We had the good fortune of connecting with Dominique Ranieri and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dominique, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
There is this perception that you should make a career out of doing what you love, your one true “passion”. I disagree. I think that you should like what you do, but I don’t think it necessarily has to be an all-consuming, singular, enveloping passion that you can’t live without. I love jewelry and everything that goes along with it: garnering inspiration, design, fabrication, acquiring new skills, engaging with customers. But this is only one manifestation of my many passions. I love it, but could I be fulfilled without it? Probably. I am a maker, and my passions lie within making. I could be fulfilled making a wide array of things.

The slowdown of day-to-day life during the pandemic has helped me embrace my other passions, and I’ve learned that jewelry doesn’t have to conflict with or supersede those other passions. We’ve all had time to rediscover ourselves, to relearn lost skills and interests. I had more time and space to breathe. I found momentum to exercise my other passions: cooking, interior design, fostering dogs, being outdoors, reading, the list goes on. This time has been invaluable to me.

I can go to my studio, I can grind out my work, escape into my own little world and tune out everything else. Afterward, I leave it there. I don’t bring it home with me. When I began my business in 2017, my boundaries were much murkier–the line where my business ended and my home life began. There wasn’t much of a distinction. I was answering requests 24/7, always feeling guilty if I wasn’t being productive. At home, where I can’t physically produce work, I felt plagued by the need to create content, work on increasing my online presence, schedule, all of the other little things that go along with running a small business.

Over the years, I’ve learned to implement boundaries for the sake of my mental and physical health. It’s important to have your work be just that–work. I am passionate about it, but it doesn’t mean that it needs to consume every facet of my life. I go home, I stop checking emails, I turn off notifications, and I leave all of my business energy at my studio. It can wait until tomorrow.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My art is jewelry, particularly the practice of metalsmithing. It’s an increasingly unpopular art form as the industry moves toward mass-produced, computer fabricated jewelry. This has it’s advantages, but puts a level of dissonance between maker and product. I handmade all of my work from start to finish. Most pieces begin with sheet metal. Sometimes, I carve pieces out of wax and cast them. I saw, file, forge, and polish each piece by hand.

Was it easy? Absolutely not. I think we can break the process down into two main categories-design and fabrication. It is hard to be good at both, and the scale is constantly weighing heavier on one side in terms of what I enjoy more or what comes more easily. Sometimes I’m teeming with ideas that I can’t quite seem to bring to fruition. Sometimes I get into a meditative groove of fabricating and a year could go by without having created something new.

I began by taking classes at a metalsmithing studio in New Orleans. About two years and 6 classes later, I took a leap of faith and quit my jobs to focus full-time on creating a business making jewelry. I started at art markets around the city, which turned into art markets around the country, which turned into selling wholesale to small boutiques.

The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that you need to truly believe in the value of your work. Your confidence is just as important as the quality of your work, if not more. If you believe it has value, others will too. I guess this is a more convoluted way of saying, “fake it til you make it.”

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I love our neighborhood bars in New Orleans. There’s nothing like taking your dog for a walk, passing by your neighborhood watering hole, stopping for a to-go drink, running into a friend and letting the hours slip by. That’s the beauty of New Orleans-the community and spontaneity. Aside from that, I love taking people to go eat crawfish. Crawfish boils at friends’ or family’s homes are a real treat, and the best way for a visitor to get a real glimpse into a southern community tradition.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I hate to be so cliche, but my family deserves the foremost credit it my story. My mom and dad always encouraged my creativity growing up and raised me to really believe I was capable of anything I set my mind to. They have always been so supportive of anything I have tried do, regardless of whether or not they thought it was a reasonable path to take. If this weren’t true, I may have taken a more normative life path. Also, I must mention my lady friends in New Orleans who have been supporting my business from Day One, even when my jewelry wasn’t that great. They still showed up, bought my work, shouted me out on Instagram. My best friends are my original customer base.

Website: www.dominiqueranieri.com

Instagram: @dominique_ranieri

Image Credits
Katie Sikora

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