Before my venture into a local bead shop on a whim several years ago, I never paid much attention to gemstones or pearls.

I grew up in a small community in South Louisiana and eventually migrated to New Orleans to attend college. If you have ever been to New Orleans, then you know it has quite a bit of European flair with a great deal of fascinating history. I was like a sponge, just absorbing all of the different ethnicities, customs and traditions that this wonderful city had to offer.

Since I had always been intrigued by different cultures, foreign lands, geology, archaeology and history, whenever I had the means and opportunity (which my profession afforded me quite often) to travel to faraway places, I jumped at the chance! I have always been a firm believer that traveling or exploring outside of one’s comfort zone is the best education one can have. And each time I came home, I realized how fortunate I was to live in the United States but part of me always longed to keep learning and discovering how other people of the world lived.
Life was really good and I thought I would always call New Orleans my home but things changed after living there for 30 years. When I met and married Ken, life became even better and we relocated to Alexandria, Louisiana because of his career. We settled in and I continued with my professional recruiting career.

Like most women, I knew about diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds, some semi-precious gemstones, “birthstones”, and the precious metals. I had purchased my fair share of jewelry from top designers, high-end jewelry stores, and kept in touch with the latest trends while browsing through fashionable magazines and catalogs.

However, that unplanned trip to the bead shop opened my eyes to a whole different world – one that showcased Mother Nature’s geological beauties, both raw and refined. I instantly fell in love!

On my way home, I could not get over the splendor of the jaspers, agates, quartz, coral and pearls (just to name a few) but knew instinctively that I needed to make them part of my life. When I returned home from my spontaneous outing, I surprised my husband by telling him I wanted to create jewelry – not just any jewelry – but pieces that were uniquely different. Of course not having made anything “artsy” in my life, with the exception of a construction paper daisy chain in elementary school, Ken was skeptical but supportive.

Reflecting upon my jewelry purchases and style of fashion, I realized that I was wearing what everyone else had. It struck me that I was tired of seeing “cookie cutter” baubles, no matter how expensive or which designer’s name was affiliated with them. Everyone had the same look, including me, with no sense of individuality. From the sidelines, I had always admired or maybe even envied those who did not abide by the rules of fashion and did their own thing. Was I the only one feeling this way? Apparently not.

With downtime away from my professional job due to health issues, I started to dabble a bit with “beading” or “stringing.” After a lot of reading, researching and much trial and error, Dare to be Different Jewelry Designs was launched from our dining room table.

Before long, my pieces were getting noticed and orders were being placed. My “think outside of the box” and “it doesn’t have to match” mantras were catching on. Trunk shows, art galleries and boutique displays followed. As they say (whoever “they” are), the rest is history.

I will continue to make every effort to create something for everyone – be it chunky or delicate, single or multi-strand, pearls or gemstones, silver or gold, ancient or new – as long as one would like to own a “one of a kind” or limited edition piece of jewelry that says “I dare to be different!”

My heartfelt thanks go to everyone who have made this dream come true, especially my husband, who has somehow managed to keep his sanity while maintaining his own career and living with me, our 12 cats, 5 dogs, 2 koi fish and more than 100 purple ceramic cows.

Debra Pitre Hertz, Designer