Meet Laura, Summer '21 Jewelry Ambassador!

I’m so happy to be representing Beth Millner Jewelry this summer, and thought I would share a little bit of my story to tell you why I was so drawn to this opportunity.   

Enjoying a hike in the wilderness.

When I was really little, about 4 years old in 1980 or so, my family packed up a car and we moved from Kentucky where I was born to the wild UP wilderness of Rock, MI…a tiny town with one flashing light between Marquette and Escanaba.  My dad built a little a-frame cabin, dug a well, and we lived deep in the woods off the grid there for years, 5 miles down a dirt road.  My memories of that time are just pure bliss, running wild and free in the woods, learning how to not get lost in the woods, catching snakes, picking berries, climbing trees, building forts, learning to garden, skiing everywhere on some ancient wooden skis.  I learned to ride my ancient banana seat bike on a gravel road, and promptly rode it straight into a ditch…40 years later I’m still kind of doing exactly the same thing!  I didn’t even go to school at all til much later, but I learned so many skills that I carry with me to this day growing up like that.  As a child you assume that everyone is having the same experience that you are; it was only much later that I realized what an incredible gift that childhood really was. Total freedom. 

These days, I live in SW Wisconsin in a gloriously wild area called the driftless region, but my heart is always in the woods in northern Michigan, and I come home as much as I can.  I have so many passions and hobbies that I’m constantly frustrated that there aren’t a few more hours in every day…knitting, gardening, sewing, running, yoga, baking (this is what I actually do as a “career” these days), but probably the highest on my list is cycling. I fell in love with mountain biking in Marquette 20 some years ago, and there still isn’t much I would rather be doing.  I love to explore the UP by bike…there are so many incredible places out there that I would never have seen if not on two wheels! 

The first time I saw a Beth Millner piece, it was a large pendant that showed a scene on Lake Superior, rocks, shoreline, sunset, and looking at it felt like looking at a picture of my home.  I’ve kind of been obsessed ever since, and was over the moon to have the opportunity to represent a company like that.  One of my greatest passions in cycling is encouraging other women to overcome all of the challenges that we often face in getting out there and doing the things that intimidate us, and the fact that Beth Millner Jewelry is a woman-owned company really resonates with me too, so I knew it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. 

This past weekend, I participated in an event called the crusher race, an adventure racing bike event through the Huron mountains, and I chose to wear a beautiful silver and copper Beth Millner dragonfly pendant for it…seeing dragonflies always feel like good luck to me, and a reminder to be adaptable and light on my feet and to be present and enjoy the moment as it is so fleeting, and it felt really special and meaningful to have that with me.  I’m really grateful to be a part of this, and excited to share the journey with you this summer!