From Bead Woven Jewellery to Self-Discovery: A Journey of Passion and Resilience

There is nothing I love more than celebrating your individuality with my sustainably handcrafted, lightweight and incredibly versatile, bespoke bridal, wedding and occasion Indian inspired jewellery. Designed with you in mind, handcrafted to be lightweight and comfortable to wear, the perfect compliment to your occasion wear and this is why...

Hello & Welcome Beautiful Soul!

I am Megha, the owner, founder, jewellery designer & artisan behind Mayaani Jewellery! And this is my story. Named after my children, my business is incredibly close to my heart because it is about so much more than just creating beautiful pieces of jewellery although, that is where this story begins...

The confusing early days 

As with so many South Asians in the UK my life experiences were a cultural melting pot of beautiful confusion. UK born and raised in Kenya, I returned to the UK in my early teenage years and experienced all of the confusion and emotional trauma associated with leaving a secure, welcoming, close knit Gujarati community to enter a new largely Western community in which traces of my heritage were few and far between.

As a UK born Gujarati, who spent her childhood in Kenya and teenage years in England, I grew up in a mixed household as the eldest child to a traditional father and a less traditional (but working to be more traditional) mother. Despite showing artistic abilities from a young age, my natural born pursuit of the arts was never considered meaningful enough to become a profession. My upbringing was a confusing mixture of traditional and non-traditional values. I grew up in a part of the UK where I was the only brown person in my entire grammar school and where there was very little access to my culture and heritage. 

This was a huge shock for me having come from Kenya where I was accustomed to celebrating all of my cultural traditions, partaking in everything from the well known celebrations of Holi, Rakshabandhan and Deepavali (Diwali) to lesser known Shravan Mahino and Norta (Navratri in Gujarati). I went to school with Indian children and my best friends were Sikh, Muslim and Jain. Living in the UK was a far cry from all of this.

I had a deep desire to please my parents and did everything I could to win their approval. I was an A* student, I was always available to support my parents whether it was with housework, giving my dad company on his journeys as a salesman, even providing head and foot massages! It never occurred to me to rebel. I struggled to stand up for myself. I felt a deep sense of self-loathing and guilt for any negative feelings towards my parents who as wounded people were both physically and emotionally abusive. Something they still do not recognise today and which, as the eldest child, I bore the brunt of so my siblings cannot fully relate to. 

I suppose making jewellery was a form of escapism for me, I witnessed my power to create something beautiful and free from judgement. This is an art form I was very kindly introduced to, in one single afternoon, by our neighbour Jan at the age of 16! That was it! I was hooked!

Every spare moment I had from then on, alongside every bit of pocket money, was spent towards creating pieces of jewellery and investing in beading materials. I created numerous pieces for friends which I often gifted away with a few pieces created for my sisters. It was my love of jewellery making which inspired my college young enterprise team to set up a jewellery business with which we raised money for charity. Incredibly, the then Mayor of Maidstone purchased my most expensive and largest piece which back then was naively priced and sold for £20GBP!

Within two years, I moved away from following patterns, which Jan kindly shared, to creating my own designs born completely out of the depths of my imagination and infused with my culture and life experiences. It had never occurred to me that my passion could actually be my profession in life! 

 

The seed of possibility

The seed of possibility was planted in my mind by my careers adviser at my grammar school who, on seeing just one of my bracelets, said 'that is what you should do' when discussing my university options! However, the weight of responsibility on my shoulders to set a 'good' example for my siblings and be a 'perfect' child for my parents, meant I ended up focussing on my 'secondary career' as I was advised to. I remember it vividly, my mum hearing me talk about my desire to pursue a jewellery design course at university and telling me 'you can always do that afterwards but get your secondary career in place first'. 

I realise now this was utter nonsense! There is no such thing as a secondary career! Your passion should be your career because it is the thing you are not only going to be the best at, but the thing you are going to excel at and the only thing that will help pull you through whatever challenges life brings.

As I began my university degree course, attending the very same university I wanted to pursue my jewellery design course at, I found myself becoming even more a shell of myself than I already was. During my first year, I had this real internal conflict which rose up and had me contemplating an arranged marriage to move to America and suicide (both escapism)! I was so torn between what my parents wanted, my fear of what might happen to them financially if I changed course (my secondary career choice came with an NHS bursary but, the jewellery design course did not) and a huge uncertainty about how to even go about changing my career path.

So I battled it, I pushed the feelings down, I pulled myself through this challenging time and I received a sign of hope in the form of my now husband who came into my life.

My sign of hope 

Ever since the age of 11, I promised myself I would remain a spinster unless I could find my soul mate whoever that might be irrespective of his racial background.

Why?

The relationship I witnessed between my mother and father was something I did not and would not wish upon anyone! Two people who never even asked each other if they wanted to be married. Two people went on just one date at the end of which they went to one of my father's relatives houses to find both of their families there throwing them an engagement party! Can you imagine what that does to a person? Neither of them had the courage to speak up and say no.

So when Gwinyai walked into my life, I knew it was not going to be easy but, I was not going to let him go! My dad had supported some unconventional couplings in Kenya, the most memorable of which was between a Hindu man and a Muslim lady. So in my mind it would be hypocritical of him to object, not to mention incredibly racist and prejudiced. Gwinyai is my soul mate, I knew it from the moment we met, I felt the familiarity of meeting someone you have known for a lifetime. Nothing was going to make me let this dream go challenging as it might be to hold on to it... to him. So for a little while, I was completely happy or should I say, my professional desires were held at bay, as I found myself distracted in a beautiful world in which I was truly and unconditionally loved. Something I never had growing up.

Working life and financial decisions

But my dream of having my own jewellery business, that seed of possibility planted when I was exploring university choices, kept on growing behind the scenes and in the shadows of my awareness. Yes I graduated with a 1:1 Honours Degree in my secondary career, Human Communication: Speech & Language Therapy and worked for almost 7 years as an Adult Speech & Language Therapist. But there was always something that was not quite right.

In my first job it was my team and my Indian manager's negative attitude (which she aired freely at team meetings) towards my personal relationship choices which created a toxic work environment. I was actually told I was hired because I was seen a perfect marriage match for my manager's relative! I had to move away. I needed a change.

Supported by Gwinyai, I decided to look for a way into my jewellery career but, as I looked for an alternative job, an opportunity for promotion arose which brought with it an increase in our finances. Gwinyai and I were in London and it was expensive, everything was expensive. This opportunity for a promotion meant a change of location and a pay rise so I went for it, moving away from my goals of pursuing my jewellery career and further into my secondary career.

BUT, guess what?! I found fault with this second job as well. This time it was the senior team member in charge of my development. She seemed incredibly averse to supporting career progression which was demoralising for myself and my fellow junior colleagues. So, this led to another change of job which led me to a fantastic team. I could not ask for a better team really. They were brilliant and I was being fully supported to develop my skills. So what happened?

The proposal of a lifetime!

YES! Gwinyai proposed!

It was absolutely beautiful! I had no idea! I raced home from work and caught the train into London. He told me he had secured some Groupon vouchers for a lovely meal at a seafood restaurant in Mayfair! So I got dressed up and for the very first time put my makeup on whilst travelling on the train. My legs were killing me! I had to pretty much run home from work. I got to Mayfair in time and Gwinyai very casually asked if we could stop by at an art gallery because a friend of his from work was a painter and had one of his art pieces on display. 

It was the Alon Zakaim gallery and, as we walked in, I started by looking at the wall just behind the door asking if Gwinyai knew what the painting was called. He moved behind me and suggested we look on the opposite wall. There in the corner of the gallery, on a tall table, was a picture I recognised! A painting of a photo of me which only I would recognise because it showed the back of my head but, I knew this photograph very well because it was his favourite! And as I turned to ask him why there was a painting of me in this gallery he was down on one knee and asked me to marry him!

As so many couples do, we paid for our wedding and we wanted it to be a beautiful affair for our families but, we quickly realised with our current income that might be a challenge especially for a wedding in the South East of England! So I went into contract work and met yet another beautiful team close to the coast who were wonderfully supportive and offered me a permanent job and a further promotion. BUT by this point I had reached the end of my tether. I could no longer keep lying to myself and the reality was very clear. The job was the problem. I was never meant for it and it was never meant for me no matter how much people applauded my skills.

The dawn of a new period of self-discovery

And so I resigned from my contracting role and, my history of changing jobs every two years, and signed up with an agency to look for temporary work to rediscover myself and find career satisfaction. I found a fantastic role as a secretary which saw me being permanently hired and promoted to an Executive PA level all within four months. I loved it! I was in my element using my natural organisation skills in a bustling environment full of fast paced changes which required me to think on my feet a lot.

As our family began to grow and my desire to care for my children kicked in, I turned to becoming a full time home educator leaving full time formal employment with the full support of Gwinyai (who is the real hero in all of this). And along this new adventure I discovered an appreciation for the natural world around me, turning my attention to living more sustainably to create a better future for my children, learning to love my body, re-discovering the importance of standing up for myself (I wanted to be a role model for my children) and finding new ways to support my family. I told myself I did not have the time to pursue my jewellery making career with a young family. Although, I managed to make time to tutor two students learning English as a second language!

It was my younger sister's wedding jewellery request which finally put an end to my procrastination. I had kept my love of beading alive through the years although, I had to take a brief break once I became a mum because I worried about my little ones getting their hands on the tiny little beads I work with.

My sister requested her bridal hand piece which grew into a request for a headpiece (once she had seen my design draft of her bracelet) and, ended in me creating a neckpiece and earrings to match because I realised she was never going to find a match for the pieces I had created for her... and I was right!

Each piece was designed with her preferences and style in mind and to create the perfect compliment for her Sabyasachi inspired wedding lehenga. As I designed and handcrafted this hugely intricate, time consuming bridal set over two months, delivering it to my sister two months ahead of schedule, with my baby boy strapped to me and my toddler daughter (who never went to nursery and there was no babysitter for), I realised this was it! I was meant to do this NOW! Even my daughter Tayana (back then a toddler) could see it and, as we spoke about how we are all born to do something in this life, she commented 'this is yours mama', meaning creating jewellery is my calling, to which I replied 'you know what sweetheart, I think you're right!'

And that was it. I stopped making excuses, I stopped waiting for the 'right time' and I just started.

My why

Throughout this journey, Mayaani Jewellery (formerly called Tayaani Jewellery) has revealed hidden depths to why it is so deeply meaningful to me.

Designing and handcrafting unique, one-of-a-kind pieces of Indian style and Indian inspired jewellery is not only my dream and my calling in life, but I want to show my children living a life following your dreams can be chaotic and full of uncertainty but, it is absolutely worthwhile and not worth living without trying!

I want to show the world jewellery made from humble materials can and does exist and it can absolutely rival traditional concepts of luxury jewellery which tend to feature copious amounts of precious metals and precious stones. Because I believe luxury lies in the artistry not the perceived value of the materials you use. Ask a person to paint with the best paints in the World and you will get a painting but, it is only art if the person behind that painting is truly an artist!

I know there is a better more sustainable way for us to both enjoy luxury jewellery and work towards living more in harmony with our environment and that begins with embracing the beauty of 'less is more'. Invest in just a handful of truly unique, artistically created, high quality pieces of jewellery which provide you with multiple options for styling so you can achieve all of your styling dreams without needing to invest in 'more'.

And I genuinely believe jewellery is a beautiful form of empowering self-expression and should always be as unique as the individual wearing it! It has been there for me when I have felt incredibly ugly. Suddenly wearing a piece (which once I found it, I wore every single day) had me walking differently and feeling more confident about myself. 

Above all, there is nothing more beautiful than embracing who you are, your strengths and your flaws, your past and your present. And there is nothing more cruel in this world than the lengths people go to alienate you from your inner self even in the name of love.

Through my jewellery, I have reconnected myself with who I am, and learnt to embrace my heritage, something which I tried to cover up and hide having felt like it was something that might stigmatise me in a Western society. I have discovered bead work and the artistry of jewellery crafting runs in my blood with glass bead making arising in Northern India. With every design I celebrate my rich cultural heritage and ancestry and I welcome you to celebrate your individuality in a deep meaningful way connected to your culture and heritage so you can bridge any disconnect you might feel from it growing up in a predominantly Western society.

As I break free from the chains of conformity that have bound me for so long, I support you to realise your styling wishes (which you may never even have known existed in as much detail as you will discover when we work together) and create the opportunity for you to embrace the grandeur of ancient royals, the sense of wonder and fulfilment that comes from making a more sustainable choice and the beauty in being able to wear your jewellery multiple different ways for many years beyond a single occasion.

"Boldly stride into the biggest days of your life in style which dares to be different."

Because your jewellery should always be more than just an afterthought...

Megha

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