A Place in the Heart: Kady Lemus

by Patti PaglieiI wanted to share a moment that really moved me recently. It was at one of our photo shoots, and I was working closely with Kady, who has been with us for over four years. Kady gracefully shoulders much of the sales and merchandising support for our family of sales reps and distributors, but is also extremely artistic and something of a Renaissance woman - so she has her hand in many of the creative aspects at our company... from styling jewelry to creating all manners of artwork and displays for our stores. Not to mention her talent for making Halloween costumes by hand (and always blowing everyone away!).On this occasion, Kady was styling our model Alanna, and never having noticed before that she had a distinctive and beautiful tattoo on her arm, I asked her about it.She told me it was to honor and remember her sister, who very unexpectedly passed away at a young age after a battle with cancer. I had no idea. When Kady shared some of the details of her loss with me, there was such wisdom and clarity in the way she spoke about her sister: it was with pure love and bravery, and also surrender and acceptance. I felt her sister was among us as we were talking. To remember: we are alive here, and in the moment, and living deeply and with care. It was a moment when things that don't make sense actually start to. When I asked Kady about sharing this, she mentioned that it is kind of the reason why she works for Waxing Poetic. After her sister's funeral, her mom wanted to give a special gift to a few of her friends that had helped her get through and she said that they just had to go to this really great jewelry store in Los Olivos called Waxing Poetic. So they took a little trip to the store and spent hours in there picking out the perfect gift for each friend....(which Kady said they all loved by the way!). Kady shared that it was then that she also purchased her first WP piece, the Write Your Own Way arrow, which she says is still her favorite one.Kady got to talking to our store manager Brynn about the company and a bit later her mom said "you should look into working for them," as Kady had just decided that she wanted to move closer to home. And "here I am," she says, "four years later, working for WP... so this company will always hold a very special place in my heart:)."
And Kady's heart will always have a special place in the heart of WP.

Even though I had never noticed Kady's tattoo, I have noticed her arrow necklace and now know the profound significance both of those markers hold for her. There are signs all around us, if we pay attention. We each carry them, hold them, sometimes within, sometimes visible, but always there... all the beauty and fraglity of life.

Thank you for sharing your heart and talents with us Kady, and for inspiring us with the positive outlook on life you maintain. We are honored to work alongside you.