Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura Atwood.
Laura, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I was divorced with two kids and had to get myself together, so I decided to go back to college. I had always wanted to be an interior designer so off I went to college to become an interior designer. My last year in school I was hired as a showroom manager in the Merchandise Mart. I continued to work there for 2 years until I landed a job in an architectural firm on Michigan and Wacker. Thought I died and went to heaven… but I quickly found out that it was a lot of work and little money. I needed to do something to make ends meet, so I got my real estate license and piggy backed the two jobs….heck with my design background I could find out what their style was and sell them a house. Well my hunch was right. The first two weeks I sold my first house and made more money than I had in 3 months. That set me in motion to take another leap and quit the firm and start working in residential real estate full time. 10 years later I was offered a job in commercial real estate designing, building and selling. I won the award for top dollar, top volume in Rogers Park. I loved it until the real estate market dropped out and so did the company I worked for. Well here we go again, time to reinvent myself again. Having a background in fine art, I decided to start making jewelry. I signed up for every art show and went around to a few stores and there you have it…a new career. While I was making jewelry, I also started acting classes and was dabbling in that just in case I needed a backup plan. As time went on, I felt I needed to get more serious with myself. I started thinking about my bucket list items and one of them was having my own store. One thing lead to another and I purchased a building with a storefront. Boy, did it need a lot of work. Nine months of complete gut rehabbing.
I have been open for a year now and I started with 500 square feet of beads and jewelry. It has now evolved into 1,200 square feet with a clothing boutique on one side, beads on the other, housewares, baskets, vintage textiles and art from all over the world in the back.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
My favorite saying now is “If I wanted it done wrong, I would have done it myself”. The hardest thing to deal with is contractors and the struggle to keep everything moving forward so you don’t lose money.
Please tell us about Laura Atwood Studio Beads & Trading Co.
Laura Atwood Studio Beads & Trading Co. is my own jewelry combined with a dream of having a store filled with beads and art from all over the world. What sets me apart from others is that I realized early on, that life is one big stepping stone and if you don’t like the path your on you can make a new one. It won’t be easy at times but you have to preserver through it and you will reap the rewards.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Exploring through woods and streams on our 350 acre farm. I secretly wanted to be an archeologist.
Contact Info:
- Address: 9142 Broadway Avenue
Brookfield, Illinois 60513 - Website: www.lauraatwoodstudio.com
- Phone: 312.952.1339
- Email: laurasatwood@gmail.com
- Facebook: @lauraatwoodstudiobeads
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