Sharon's Story

Meet Sharon!

We would like to introduce you to our dear friend, business associate, and artist extraordinaire, Mrs. Sharondale Humes. She is the mastermind craftsman behind the jewelry that we feature and sell through Normal to Destiny LLC. Sharondale lives in Belize, Central America, in the small village of Burrell Boom. She is an amazing wife of twenty-one years, and devoted mother to her four children, ranging in ages twenty-one to seven years old. But most recently, Sharon has harnessed her artistic skills and opened her own business, selling her handcrafted jewelry and other pieces of artistry to tourists that frequent the Black Orchid Resort in Belize.

First Things First:

Sharondale is first and foremost proud of her Christian beliefs, and serving the Lord is the most important thing in her life. She is a sacrificial giver, and works hard to have the means to give freely to those who are in need. Worship and music are also extremely important to Sharondale, and she leads worship through singing and playing the guitar throughout the Belize District region. She prays and worships while she works, and encourages her helpers to do the same. She receives the ideas for new pieces of artwork and jewelry while she prays, and then begins creating and crafting until she has the completed pieces.

Getting Started:

Sharondale started her business, Rustic Design, five years ago. She has always truly enjoyed creating things with her hands, and had been making and selling larger items locally, such as wicker-type chairs. She would also occasionally create smaller items to give out to friends as gifts, but never thought anything of these creations as a steady source of income.

But there was someone who did think along these lines in Sharon's life. Each time she would bring a gift to a certain lady in her village, the woman would encourage Sharon, and ask her if she was interested in making those gifts to sell as a business. At first, Sharondale would laugh and shrug off the lady's suggestions. “But by and by, the idea started sticking into my head, and one Christmas season, I finally agreed to begin.” Sharon said with a smile.

Sharon started this work in her kitchen, but before too long had to build a little shop out back, behind her house, because the work grew too big to pack up between cooking and cleaning! Her little hobby became a booming business very quickly, as tourists to Belize loved her wares made from the jungle's natural resources.

First Fruits: The Coconut “Flower”:

One day soon after this, Sharondale was out in her backyard, looking at the top of a coconut, which is the part where the coconut itself hangs from the broom or branch of the tree. She began to notice that it looked like a flower, and the ideas started flooding her mind; she was full of possibilities!

Sharondale, in her own words, describes this best: “I first began making earrings and necklaces with the flower. As I worked, I found more and more ideas coming to me, that there was just a lot of stuff I could do with what I had around me, right in my own backyard.”

Other Local Products:

Soon after that, Sharondale started using the shell of the coconut and even parts of the coconut palm as well. It did not take too long before she started to experiment with bamboo and Belizean local flower seeds in her jewelry creations. The coconuts she picks from her yard and her neighbors' yards. She also buys coconuts from local markets and vendors when necessary. The bamboo she cuts and dries herself. It is quite a process to harvest and prepare the bamboo, and she and her helpers do the work by hand.

The three main seeds Sharon uses for jewelry making are also harvested from the local Belizean jungle during whatever season they are are ripe in. For example, the Guanacaste seeds are harvested during the month of March, as that is when they are ripe and fall to the ground. Whatever seeds she collects in March will be her supply for the year in her jewelry making endeavors.

Selling Her Wares:

As Sharon started creating her fine products and selling them in a local village shop, an opportunity opened up for her to begin vending her creations at The Black Orchid Resort, a popular tourist spot in Belize. The Resort is about a mile and half from where she and her family live.

Sharondale laughed as she recalled her very early beginnings with The Black Orchid Resort: “When I first began selling at the Black Orchid, I did not have a driver's license and had to have a friend drive me there each week. After one month, she was no longer able to take me, so I then borrowed a neighbor's bicycle to get there. I would ride the bike while carrying the bags with my jewelry and artwork in them. I did that for one year, but business was growing so fast, I needed more.”

Sharon has since then taken the necessary steps to obtain her driver's license, which is no small task in Belize, and continues to tote her handcrafted wares once or twice a week by van to the Black Orchid Resort, when the cruise ships port in Belize. Passengers from the ships who come to eat that the restaurant can take a gander at her amazing jewelry and other pieces, to make a purchase right there. This is the primary way Sharon sells her goods, and pays her workers each week. Whatever she makes during that afternoon is split between her and her workers, and can vary drastically from week to week. During the rainy season, which is the non-tourist season, Sharon does not sell much merchandise.

Big Picture:

Sharondale currently has four people that work for her on a consistent basis, whom she calls her helpers. When she first started her little business, she only had one helper, but as she has grown, she has been able to pay more workers. “When the season is really good, they work more hours, and when the season isn't so good, they have fewer hours.” Sharon says with a sigh.

Her big dream and desire is to have a nice shop with good ventilation and safe working conditions for all her helpers, with a storefront to sell her amazing creations.

“That would be something nice. I know that will take awhile, since I've been doing this for five years. But I would like that very well. At the moment I am in my little shop, but I would like to relocate myself from the little shop in the back to build a nicer one, where all the dust from sanding wouldn't be so hazardous for my health. I recognize that I have a gift and I would like to continue doing what I do in a safer shop. I love helping people, so having a better shop would put me in a place to really help others. I have the potential to have more than four people working for me, and would love to be able to teach and train others, giving them opportunity to work.”

Sharondale has a natural gift of teaching and encouraging others to be all they are created to be. In a country that is dependent on tourism and sees poverty all around, for Sharon to be able sell her amazing jewelry line in the United States opens up all kinds of doors of opportunity, not just for her and her four helpers, but for the many others she would love to employ all year round.

Normal to Destiny LLC understands Sharondale's heart of stopping for the one, to bring employment and skills to the people around her, giving them better opportunities and choices in life. We believe in the efforts Sharondale is making to all the lives she touches, and her craft is one of high caliber and quality. She adheres to a high standard of excellence in her work and work ethics, and her helpers are also challenged to that standard. This high standard is truly reflected in each piece of jewelry she makes. Mrs. Sharondale Humes is an amazing woman, with an amazing story of successful entrepreneurship, and it is a joy to stand behind her and the work her business produces.

“I truly love and enjoy making these designs. I see opportunity to minister to others and share the Lord and His blessings with people all over the world using my talents and skills that the Lord gave me.” Mrs. Sharondale Humes; Burrell Boom, Belize

Guest Blog Writer: Amber John