Yuwei Designs

New Year, Best You. For many, this means fitness goals, dietary changes, and spring cleaning. For Yuwei Lee, it means continuing to follow her passions and inner voice.

She’s always been creative, and expressed wanting to be a designer at an early age. “But growing up, culturally, and perhaps generationally, that wasn’t a viable option for a career,” Lee says. “So I went on to pursue other things and that desire went dormant. It wasn’t until recently where I was mature and confident enough to listen to what I really wanted my life to look like.”

Lee designed her first jewelry piece in April 2012. Inspired by her travels to Bali, for the next six months she kept sketching and playing around with different styles and techniques until her designs felt right and she got into a creative groove. “It was in November 2012 I started to believe being a jewelry designer was a real possibility,” says Lee, who began to take physical steps to build a business around it.

While leaving the corporate world was an easy decision, after being ingrained in it for decades, figuring out how to make it happen took time and planning. “I felt a little lost not knowing what to do with the new freedom,” Lee admits. “My body had transitioned out, but my mind was lagging behind. Soon after I went to Bali for a few weeks to see samples of the new collection I designed. Seeing it, and being in Bali, a place so special to me, my body and mind quickly aligned. When I returned home to Encinitas, I couldn’t remember being in the corporate world at all anymore. It felt like a different life, a different me.”

Yuwei Designs’ signature look blends the masculine and feminine — bold, geometric lines meet rose petal-shaped delicateness, creating natural balance. Each piece is made from sterling silver with 18-karat gold. The 2014 collection will integrate color from vibrant natural stones, adding even more depth to her designs.

 
Lee gets feelings of joy, calmness, and presence through designing — emotions that now permeate her life. “I finally realized it’s not rocket science. We are quite powerful when we know what we sincerely want and honor it. It’s then that everything aligns — and exactly everything we need to support what we truly desire begins to show up for us in endless forms.” (www.yuweidesigns.com)   MIA S. PARK