Today we’d like to introduce you to Danijela Burzan.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I come from a beautiful Mediterranean coastal town Budva, Montenegro. Before tuning into my creative self, I graduated Political Sciences in Diplomacy and International Relations in 2008 in Podgorica, Montenegro. As it is said, when you know what you don’t want you know what you do want, so it became much clearer to me that Politics is not going to be the stage I would like to perform on and commit myself to. That is when I started discovering my talents and pursuing them.
It began with makeup, working as makeup artist for a couple of years, enjoying the happiest days and occasions of peoples lives and making them feel good and even more beautiful. Along with that, I desired for more tangible expression, so I started making fashion jewelry, painting, creating mix media art with broken jewelry, shells, and all the items that could have been recycled and incorporated into an art piece. Mix media is, besides the type of the jewelry I am making now, still my favorite space of mind and creation, because I just love giving a new purpose to something that was already considered as broken or waste, and it is so much fun to observe that process of becoming something new and beautiful. It is very intuitive and relaxing.
Designing and making jewelry started as a hobby for me five years ago, and was very different from what I am making now. I feel that this type of jewelry represents me so well and besides some bracelets that I never take off, I seldom leave my house without one of my necklaces. I am in love with each of the pieces.
Has it been a smooth road?
Life is a journey of learning and experiencing. Just like life with business is the same, the more you know how it works, it gets easier and serves you better.
I am a creative person, I could create day and night, but being an entrepreneur and owning your own business is definitely a learning curve and adventure on its own. It makes you evolve, develop skills, learn about areas you want to focus on and grow, prioritize. It makes you become a better and improved person, and most importantly makes you know yourself better, skills and weaknesses.
My biggest challenge was time management in areas I don’t like as much like marketing and finances because I would always prioritize creating new pieces and procrastinating on those that are equally important. It takes time to build the foundations, but once you get a hang of it, no matter how long it took you, you will be certain that whatever you build on those foundations will be solid and long-lasting.
I believe that timing is everything in life, that we mature for certain lessons and we are then more ready to receive information, apply it and embark on our own until your business reaches the next level where you will be able to delegate some of the responsibilities to your employees. Nonetheless, it is important to have knowledge in all of those areas, because it will serve you now at the beginning when you are on your own, and later on will serve as a great base for insight in what other people are working for you.
No matter the challenges, I always encourage anyone that wants to follow this path, because being your own boss, managing your own time is called freedom, and I believe that is priceless. It is only a matter of discipline and persistence, so cheers to all of you out there ready to create your own lives!
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into BURZAN Design story. Tell us more about the business.
My dominant work is macrame style of jewelry, which gives it that earthy bohemian vibe and it is naturally glamours. I love to find open raw geodes of different minerals and incorporate them into a necklace or bracelet. Some minerals can only show their true beauty trough skilled hand of the jeweler who will polish them into a certain shape.
Jewelry that I am making is very authentic and has a lot to say. Crystals and different mineral formations are DNA of our planet, and with a certain energy, they carry they interact with our own electromagnetic field of the body, transferring the information for better ways to evolve or attract certain things.
Semi-precious stones have been used for healing purposes and reaching higher levels of conciseness since ancient times through many cultures, and that inspired me to merge something so old and wise in my own way. I believe that my self-discovery began when I started making my crystal jewelry and I would like everyone to realize their own worth, find themselves and release what is not serving them.
Learning more about crystal healing benefits and seeing their beauty made me realize that anyone who wears my jewelry would benefit without even knowing, which was good enough to start with, even though I like introducing my customers to the subtle energies each of them holds within. They are here with purpose, just like each of us.
BURZAN Design pieces are both casual and elegant, therefore you can dress up and shine or be casual an cool.
I am very proud when someone approaches my booth and says how different my jewelry is and they have never seen something like this before.
I love seeing the admiration on peoples faces that resembles mine each time after I finish some piece, which makes me realize that I am creating from my soul, effortlessly delivering new ideas in a form of one of a kind pieces.
I am very satisfied where BURZAN Design is at this time, and I am so excited to see us growing in the future.
We are all unique expressions of life, therefore if we are in tune with ourselves, our product will be equally unique and special as we are. What I believe it sets me apart from others is being me, being kind, finding my best self in relation to others and my work, my smile, and well-being I desire for everyone.
As Coldplay would say “We are diamonds taking shape”!
Do you have a lesson or advice you’d like to share with young women just starting out?
I would say be patient with yourself, be determined in succeeding, but not in the ways you would get there, let the life unfold for you rather than trying to control the outcome.
Build your confidence with learning and knowing about what you stand for, know your worth. Be you no matter what, because your authenticity is the key to your success.
It is important to do what you love, I felt that to be the truth all my life but didn’t let myself do it right away until I guess I was ready for it.
Recently I heard a brilliant statement that says: “Success without fulfillment is ultimate failure!”
So the most important advice would be to aim for fulfillment in whatever you do.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/BurzanDesign?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
- Email: danijela.burzan@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/burzandesign/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/burzandesign/?ref=bookmarks
- Other: www.burzan.me
Image Credit:
@radoje.burzan
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