Between Diamonds and Motherhood

Amy with her two beautiful daughters.

The universe has a mysterious way of guiding us. At a time when I was lost between ambition and timing, it sent me a gentle messenger who reminded me that motherhood isn’t something you schedule, it’s something your soul calls for.

Motherhood is the most beautiful and the most demanding job in the world. It changes everything: your priorities, your strength, and your heart. And when you’re a working mom, especially a business owner, the balance between building your dream and raising your children becomes both your greatest challenge and your greatest joy.

There’s never a perfect time. There’s never a perfect plan. Somehow, you just do it, with love, instinct, and a strength you didn’t know you had.

Many years ago, while I was working at my booth at the jewelry mart, I met a sweet woman named Kim who was visiting from Canada. She came in with her beautiful four-year-old daughter, they were in town to visit Disneyland. Kim wanted to upgrade her diamond ring, and as always, we started talking and connecting.

Kim was a very special human who came into my life, and I’ve always believed that we don’t meet people by accident. There’s a reason every soul crosses our path.

She shared her story with me, that she had focused on her career for years and didn’t start trying for children until she was 37. When she struggled to get pregnant, she began the IVF journey, but even that didn’t work. It wasn’t until she was 45 that she finally had her daughter.

Then she looked me straight in the eye and said something I will never forget:

Don’t think you can just decide when it’s the right time to have a child. The right moment will never come. Do it while you can, while you’re young.

Her words stayed with me. I told my husband about her, and he agreed. We decided to start a family.

I wasn’t expecting it to happen quickly, but less than a year after opening my new store, I was pregnant. My first daughter was born in August 2010, one year after I opened Brax Jewelers in Newport Beach in 2009.

At that time, my business wasn’t fully established. I didn’t have the right employees, I didn’t have enough customers, and I couldn’t afford to be away from the store. But I also couldn’t imagine leaving my baby with a sitter every day.

So I decided to do both.

I turned my office into a full nursery. I borrowed everything from my sister, the baby bed, the changing table, the stroller. Three days a week, I brought my daughter with me to the store, and the other three, she stayed with my mom or the babysitter.

Those were some of the hardest, and sweetest, years of my life.

She took her naps in that office. I’d feed her, change her, put her down, and then rush out to help customers. She learned to crawl in the store. She took her first steps in the store. She even had her little spot in the corner where she’d dance when music played.

Now, when she visits the store, I still show her the exact place where she learned to walk, the spot where she stood to go potty, and we both laugh.

Kim continued to visit me for the next four or five years, each time coming to California with her husband and daughter to visit Disneyland. She would stop by my Newport Beach store, meet my daughter, and buy a diamond piece each year. We had built a special friendship, and I always looked forward to seeing her and her family.

Then, many years later, a man and a beautiful teenage girl came into my store. As soon as I saw them, I recognized the girl, it was Kim’s daughter. Her father told me, with sadness in his voice, that Kim had passed away. He said they were keeping their tradition, visiting Disneyland and stopping by my store, in her memory. That day, her daughter bought a pair of diamond earrings. She was fifteen, the same little girl who had once been four years old when I met her mother.

I’ll never forget Kim. She will always have a place in my heart. She’s the reason I decided to become a mother, and because of her, I have my two beautiful daughters today. Rest inpeace, Kim.

When my second daughter was born, I tried to do the same thing, bring her with me to the store, but with two babies, it became impossible. Thankfully, by that time I had a better system and a few great employees. I started cutting back my hours so I could spend more time with my kids.

Throughout everything, I’ve always listened to my instincts, and my kids have always come first.

When my second daughter was three months old, one Friday morning, I was getting ready for work and felt that something wasn’t right. I can’t explain it. I just knew. It was around 11 a.m. I was rushing, we were short-staffed, I had multiple packages to ship, and only one employee at the store. But I couldn’t shake this feeling that something was off with her.

I called her doctor and said, “I need to bring her for a check-up. I feel like something is wrong.”

The nurse told me they had an appointment in half an hour and another one on Mondaymmorning. I paused for a second and said, “Okay, let’s do Monday morning.”

But as she was setting up the appointment, that strong mother’s instinct came over me, a voice that said, Go now. I made a U-turn in the car, called the nurse back, and said, “You know what? Change the appointment. I’m going to bring her right now.”

I went home, picked her up, and took her to the doctor. Within minutes of getting there, they called an ambulance, and we went straight to the hospital.

We stayed there for two weeks. I won’t go into the details, but by the grace of God, she came home healthy and happy. That experience changed me forever. It reminded me that a mother’s intuition is powerful, sacred, and always right.

From that day on, I promised myself that my kids would always come before my business. Whenever they had something going on, a performance, a field trip, a school event, I canceled everything to be there. I learned that it’s okay to lose a sale, to reschedule a meeting, or to close early, because those moments with your children never come back.

Although I’ve always tried to be present for all their activities and school events, I still missed a lot. But I did the best that I could. I always tell my daughters that I’m human, and I try my best, but the mom guilt is always there. I think it never really goes away, whether you’re a working mom or a stay-at-home mom.

I truly believe that both paths are equally hard and equally beautiful. Stay-at-home moms have a strength I deeply admire, it’s the hardest job in the world, and I know I couldn’t do it. This is the path I chose: to build a business that gives my daughters an example of courage, work ethic, and independence, while always knowing that they come first.

And to every mom reading this, whether you’re running a business, running a home, or just trying to make it through the day, please remember this: You are doing better than you think. There’s no such thing as the perfect mom, only a loving one.

You don’t have to do it all. You just have to do your best, and that’s enough. Be proud of yourself. You are raising tiny humans while chasing your own dreams. That’s not weakness, that’s strength in its purest form.

We all carry guilt, but we also carry grace. So take a deep breath, forgive yourself, and know that your children don’t need a perfect mom, they just need you.