a jewelry designer, but she's also a cancer survivor, a mother of 4, and the wife of LL Cool J. Having previously launched a successful line of custom-made beaded bandanas under the name "Ms. Got Rocks", she put her entrepreneurial ambitions on hold to prioritize her family and job as a mother.
Then in 2004 she was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer, Chondrosarcoma, which required invasive surgery she tells on her website. The surgery left Smith's lollipop tattoo disfigured and it looked like somebody had taken a bite out of it. This story lies behind the design of Smith's signature jewelry piece, "Sweet Touch of Hope Lollipop." The lollipop represents how sweet life is, and the bite represents what cancer does to people.
This, and other images of the SIS collection, available on Simone I Smith's Facebook Page.
It's worth pointing out that although this hardship took something out of Simone, much like I'm sure any great hardship has taken a lot out of you, the bible says:
“...he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair...”
I mentioned last Sunday that if you have no other testimony, you have this one "I'm still here." Not only are you still here, but in Simone's case she was able to create something beautiful and successful out of it. The lollipop design would never have happened had she not had the surgery where she had it. Rom 8:28 says that "all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." So be of good cheer (John 16:33), don't worry.
[Related: Don't Be Afraid To Tell The Truth - Share Your Story]
“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.”
Last weekend Smith held a trunk show in Culver City at Macy's and for footage of that click on the image above. However if you're in the L.A. area worry if you missed that one and what the opportunity to not only buy the jewelry but also want a photo opp with Simone 9and very likely LL Cool J too), another trunk show will be held at Macy's in downtown L.A. this Saturday. More details in the image below.
Let's support our fellow female entrepreneurs ladies.
Be blessed!