We met Rebel alumni Serean Williamson, a self-taught glass maker who sells colourful and reflective glass jewellery and home decor to learn all about her craft and setting up a business for it. Whilst Serean always had a love of making things, it wasn’t until 2011 when she took an evening class on beading that she discovered her passion for jewellery making.

This eventually led her to taking a fused glass course which allowed her to combine her passion for jewellery with her newfound glassmaking skills and start her business from her home in Edmonton.

“I’ve always been a maker – I can’t help it. It’s just something I do. I’ll give you an example. I’ll be in meetings and if there’s a slip of paper, I’ll turn it into a ring or something because my hands need something to do.”

I’m always carrying around a notebook to jot down ideas and take lots of photos of things that inspire me. I find inspiration everywhere, from the way light falls on a window to the texture of a fallen leaf. I’ve only ever been on one formal kiln formed glass course, instead I prefer to learn through experimentation and researching techniques online.”

After soft launching her business on Etsy, Serean joined the Rebel Business School course to get a top up of what she needed to do to grow her business.

“While attending the Rebel course, I learned the importance of building trust with customers through every aspect of my business. This was my number one takeaway, and it gave my business more shape. I also picked up other nuggets, like social media strategies and networking. Since the course, I’ve been more focused on my social media presence and even signed up for a challenge to further improve it.

Overall, attending Rebel Business School was a positive experience that helped me refine my branding and other important details.”

Reflecting on the past, looking forward to the future:

“If I could go back and give my younger self advice on starting my business, it would be to experiment more! You’ve got to give yourself time to figure out what your style is and what you want to be known for. Don’t be afraid to try new things, even if they don’t work out. And once you find your style, go for it! But be open to tweaking it a little bit along the way to make it better.”

When people hear I do jewellery they always ask, ‘do you do gemstones?’ and I always say no, it’s not my thing. I like working with glass and I have my own style with it, so I like to add little detail bits to my earrings and people seem to love it. It takes a bit more work, but it’s worth it. And above all, have fun with it! That’s how everything started for me.

So go ahead, experiment, play, and be yourself – life’s too short not to!”