When Laura Grace Caldwell got jewellery classes from her mum, little did she know it would eventually change her life.
The Comrie jeweller launched her brand Wear With Grace in April 2020.
Laura had previously done a degree in theatre, travelled around the world and worked as a waitress before coming back to Perthshire.
In the midst of the pandemic, she was working in the local deli, Hansen’s Kitchen, and viewed her jewellery as a side hustle.
After setting up an Etsy shop, she sold out far quicker than expected and running a business from her bedroom became “a bit manic”.
Laura saw an advertisement for an Elevator course, open for young entrepreneurs like her.
Her confidence was low from having been away from the art scene a while, but she decided to silence the voice in her head and go for it.
She did a three minute video on why they should take her on, and they did.
“It totally changed my life, entirely,” Laura says.
“I went from being nervous and not really knowing what I was doing to this boss lady, entrepreneur, the world is my oyster sort of person.
“It all happened so quickly and I just rolled with it.
“I’ve never worked so hard at anything in my entire life.”
Inspiration from Perthshire
After the three month course, Laura decided to take the leap and work on Wear With Grace full-time.
She left her job at Hansen’s Kitchen, created her own website and contacted shops to stock her jewellery.
Wear With Grace jewellery is made from colourful polymer clay mixed with silver.
Laura finds inspiration in her rural Perthshire surroundings and loves photography.
She says: “I love Comrie and the artist community there is just incredible.
“They say that you can’t walk down the street without bumping into an artist or an architect, and it’s true.
“I was really lucky to begin in that environment, because even though there was a lockdown, there is still a real sense of creative community.
“I felt really nourished by that.”
With a dad and sister also in the creative industries, the three of them worked from home together during the pandemic.
Since starting up her brand, Laura has managed to get Wear With Grace stocked in shops across Scotland, from Kyle of Lochalsh to Edinburgh.
Wear With Grace is expanding
The 28-year-old recently packed up her Comrie studio and taken her tools to Glasgow to pursue an HND in jewellery.
Laura says: “I feel ready for that and Wear With Grace is ready for that, it’s growing up with me.
“I think it’s important to have those technical skills, the Wear With Grace brand will remain, I’ve laid the groundwork for that.
“But now I can do more technical, design-based stuff that I really love doing.
“I plan to expand on that a little bit more.”
In order to be a full-time student and run her business, Laura is realising she might have to seek help.
There is little time for photography and admin work because she is so busy creating jewellery.
Finding an employee will be the first little step towards the jeweller’s ultimate goal.
Laura says: “I’d love to have a shop.
“I love product photography and it’s all very theatrical, creating that effect, creating tiny sets and photographing my jewellery.
“I’d like to expand the styling and the product photography side of things and having a space to do that would be amazing as well as a little retail space.”
While not quite a shop, Laura has plans to go to a few Christmas markets to showcase and sell her earrings.
She will be visiting both V&A Dundee and Bowhouse in Fife over the festive season.