THOUGHTS | opening the door to possibility

There are certain times when I stop and review my life : my birthday, the start of a new year, the anniversary of my business. These dates feel like markers. They make me think about where I am, where I thought I would be, and what might come next.

This week marks 19 years since I started Christina Kober Designs.

For a long time, I would have looked at those years with a red pen. I would have marked the choices I should have made sooner, the things that did not work, and the goals I did not reach. I would focus on all the places where things went wrong.

I am not looking at 19 years this way.

I have felt a pull to make changes in my business for years. I could feel that something no longer fit, but life kept moving before I had the time or space to understand what those changes might be.

I had a baby, then a pandemic. We moved states during the pandemic, then another baby. During this time, there were major shifts in my business, hard years, and one challenge after another.

I kept going.

I rebuilt systems. I found ways to make things work. I adjusted my production jewelry business so that we could only have 1 production jewelry instead of four.

I was so focused on keeping it all moving that I never gave myself time to step back. I did not stop to celebrate all that I had done or ask what I was building toward.

Is this what I really want?
Or is it what I think I’m supposed to want?
Is this a business that is right for me? Or is it the kind of business I see everyone else building?

Those questions had been there for years, somewhere under the orders, deadlines, babies, changes, and daily work of running a business. I could feel that something no longer fit, but I was moving too fast to understand what it was.

About eight months ago, I was having dinner with a friend. As usual, I was complaining about the rising costs of metals and how hard it is to find balance.
She asked me,

“What if you didn’t do this anymore?”

My gut reaction was shock. I mean, “Who am I if I’m not making jewelry?”

That night, I began to slow down and imagine what my life might look like if I really made changes—what if I did not make jewelry anymore? I did not do anything differently yet. I simply let myself picture another way.

Then metal prices rose again, and my business dropped with them. The cost of making my work changed almost overnight. I could no longer ignore the parts of the business that were not working.

At first, it felt like another problem to solve. But this time I took it as an opening.

Something else changed too. Me.
I started therapy.
I began journaling.
Living with my word, untamed.
I began treating rest and play as necessities, not something earned.
Slowing down to be creative without a plan.

This work did not give me an instant answer. It taught me to listen instead of rushing to fix everything.

I realized the business I had built was no longer the business I wanted to keep building. I still love the jewelry, and I am proud of the systems I created.

But production jewelry is no longer right for me.

I want something smaller, more personal, more connected. 

I want to return to the kind of work that feels close to the hands that made it and the person who will wear it. I want room to follow my creativity, discover something new, and see where it leads.

And that has brought me to the idea of possibility.

The possibility of bringing jewelry and empowered words together.
The possibility of teaching more.
The possibility of making less, but making it with more care.
The possibility of building a business that supports my life instead of asking me to give all of myself to it.

I do not have the whole plan yet. In the past, that would have scared me. Now, I am trying to let one step at a time be enough.

I am trying different things, following what feels good, and paying attention to what gives me energy and what takes too much away. I am learning to make choices based on what feels right for me, while still being honest about what my business needs. I have to think about sales, costs, and what can truly work. I know any path I choose will come with hard parts, work I do not enjoy, and problems I cannot see yet.

I do not know what Christina Kober Designs will look like next year, but I believe I can build something that feels more like mine.

At 19 years, I am not looking back with a red pen.
I am looking at where I am now.
I am looking at possibility.
And I trust myself to find the way.

Own your imperfection; it becomes your asset.
Own your vulnerability; it becomes your strength.
diane von furstenburg

what I'm loving

Looking through old photos from the early years of my business. There was so much I did not know yet, and honestly, that was part of the fun. We were figuring things out as we went. Being silly in the studio. Taking long lunches together. Listening to the same podcast while we worked—looking at you, Serial. Those years were full of trying, laughing, making mistakes, and seeing what might happen next. Look back with me on instagram this week.

Nineteen years holds so many versions of this business and so many versions of me.

I am grateful for every person who has worn my work, shared it, gifted it, taught me something, or cheered me on along the way.

Thank you for being part of this story.

Here’s to everything that has been, and all that is still possible.