Inspiration Sparks Creation with Leah Coonan

Beyond The Venue with MG The Venue Specialist

My Guest this week is Leah Coonan (she/her). Leah is a Philly local jewelry designer and the owner of Leah Creation Jewelry. Leah strives to make more space for other queer female/femme creators and she is passionate about repurposing objects helping to “shrink Trash Island”, contributing to making our planet sustainable and beautiful for the future.

Leah and I met over 10 years ago when we were both in very different stages of our lives. We had the opportunity to work together when I commissioned her to design my engagement ring and wedding band.

I distinctly remember her asking me “what inspires you” when we first sat down to talk about the creation of my engagement ring, and I loved being able to hear more about her creative process during this interview. When Leah is creating a custom piece, she wants to know the story behind the who and the why. “There’s a story behind every piece of jewelry.”

Additional Topics Include:

💍 Leah’s Love of Vinyl and What Inspired her Vinyl Jewelry Collection

💍 The Creative Process of Creating Custom Jewelry

💍 Realizations and True Love that Led to Getting (and Staying) Sober

💍 Seeing the Best and the Worst in Humanity Lately

💍 Doodling as a Stress/Anxiety Reliever

💍 Leah’s Love for Phish & Her Customized Phish Vans Sneakers

💍 Social Media and Leah’s Amazing Reels

About Leah:

Leah Coonan (she/her) was born and raised in Philly, and she’s a lifelong music lover and jeweler of twenty-four years. In 2009, she launched her vinyl record accessories collection, featuring earrings inspired by album artwork and her love of vinyl itself. She’s inspired by overlooked colors, shapes, and details all around us all the time. Neglected/"used-up" objects like scratched unplayable 45s make her curious about their past, and about what their future as cherished objects can be. She’s a romantic, and really loves people. She’s inspired by the overlooked details of their lives too, the loves and memories they carry around invisibly every day. Crafting a wearable piece by commission to cherish and honor those, that’s Leah doing her best as a jeweler. All of her pieces are handmade and one of a kind, but making fine jewelry by commission, exactly as a client dreams of them, is the ultimate challenge and reward for her. She makes engagement rings, wedding bands, commemorative pendants, earrings, bracelets, and other fine pieces. Jewelry is much more than an accessory: it can be a symbol of love, mark a life accomplishment, a representation of faith, or signify memories. It’s a piece of the past, present and future. All of that somehow came together, and all of that still goes into each piece.

Connect with Leah on Instagram and Facebook.

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A byVesta Production.