If we start way back, I was born in NYC and moved to Tel Aviv as a toddler. Both of my parents were artists—my mother a painter and my dad an architect (who also designed the very modern house we lived in). Growing up, my life was filled with culture, art, design, color and textile.
Moving back and forth from NYC and Long Island, where I spent my summers, to my school years in Tel Aviv gave me the gift of feeling I belonged in two worlds. After serving two years in the army (in Israel everyone goes to the army), I moved back to NYC and attended Parsons School of Design, majoring in communication design. I continued to live in NYC for five years and eventually moved back to Tel Aviv.
I was always very attracted to the fashion world, and once back in Tel Aviv, I started working as a fashion stylist. After a few years, I started working as a fashion editor and creative director, which I did for over 20 years.
I was, however, always torn between my love for Israel and the dream my husband and I had of moving to and living in Vermont. I dreamt that one day we would pack up and move. As the years went by, we realized if we didn’t move soon, we never would. Our three sons were growing up, and we decided as a family to be adventurous and just do it!
“You are never too old to set another goal or dream a new dream.” – C.S. Lewis
In July 2005, we packed up our home in Tel Aviv, said goodbye to family and friends and moved to a small Vermont village. I was 47 at the time. Most people thought we were crazy, but we wanted to experience something else—a different life, a simpler life; a country life.
The first year was brutal. I went from living a crazy busy lifestyle of a fashion editor with all the bells and whistles including fashion and cover shoots, worldwide fashion shows and non-stop being the center of attention to a screeching halt. It was a giant adjustment, and I felt as if I had fallen through the earth. It was very scary at first, but I kept reminding myself that this was our dream— living in Vermont with a big garden, a lovely house, four beautiful seasons, peace and quiet, and a dreamy place for our three boys to grow up in.
I had believed I would find creative work right away and dreamed of working in interior design, which I dabbled in back home in Israel, but Vermont proved to be a very difficult place for this. Most people were heavily into DIY, and I couldn’t find enough work, so while waiting for clients, I started making jewelry. I had to start from scratch and taught myself everything by reading and watching tutorials. I then heard about Etsy which was in its baby stages so I decided to open a shop on their platform, which quickly became my full-time job.
Luckily, at the time, everything I made sold, which was so encouraging! Color became the key feature of my jewelry line, Nest Pretty Things, and is what continues to separate us from others, allowing us to stand out and be unique. I am very attracted to color and love to find unusual color combinations.
As I started to be creative again, my whole world changed, and I remembered why we made the decision to move. I felt I was now finally getting a grasp of my life again. It was the best decision I ever made. The change of career also enabled me to work from home and spend more time with my three boys.
Our jewelry remains affordable, fun and romantic with a touch of Boho.
Five years ago, when my youngest kiddo left for college, we moved the business to a beautiful studio in downtown Burlington.—just 10 minutes away from our home. My husband came on board a year later when we launched our website and started working with retailers. The studio is in an old warehouse building that was converted into a studio and office spaces, where we have an amazing cafe and a gallery in the lobby. We are just one block away from the lake where I love taking breaks and stretching my legs.
Now, 13 years into the business, I have a thriving jewelry retail and wholesale career in my business, Nest Pretty Things. We sell to countless shops around the USA and also recently started selling in Japan.
Whenever people ask me how I had the courage to move and start a new career at this late age, I realize I just kept thinking about the alternative—and, most of all, I wanted a change. I wanted to become my own boss and not work for anyone else. I wanted to experience a different way of living. Both my husband and I feel like citizens of the world now; we love to travel, explore new places and spend time in a place and not just pass through.
Now at 61, instead of winding down like most of my friends, we are in full business mode. I still do all my own social media, branding and of course all my designs, and we still make all our jewelry to order, but we now have a wonderful team of three workers. In our near future, we are planning on creating shopping events in the studio and expanding our sales to more shops around the world.
If we start way back, I was born in NYC and moved to Tel Aviv as a toddler. Both of my parents were artists—my mother a painter and my dad an architect (who also designed the very modern house we lived in). Growing up, my life was filled with culture, art, design, color and textile.
Moving back and forth from NYC and Long Island, where I spent my summers, to my school years in Tel Aviv gave me the gift of feeling I belonged in two worlds. After serving two years in the army (in Israel everyone goes to the army), I moved back to NYC and attended Parsons School of Design, majoring in communication design. I continued to live in NYC for five years and eventually moved back to Tel Aviv.
I was always very attracted to the fashion world, and once back in Tel Aviv, I started working as a fashion stylist. After a few years, I started working as a fashion editor and creative director, which I did for over 20 years.
I was, however, always torn between my love for Israel and the dream my husband and I had of moving to and living in Vermont. I dreamt that one day we would pack up and move. As the years went by, we realized if we didn’t move soon, we never would. Our three sons were growing up, and we decided as a family to be adventurous and just do it!
“You are never too old to set another goal or dream a new dream.” – C.S. Lewis
In July 2005, we packed up our home in Tel Aviv, said goodbye to family and friends and moved to a small Vermont village. I was 47 at the time. Most people thought we were crazy, but we wanted to experience something else—a different life, a simpler life; a country life.
The first year was brutal. I went from living a crazy busy lifestyle of a fashion editor with all the bells and whistles including fashion and cover shoots, worldwide fashion shows and non-stop being the center of attention to a screeching halt. It was a giant adjustment, and I felt as if I had fallen through the earth. It was very scary at first, but I kept reminding myself that this was our dream— living in Vermont with a big garden, a lovely house, four beautiful seasons, peace and quiet, and a dreamy place for our three boys to grow up in.
I had believed I would find creative work right away and dreamed of working in interior design, which I dabbled in back home in Israel, but Vermont proved to be a very difficult place for this. Most people were heavily into DIY, and I couldn’t find enough work, so while waiting for clients, I started making jewelry. I had to start from scratch and taught myself everything by reading and watching tutorials. I then heard about Etsy which was in its baby stages so I decided to open a shop on their platform, which quickly became my full-time job.
Luckily, at the time, everything I made sold, which was so encouraging! Color became the key feature of my jewelry line, Nest Pretty Things, and is what continues to separate us from others, allowing us to stand out and be unique. I am very attracted to color and love to find unusual color combinations.
As I started to be creative again, my whole world changed, and I remembered why we made the decision to move. I felt I was now finally getting a grasp of my life again. It was the best decision I ever made. The change of career also enabled me to work from home and spend more time with my three boys.
Our jewelry remains affordable, fun and romantic with a touch of Boho.
Five years ago, when my youngest kiddo left for college, we moved the business to a beautiful studio in downtown Burlington.—just 10 minutes away from our home. My husband came on board a year later when we launched our website and started working with retailers. The studio is in an old warehouse building that was converted into a studio and office spaces, where we have an amazing cafe and a gallery in the lobby. We are just one block away from the lake where I love taking breaks and stretching my legs.
Now, 13 years into the business, I have a thriving jewelry retail and wholesale career in my business, Nest Pretty Things. We sell to countless shops around the USA and also recently started selling in Japan.
Whenever people ask me how I had the courage to move and start a new career at this late age, I realize I just kept thinking about the alternative—and, most of all, I wanted a change. I wanted to become my own boss and not work for anyone else. I wanted to experience a different way of living. Both my husband and I feel like citizens of the world now; we love to travel, explore new places and spend time in a place and not just pass through.
Now at 61, instead of winding down like most of my friends, we are in full business mode. I still do all my own social media, branding and of course all my designs, and we still make all our jewelry to order, but we now have a wonderful team of three workers. In our near future, we are planning on creating shopping events in the studio and expanding our sales to more shops around the world.
