Meet Allie Keast | Jeweler | Metalsmith | Lapidarist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Allie Keast and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Allie, what role has risk played in your life or career?

Risk has honestly played a huge role in my career. Initially when I went to Massart in Boston, my intended major was Painting & Illustration because this was all I had experience in, and I knew I wanted to do something with my creativity. I went in with zero experience in metals, and it wasn’t until I saw the metals studio onsite that something just clicked. I remember feeling nervous to call my parents and tell them I was considering majoring in something I had no knowledge in, because I had a lot of faith in my illustration abilities, but none with metals. I ultimately decided to go for it – and had it not been for that risk, I wouldn’t have the business I have today.

The summer after graduating from college, I decided to quit my day job to pursue Jewelry fulltime. Dropping large amounts of money on supplies and equipment with no guarantee things would sell was probably one of the scariest risks I’ve taken.

Now, even as an experienced Jeweler, I find myself taking risks almost daily and I’ve learned to not fear them, but rather embrace them. A lot of jewelry making and metalsmithing is taking risks because it’s a lot of problem solving. I regularly receive commission projects that push me to learn or fine tune new skills that I wouldn’t ordinarily do in my own day-to-day pieces. I’ve worked on projects incorporating human ashes, breast milk, unique stones, you name it. A few of these particular clients had told me that other Jewelers would not take on their project because it wasn’t something they had experience in. In each of these instances, I’ve been elated to take them on and challenge myself to a new technique.

Welcoming risk into my life has made me grow as both a Jeweler and a person. It’s helped push me forward in my career. I’ve learned that I can’t be scared when I don’t feel like an expert in something I’m doing, because I am going to fail at some things. This business is all about making mistakes and a lot of people are afraid of this. I can’t imagine a career now without risk in it.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Jewelry has been a wonderful platform for me to capture and appreciate the little moments. I’m a self-proclaimed packrat. I’m always collecting so many random things I don’t need and jewelry has definitely been my outlet for repurposing all of my found treasures.

I like to give these lost objects a new life and something that is very exciting to me about designing with found objects are the amount of questions they carry – Who did it once belong to? Where did it come from? Where has it been? Could it talk? If so, what story would it tell? Hundreds of years from now someone could see my jewelry and ask themselves these same questions.

Taking something old and discarded and turning it into fine jewelry isn’t always easy. Beauty is totally in the eye of the beholder and not everyone thinks what I think is pretty. Its a delicate balance to create pieces with these found objects in a tasteful way. The metals and techniques I use certainly help make these objects more attractive.

There’s beauty everywhere and we should all stop and take a second to appreciate it. I want anyone who carries my jewelry to think about the life of the piece they’re holding and truly appreciate it’s past, present, and future.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Assuming this was in a non covid world, I’d probably take them to Humarock beach in Marshfield, MA one day to collect beach stones and shells. Then we’d go to Wingaersheek beach in Gloucester another day to find some sand dollars and shark eye and moon shells.

If the weather was nice, I’d book us a campsite at Ace of Diamonds in New York and we’d spend a couple days mining for Herkimer Diamonds.

For some chill time out on the town, I’d take them to the Model in Allston for a couple beers and some dancing.

We’d probably cap most evenings hanging out with my close friends and watching some crappy reality TV.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?

Aside from the obvious love and support from my family and friends, the person I credit most is my dear friend and business partner, Paige Hensel.

We met 6 years ago both working at a coffee shop in my hometown. From that point on we have maintained an awesome friendship. She was one of my first customers to buy my jewelry when I was a freshman in college, still trying to navigate the bench. Looking back at the quality of them, I’m not sure how or why she ever wore them in public. But I’m grateful that she did.

Paige had moved away and we were kind of doing our own thing for a few years when she came back into my life with a proposal to collaborate professionally.

She was working with a plus size influencer at the time and came to me to share the message that there was a huge discrepancy in plus size friendly rings, and that I should open my pieces up to accommodate everyone. Before I knew it, this all turned into a bigger working relationship when Paige became my fulltime business partner.

She came on and helped give my brand the identity it had been searching for and me the support I didn’t realize I needed to propel this business forward. She got our e-commerce website up and running, redesigned our website, helped manage customer engagement and so many more critical things I’m not sure I would have been able to do myself.

She keeps me in check and knows exactly when to give me a good kick in the pants. She truly allows me to put time and care into the work that I do that allows us both room to grow together.

Website: www.alliekeastjewelry.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alliekeastjewelry/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alliekeastjewelry

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJYYErr8M5MUoq5VOuGjmoQ

Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/AllieKeastJewelry?ref=seller-platform-mcnav