You Don’t Need to Quit Your 9–5 to Start a Jewellery Business

You Don’t Need to Quit Your 9–5 to Start a Jewellery Business

Social media makes it feel like if you want to start a jewellery business, you need to quit your 9–5 immediately, otherwise you're a failure. 

That idea is everywhere.

And it’s not helpful.

Some of the most important skills I’ve ever used in my jewellery business didn’t come from starting Metal Bones. They came from regular jobs.

Before I did this full-time, I worked a lot of “normal” roles, admin, education, corporate environments, aviation, long shifts, demanding jobs, jobs I didn’t always enjoy. None of it looked like the end goal at the time.

But none of it was wasted.

Regular jobs build skills you don’t realise you’re learning

A 9–5 can fund your tools, your education, your materials, and your mistakes while you’re still figuring things out. It gives you breathing room to learn how to actually make jewellery properly, without the pressure of needing it to pay your rent straight away.

You also pick up skills without even trying... patience, communication, systems, boundaries, resilience. All the unglamorous stuff that matters a lot when you’re running your own jewellery business.

Those skills didn’t come from “going all in”.

They came from showing up, learning, and sticking things out.

You can build a jewellery business while working full-time

Depending on how demanding your job is, it’s completely possible to grow a jewellery business outside of work hours. In a way that doesn’t burn you out.

You can learn in the evenings.

Upgrade your tools bit by bit.

Test ideas without financial panic.

Figure out what you actually enjoy making.

Working full-time doesn’t mean you’re not committed. It often means you’re being realistic.

Use your 9–5 as a tool, not something to escape

A regular job doesn’t have to be the enemy.

It can be the thing that:

• pays for your jewellery tools

• pays for courses or workshops

• gives you time to practice

• gives you stability while you experiment

Then, when your jewellery business is genuinely sustainable, financially and mentally, that’s when it makes sense to go all in.

Not when social media tells you to.

Not because you feel rushed.

Not because you think you’re behind.

You are not behind

I want to be really clear about this.

If you’re working a regular job and building something on the side, you are not failing.

You are not late. You are not doing it wrong.

If you’re learning, experimenting, and slowly getting better, you’re exactly where you’re meant to be.

There’s no prize for burning yourself out early.

Learn the skills.

Build the foundation.

Let your job support the process.

Then take the leap when you feel ready.