I had the privilege to interview Laura Bee, a former nurse, avid hunter, and brain tumor survivor who found success designing handmade leather and pearl jewelry later in life. After all her kids finished high school, Laura Bee pursued her passion for jewelry design. An Etsy business that encompasses Southern Bohemian Pearl & Leather Jewelry & Bijouterie.
Hunting, Fishing, and Loving Everyday
Laura Bee took many art classes in high school. Her father’s family was crafty, and she remembers drawing cartoons at the kitchen table with her dad as a kid. Growing up, her family didn’t have much money, and she wanted the Lemon Twist Skip Hop Game from the ’70s, so she figured out how to make one using an old yogurt container with rocks. It was her first aha moment of creation; she would make toys for herself from there.
Laura learned to hunt in the fourth grade with her father and was gifted by her father her first gun, a 410 shotgun. She would go out with her father to rabbit hunt on her grandparent’s dairy and tobacco farm. Not only did she hunt, but she can’t recall a time in her childhood when she didn’t go fishing with her Dad. Her family’s farm surrounded her, her grandmother’s big meals and fond memories of rabbit hunting in the fields with her dog, Snoopy.
While working on the farm, she helped with the chickens, sewed tobacco, operated the tobacco setter, and helped with the end process of the tobacco strands, which almost replicated leather—all while working alongside her family, one of her fondest memories.
In High School, Laura played competitive percussion, babysat, and worked at Pizza Hut. She was offered a full-ride scholarship for her music abilities but turned it down because she was convinced she was good but not great.
She wanted to become a dental hygienist but pivoted, picking up a two-year business degree instead. Then, she worked as what she calls the world’s worst secretary. Although her secretarial duties were dull, she would find her way down the halls by talking to other co-workers.
She ended up in the Dean’s office at Ohio University-Lancaster, Ohio, as a switchboard operator, which she loved; she had a great time for two years. She did cheerleading and government, then met the love of her life, Bill, and married in 1989.
In 2009, Laura had been working as a nurse and a health advisor to allow her flexibility to manage the life of her son Max, who lives with Angelman’s Syndrome. This allowed her to make a great income and be there for her family. The same year she started a health and wellness business, she attended a conference where the higher-ups all had designer necklaces from a designer in Destin, Florida. It was all the rage! Laura loved the idea but also knew she could likely make it herself. Her inspiration would idle for about ten years before she picked up the idea for pearls.
In 2013, Laura discovered an acoustic neuroma tumor the size of a tangerine that had been causing her symptoms and was misdiagnosed for eight years. The tumor left her with the inability to smile, something she hated more than anything because she had the biggest, happiest smile. It limited Laura’s hearing from her right ear, and she can’t blink or close her right eye. But the clever lady finds ways to interject humor into most of her difficulties in life and always wins a staring contest!
While she can’t smile, she’s learned to grit her teeth to stimulate the nerves in her mouth, making the most of her smile- It’s tiring and challenging, but it gives her more confidence. Because of the paralyzation, she’s had to drink from a straw and re-learn pronouncing certain words. She refrains from night-time driving and can only see blurriness and unclear faces with her left eye.
Hunting Deer to Hunting Pearls
Due to her surgery, she thought hunting was a thing of the past. Her gait had changed, and her vision was a half hazard to look down a barrel, and she decided hunting wasn’t in her future any longer. But in the Bee household, they support each other, and her husband Bill insisted she try to use her other hand and try a crossbow, so she gave in.
Navigating a new type of hunting and making her brain work harder on this experience may have been just what she needed. Laura’s had the crossbow down in no time, all while having recently recovered from her brain surgery. She could not close her right eye, so she learned to shoot with crosshairs to tell the difference.
Laura learned how to hunt with a crossbow and found success with a crossbow. She landed multiple deer beautifully decorated in the entryway of her home, right next to her office. She’s also shown the hunting ropes to her DIL, which allows them extra time together. The deer are mounted precisely as they were shot, then prayed over and used for big family “Bee” meals and special meals for her dogs.
The talented go-getter also has a great sense of humor and named each deer mounted in her entryway: Bullwinkle, Carlos Cejuno, Sneaky Pete, Uno, Tupac, Ghostrider, and Moss Man, along with Dbol, and Mr. Crabs, who are her husband and daughter-in-law’s deer.
Laura has always been on the hunt for the next thing. While on a trip to St. Barth, she decided to hunt down a Tahitian pearl. She found a pearl dealer, picked out a pearl, and her first piece was a choker necklace. Family was her priority then, and she wasn’t ready for anything but a hobby. But, people were interested in her art, and she toyed with the idea of starting a business. On a Thursday afternoon, her youngest son decided to end his running career, giving Laura extra time and the green flag to pursue her new passion. She told her husband she was opening a shop on Monday. That weekend, she created jewelry and shared it with friends. Her friend Shelly kept pushing her to do an Etsy shop and insisted it would do well.
Laura didn’t know if people would like her work; however, with consistent encouragement from family and friends, she started an Esty shop in 2020. The shop, HoneyHill Designs by Laura Bee, a Southern Bohemian Pearl & Leather Jewelry & Bijouterie, took off within three months.
She started with “sip and shop in home shows” and found that people enjoyed them. Then, people started contacting her about art and craft shows.
Laura learned she was more of an art show kind of gal, found her audience, and learned the importance of price points, one of the most important things she’s learned in jewelry making.
Her jewelry is often sold at Jack Pine Studio, a hand-blown glass studio in Laurelville, Ohio. She appreciates her fellow artists’ work, and the foot traffic from the Hocking Hills, Ohio, area has been great for her business.
She tends to lean more towards events with warmer climates, and most of her customers order from the south due to her bohemian style of jewelry making. Each event setup requires three to four hours and does not include packing and loading the car.
Made with Extra Love
The Southern bohemian pearl and leather jewelry designer uses over 40 types of leather in various colors, from tiny and thin to thick and large.
Her workspace consists of multiple lights due to the complexity of threading a needle with only one eye for steady vision. Laura works well when listening to chill music. At night, she plays trash TV, and the quiet nights also help her focus on ADD. She starts when things are settled in her home around 8:00 p.m. and works until 3-4:00 a.m.
She loves to rework jewelry and create something unique. She especially enjoys making rosaries and tries not to work that much on the weekends. Her giftedness has allowed her to design lovely earrings, rings, necklaces, bracelets, belts, anklets, keychains, hats, and even necklaces for dogs!
Laura uses her iPhone with adjusted lighting to keep the color honest; she sets up items, and most are taken at nighttime. Her most significant piece of art is a custom belt with 306 pearls, 18.5 hrs of work time, and made with macrame. The custom belt can be worn as a scarf or necklace; its creative combination of multi-media mixed leathers with different textures and an asymmetrical element deserves a standing ovation. Due to the extensiveness of the time and energy required- the night owl limits herself to a few large pieces a year.
The designer dazzles other women with her in-home shows and fun collaborations. She’s found fun coordinating models with a friend’s women’s clothing business. Adding different fashion elements with Honey Hill Designs helps pull pieces together; it allows women who have difficulty seeing how a particular piece can make their outfits pop.
A mannequin greets friends, family, and clients at the entrance of Laura’s lovely space. The mannequin wears a hoop skirt with recycled material, collected pieces from mother nature, and an old arrangement; her best friend-in-law, Betsy, helps keep Laura on track with her ADD. Betsy helps keep the busy bees organized and polishes off the decorating for the shows, events, and other various tasks.
Laura doesn’t like stopping when she’s working because of having severe ADD, so a 14-hour workday isn’t uncommon. It helps keep her focused and helps her accomplish her tasks. Something she’s struggled with since her school-age days, so badly she wouldn’t recall what she had just read in her reading materials.
The jewelry designer’s work is inspired by nature and sparked by other artists’ creations. HoneyHillDesigns offers an array of jewelry, including freshwater pearls, precious stones, African recycled Seaglass, wood check-fired glass, Italian 18kt gold vermeil, sterling silver, 14kt gold earring hooks, leather, and suede cord.
She stays current with seasonal trends, and her daughter-in-law, Tori, helps her. For 2024, a big hit was incorporating a lot of “initials,” which was Tori’s idea. Laura loves that she gets to work alongside her family and grow with new ideas every year.
Laura is selective in who she works with and the quality of her pearls and stones. She sources many shells, semi-precious stones, rainbow jay slices, agate, and orange carnelian from a designer in Florida, while others are carefully selected for quality assurance.
She sells a variety of stretch bracelets and charms and offers sophisticated, classy, causal, and simplistic looks to appeal to the younger market. Laura is always open to customer suggestions and enjoys hearing new ideas.
Art Shows and Gift Shops
When traveling over time, she’s learned the importance of knowing your price point and appreciates the variety of styles and uniqueness with different shows, but she found her audience in Art Shows. Most of her local jewelry is sold at Jack Pine Shows, with a world-renowned glass blower, Jack Pine, out of Laurleville, Ohio. The traffic from the foothills into the studio has been a great source of Laura’s sales.
If she attends events, it’s generally in warmer climates to ensure the safety of her jewelry. The setup takes about three to four hours, not including packing and loading the car. Besides in-home and art shows, she has pieces in a local farm shop, Och’s Fruit Farm in Lancaster, Ohio.
“Designing jewelry is something I truly love to do. It is so relaxing and fun for me. I love seeing my customers happy and wearing my designs.”- Laura Bee.
The warm-hearted creative connoisseur Laura names many intricate pieces after friends and family. She offers one-of-a-kind pieces, such as a Spiny oyster and agate set in Tibetan and silver, along with her macrame pieces, which require additional tassels to make them look more prominent and broader, but they are also a hit!
Signed, Sealed, and Delivered
Laura knows people want to feel special, like when you shop for a Louie Vouton bag where the entire experience is about the individual, or how the brand of Tiffany’s is about a celebration when you shop for their jewelry-they bust out a bottle of champagne.
“People want to feel like they are the only customer.”- Laura Bee.
The earthy, bohemian, glitzy leather pieces come with a soft glaze of organic shea butter after each piece is made; it’s covered with a thin coat of shea butter to help keep the leather soft and moisturized so it does not dry out as much and become brittle. The butter helps keep the leather from breaking and knotting and adds a safe layer to help with water.
Laura notes to customers that shea butter isn’t to be used on vegan suede cords, natural genuine suede cords, or elastic/stretch-based pieces. She also recommends NOT wearing jewelry in the water, just like you wouldn’t want your leather shoes wet.
She runs her business like a doctor’s office, with appointments, and keeps it fun. Her brand is light and easygoing, with funny TikTok videos. She lets people come in their pajamas for her in-home jewelry parties because she knows people want to have fun!
If anyone is unhappy with an item, she will make it right, but she has also learned that most people don’t read the fine print of items. She highly recommends ensuring the longevity of the jewelry.
A Homebody Who Loves Everybody
Laura’s home life consists of a large family in Lancaster, Ohio. Her house is a revolving door with her adult children, Simon, Vincent, and Maxwell. Everyone pitches in to help care for her son with Angelman syndrome and pitches in where they can.
The Bee residence boasts more love and care with three adorable little dogs: A 17-year-old rough-cut Jack Russell named Fudgy and Annie, 12, Dwight, 14, two fox terriers, old show dogs who are hard hearing, with some blindness; the dogs had never been in a yard to play or run off a leash until the Bee family. Dwight has special needs for a seizure disorder, but it’s nothing the Bee family can’t handle!
Thanks to her Grandmother and Dad, Laura loves cooking, especially for others, and can cook fish, squirrels, and rabbits. She cooks for compliments and refers to herself as a narcissistic chef and a down-home kind of cook-which her family and friends get a kick out of. A dreamy date night with her husband, Bill, consists of fast food, going to a department store parking lot, and watching the people while they eat. She calls herself a cheap date and prefers a top-notch Taco Bell meal with a parking lot experience.
Being a brain tumor survivor has kept her humble, and she holds those she cares about close. She’s inspired by her late father, Herb, and the love and guidance of her grandmother. She adores her patient husband and cherishes her childhood friend Paige and college professor Lorraine, who greatly influenced her. Laura also admires her close friendships with her welcoming friend Jen and her long-time buddy, Leanne, who has never had a sharp tongue.
She believes everyone is faced with something. Just in the same way she’s dealt with her son’s Angelman’s syndrome and surviving a brain tumor. She focuses on the positives in life, honors Mother Mary as her source of inspiration, and knows we all have a story.
“Make people feel special, and remember people want to escape.“-Laura Bee
Check the links below for more on Laura Bee and Honey Hill Designs.
https://www.facebook.com/Honey-Hill-Designs-by-LBee-103706151934826
https://www.instagram.com/honeyhilldesignslbee/
https://www.tiktok.com/@lauracbee
Written by: Darian Rowles
Darian Rowles, Founder of Women Who Inspire,
Author of Uncork Your Life: A Guide to Getting Unstuck, Health Coach, Motivational Speaker, Pilates Instructor, Blogger