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Brax Girl Ed 44: Ann Jeansonne
Building & Becoming There is something beautiful about reaching a season of life where you begin to realize that you are no longer simply following the path placed before you, you are choosing it for yourself. For Ann Jeansonne, this season is filled with that kind of becoming. She is engaged to her best friend, building a future alongside him, growing in a career she loves, nurturing a creative business of her own, and slowly giving herself permission to imagine a life defin

Team Brax
Sep 236 min read


Brax Girl Ed 43: Trinity Lopez Galmarini
The Beauty of Coming Full Circle Life has a way of bringing us back to familiar places as completely different versions of ourselves. For Trinity, the woman returning to Brax today is not the same young woman who once worked alongside Amy and the team. In just a few years, life has expanded in ways she could never have fully planned. She is now a wife. A mother. And a woman learning to find fulfillment in a quieter, more meaningful kind of life. “Becoming a mom has completely

Team Brax
Aug 275 min read


I Choose Possibility
A reflection on business, perspective, and choosing what comes next There is one question I have always found strangely awkward to answer: “How is business?” In the jewelry industry, we ask each other this all the time. I hear it from vendors, other jewelers, people I meet at shows, and friends in the industry. My answer is usually very simple. “Good.” And sometimes I get this look. Almost like I gave the wrong answer. Because there is always something we are supposed to be w

Amy Astaraee
Aug 184 min read


Tune In to Who You're Becoming
A Becoming Her reflection It had only been about two years since I moved to the United States when a friend invited me to a women's luncheon. She was a realtor from England, and she told me, "You should come. It will be good for your business. You'll meet people and they can get to know you." At that point, I was still very shy about speaking English with people outside of the Persian community. My English wasn't fluent. I had an accent. I worried about making grammar mistake

Amy Astaraee
Aug 185 min read


Brax Girl Ed 42: Carsen Moore
Where Adventure Meets Home Some people spend their lives searching for home. Others discover that home isn't always a place. Sometimes, it's a person. For Carsen Moore, life has been shaped by movement. From growing up in the waterfront town of Gig Harbor, Washington, to living in Hawaii, Iowa, Alaska, and now California, every place has left its mark. "I've been fortunate enough to live in Hawaii, Iowa, Alaska, and now California. Each place has shaped me in different ways a

Team Brax
Jul 235 min read


Brax Girl Ed 41: Jordan Cook
Building a Life That Feels Like Home There comes a moment after the wedding is over, after the dress is packed away and the photos have been shared, when marriage quietly begins. Not in grand gestures. But in ordinary mornings, shared routines, future plans, and the comforting realization that you're no longer preparing for life together, you're already living it. For Jordan Cook, this season has been exactly that. A season of building. "Today I feel like someone who's built

Team Brax
Jun 294 min read


Brax Girl Ed 40: Samantha Gliniak
Love, Grace & Building a Life That Feels True Some women carry strength quietly. Not in grand declarations or perfectly curated moments, but in the way they continue showing up, for their families, for themselves, and for the life they’ve worked hard to build. Samantha Gliniak is one of those women. An oncology RN, mother of three, newlywed, animal lover, and woman who rebuilt her life through resilience and intention, Samantha speaks about love and family with refreshing hon

Team Brax
May 204 min read


Brax Girl Ed 39: Michelle Southworth
Grace in the Chaos, Beauty in the Becoming There are women who seem to hold entire worlds in their hands, women who nurture, build, pray, create, and love deeply, often all at once. Michelle is one of them. A believer, wife, mother to twin girls, and expecting a baby boy this July, Michelle is living a season many would call overwhelming. She calls it growth. “I’m building my business, raising my girls, and just doing my best to balance it all while keeping it real,” she says

Team Brax
Apr 284 min read


The Four Levels of Happiness
What my business taught me about success, purpose, and what truly matters A few weeks ago, I was driving my daughter to school early in the morning. She was preparing for her theology test, holding a paper in her hands and trying to memorize everything before class. As she was reading out loud, something caught my attention. The paper was talking about the different levels of happiness. The first level was the kind of happiness you get from physical things. Food, pleasure, so

Amy Astaraee
Mar 243 min read
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