I tried so hard to find balance between my creative career and my personal life, but the more I tried to separate them, the more balance eluded me. It was only when I began to fuse the two that I realised there is no such thing as having a creative career and a personal life - there is only a creative life. That realisation, and the freedom it gave me, remains one of the most significant of my life.
Samantha Wills started her self-titled jewellery company on the kitchen table of her share house in the eastern suburbs of Sydney when she was just 21 years old. While her rise to the global stage looked meteoric to many, Samantha has said 'It took me twelve years to become an overnight success.'
Following Samantha's journey, from being named a breakout star by The New York Times to barely being able to breathe on a hotel room floor, Of Gold and Dust is so much more than a business memoir. In her unique, confessional tone, Samantha tells the intimate details of her life and business, sharing her truths with a rare rawness and vulnerability.
Funny, down-to-earth, revealing and heartfelt, Of Gold and Dust is a must-read for anyone who has a desire to start their own business, or a passion to live a creative life and follow their dreams. Her story is an inspiring blueprint for getting out there and finding the magic that awaits you.
Samantha Wills has been in the spotlight as one of Australia's most dynamic speakers and creative personalities since launching her self-titled jewellery brand at Australian Fashion Week in 2004, at just 21 years of age. Samantha has spent the last decade in New York City. Having just returned home to Australia, she now resides in NSW as a creative director and keynote speaker.
I laughed, I cried, and really enjoyed the whole journey!
Before reading this book, I have never heard of Samantha Wills. I had no idea who she was. I purchased the book because I wanted to read a business memoire from a successful woman entrepreneur and boy was I ever surprised!
Samantha's writing style made me fall in love with her -in that- she was vulnerable, courageous, raw, and very authentic. I work with business owners all the time and will be recommending this book to them as it will not only give you a solid view of the realities of business -but encourage you to know that you are not alone. Everything you are going through -someone else has already gone through that very same struggle!
Thank you Samantha Wills for being an absolute encouragement -not only to women entrepreneurs everywhere -but also to men!
This book was really comforting for me. I’m a business owner and like Samantha I could build a brand not a business- the logistics side has never lit me up. Like Sam I just like to create and make beautiful products. It helped knowing that others out there don’t have it all worked out. Her rawness about her struggles and knowing when to let go of things really put things into perspective for me. If you’re a creative and wanting to start your own business I highly recommend.
This memoir is told with such passion and detail that I couldn’t put it down. Thank you for sharing ALL parts of your journey with us. So proud of you Samantha! (…Also, that Freya sounds like a truly special soul ❤️)
While reading this book, I thought I was going to rate it 5* without question. SW is inspiring and educational. But then I got towards the end and unfortunately I found that the story had weakened. I'm still inspired but also a little disappointed, like I've met my idol and they didn't live up to expectations. I hope there's more to the story. I don't want to believe that SW left us in that way...I don't want to say how because of spoilers but it's worth a reading if you want to find out x
I was a big fan of Samantha Wills Jewellery and still have many of her pieces including several Bardot rings. While this story is interesting, the writing is average and I admit my opinion of Ms Wills changed several times throughout her memoir. I can’t say I agree with or understand her decisions but I respect her journey and the work she put in to her business and passion. Thank you for sharing your story Ms Wills.
I absolutely adored this book. It’s real, honest and raw and shares some amazing insights about a creative business journey. What an incredible life and career SW has had 🙌🏼
Samantha has laid her soul bare in this generous, intriguing memoir. She traces her incredible rise to global success as a jewellery designer and entrepreneur, beginning with her childhood in a humble seaside Australian town, to reaching the stratosphere, with her designs in demand by A-list celebrities. Throughout the book, she comes across as completely genuine, heartfelt and authentic, without an ounce of pretension. This is a fascinating read because it reveals the challenges Samantha faced in her rise to the top and there is seemingly no attempt to hide the mistakes she made along the way. She also shares her romantic heartbreaks and the lessons learned. For other young entrepreneurs, creatives in any industry or fans of the Samantha Wills jewellery brand, Of Gold and Dust is a must-read.
An incredible journey that details the highs and lows of entrepreneurship, but not only that, the emotional cyclone that is life is also laid out in all its glory.
Samantha Wills was not an overnight success. She started designing jewellery on her dining table and it took a lot of hard work (literally blood, sweat and tears), to build up an extremely successful and well loved brand.
I really loved the underlying theme of paying attention to what the universe is trying to show/tell you too.
Highly recommend this read. Now, I’m off to find myself my very own Bohemian Bardot ring... I’m thinking turquoise 🤔 (IYKYK).
I had heard this book was fantastic, that Samantha captures the heart of what it is to be a female founder, and was told it was a ‘must read’ if you are a creative and/or an entrepreneur (which I am both, so this was of course top of my TBR list). But I was blown away by how much Samantha’s story resonated with me on so many additional levels.
She sums it up herself so perfectly in the final chapter of her book when she states that the contract she signed was meant to be for a business memoir about the successful brand she built from her kitchen table and why she chose to walk away, but she soon realised that she had a lot more to say. She did not want to write ‘just the highlights reel about the business hurdles… but (both) the business journey and the personal journey’ because as a creative founder (and both the name and face of the brand) she came to realise that there is interest in both the public brand and her private life, and in giving life to her story that neither worked in isolation - that the highs and lows were all intrinsically linked to the success and happiness of the other.
The brand she built (Samantha Wills Jewellery) - although she credits so many others, she really was the visionary as well as the hands on design lead across everything - was incredibly impressive. Yet, it was all the stories in between that I found the most interesting, when she wove in her own personal emotions and actions. Her raw and honest accounts of (multiple) bouts of heartache, her constant struggle with imposter syndrome, relocating to New York on her own to hustle her heart out by day then only to spend every other week back in the air to do it all over again in Sydney resulting in years of suppressed burnout and personal health issues, and her rock bottom business moment where she had to find the strength to be brave enough to acknowledge her own mistakes, take on board the feedback, listen to her customers, and leave her ego at the door. Her strength, resilience and character across it all speak volumes.
Samantha is a beautiful story teller. She speaks with an authentic type of passion that is quite rare, she isn’t brash or full of any big statement name dropping ego, she is humble, wise and considered in her words and actions. It’s evident she not just led her incredibly successful business from the heart, but that in its final days she also led the closure of Samantha Wills Jewellery with only empathy, courage and conviction, as she made sure her team were all cared for and ready for their next chapters as she in conjunction took the leap to embark on hers.
A truly inspiring woman. One I’ve enjoyed following along for sometime but had forgotten about after she stepped away from her spotlight, and are now firmly back in her camp and cheering for her from the sidelines as she builds her platform to empower other women to follow their creative passions.
Samantha Wills wird in der Presse oft als „overnight-success“ gefeiert. Dabei hat es über zwölf Jahre bis zu ihrem Durchbruch gedauert. Zwölf Jahre, mehrere tausende Dollar Schulden, unzählige Stunden Arbeit und zig Misserfolge. Und plötzlich heißt es in der Presse: Samantha Wills schließt ihr Label. Und das, obwohl ihr Business Millionen Umsätze einfährt. Wer zum Teufel macht sowas?
Als sie ihre Business-Memoiren veröffentlicht hat, war es also klar, dass ich das Buch lesen muss. Für 33 € aus Australien bestellt, war das Buch nicht unbedingt ein Schnapper, aber sei es drum.
In Of Gold and Dust nimmt uns Wills mit auf ihre ganz persönliche Reise: sie erzählt von ihrem Beruflichen Werdegang, den Anfängen ihres Businesses, dem Hype und Ansturm auf ihren Schmuck, wie es ist, so plötzlich erfolgreich zu sein, was das alles mit ihr persönlich gemacht hat und warum sie sich schlussendlich dazu entschieden hat, ihr Unternehmen zu schließen. Sie erzählt aber auch von den Schattenseiten des Erfolgs. Das auch seinen Traum leben, einen ausbrennen lassen kann, wenn man nicht auf sich aufpasst. Das Bekanntheit auch mit falschen Freunden daher kommt und Erfolg im Beruf, nicht auch automatisch ein erfolgreiches Privatleben bedeutet. Das der glaube an sich selbst, genauso wichtig der der Rückhalt im sozialen Umfeld ist. Und auch, dass sich bewusst gegen etwas zu entscheiden, nicht bedeutet aufzugeben.
Das Buch ist absolut lesenswert für jeden, der selbst ein Unternehmen gründen möchte, Selbstständig ist oder eine kreative Passion im Leben hat.
Hands up if you had your hands on a @samanthawills ring? I remember receiving my very first from my husband and was instantly in love!
Hearing Samantha Wills share her story, which most definitely was NOT an overnight success, was truly inspiring. For people - particularly women - who have more balls than me to start their own business, this is one for you!
I loved hearing the start of her journey, being a master negotiator from so young and having a keen eye for a business opportunity washing windows of businesses in the street of her parents’ own clothing store.
I loved hearing her first big step into starting the Samantha Wills brand, and eventually finding the person who would be her business partner through it all.
I loved hearing about her wins, and fails. The successes and the rationale behind the her collections.
And I loved hearing about how she eventually came to the decision to close this chapter of her business.
Narrated by Samantha, this was funny, heartbreaking and hopeful to listen to - she’s an impeccable storyteller.
It’s sad that the jewellery side of her business is no longer, but remarkable to know where she’s ventured of to.
I was not expecting to love this book as much as I did. Despite having owned a few pieces of Samatha Wills jewellery myself and loving them dearly, I put this book off for so long thinking “another business startup story…BORING!”. But this book slapped me across the face and said “you will sit the f down and this will not be boring”.
It had me hooked from page 1 as it highlighted the not-so-glamorous truths Samantha Wills was faced with when starting her jewellery design business.
This book is so well written, making it easy to digest for those of us who don’t know the technical ins and outs of owning and running a company.
Although this book is mainly focused around the successes and challenges of Samantha’s career, she also touched on her own personal successes and challenges, making it all the more relatable.
Upon reading the final page, I was left with a feeling that I knew Samantha personally. This book was raw, authentic, fascinating, heartbreaking, inspirational and an absolute must-read!
Wow, as someone who is not necessarily up in the fine fashion world I admit I had not heard of Samantha Wills before reading a recommendation of this book. I was more intrigued by her journey than that necessarily of the jewellery side of things which ironically was supposed to be the main focus of the book when Samantha signed her contract but she decided that a broader approach was needed and I'm very glad she did. I was tired just reading about all the work Samantha put into her business - this woman is dedicated! And whilst we have lead very different lives, there was a lot I could identify with in some ways and it also was like a sneak peek into a very different world! Definitely worth a read!
I had no idea who Samantha Wills was before seeing this book being recommended on female entrepreneurs instagrams (as they received their promo pack!). THEN I realised she’d actually been on my vision board for years as what I thought was a stock image of a total hustler! Anyway, I adored this book. She is so humble, honest and just glorious & totally gorgeous in her approach to business & life. My heart broke with hers & it celebrated all her wins. She is poignant and refreshing and exactly the type of female role model we can learn from. Great debut and can’t wait to see more @samanthawills ✨
Respect her story and success - but who has started a handmade jewellery business and sold $3,000 worth of jewellery in their first night while it was just a hobby, or just start a business and have some pretty amazing contacts lined up already? She definitely got traction quite quickly which is why I think people consider her an overnight success. But I see what she’s saying, that diminishes the struggles - I don’t think anyone’s denying her struggles, they’re just saying she got there quickly and with an unnatural determination, drive and the energy of a young 20yo, she was able to achieve a lot more, faster.
i've been such a huge fan of samantha wills since i saw her on a morning show early on in her career. her story, creativity and vision inspired me then and has continued since. her memoir surpassed all expectations; it was raw and honest but also very inspiring.
this was such a refreshing but also comforting read. intertwining both business and personal, the realities of starting and running a business, but also the struggles of work/life balance and being a creative. her way with words easily draw you in and her story is one that can be easily relatable for any kind of creative struggling to pave their own way through this world.
I grew up idolising the Samantha Wills business, i admired the jewellery and always wanted to own a piece, but alas i never did
SW is a hustler, from humble beginnings she started a jewellery empire from her dining room table. This memoir explores the peaks and troughs of being the head of a global jewellery empire, its not all jewels and parties.
I loved getting an insight to her business mind, gaining an understanding of the importance of supporting your ideas and sticking to your guns.
The glitz of the fashion and community is amazing to read but i adored the glimpses in SW real life, her raw honesty about how she has struggled mentally and lost herself along the way. Fast forward to her current health issues, as consumers we forget there is a person behind the brand, that they struggle to.
What a beautiful read! I always was familiar with SW jewellery, only beginning my own collection in the late stages of the business and finding myself snapping up pieces in the closing period. Such an honest and raw story of Samantha’s journey, of ups and downs. What I have come to admire and respect from reading the story of the journey was how far Samantha took this business as a sole trader, and how her dedication and vision grew some beautiful prices of jewellery to an entity that was more than just jewellery. Beautifully written.
As someone who just worked through a business closure the last part of this book really hit me. Her interest in meditation and spirituality coupled with her endometriosis battle I felt like I could really relate to Samantha (although I have never run my own multi million dollar business)
Samantha’s story is inspiring and she writes beautifully throughout this memoir. It’s raw, it’s honest and it was such a wonderful read.
A beautiful memoir. I have been an admirer of Samantha since my late teens. Her story and journey of her brand and her own personal growth has always been inspiring beyond words for me. I was devastated when Samantha announced the closure of the jewellery brand but it also filled me with a lot of excitement for her future. Listening to the audiobook certainly allowed me to appreciate her story so much more and I highly recommend everyone give it a listen.
I absolutely adored this book. It was so encouraging, real, honest and beautifully written. Samantha Wills is the ultimate entrepreneur who is absolutely going to inspire so many with this book. The integrity is second to none. Highly recommend picking this one up, especially if you’re interested in the world of a creative or an entrepreneur or both!
Very good book on the personal journey of a jewellery maker who starts out making things by hand and going from craft person to business. Also great insight into the impact on her personal life. Good read for anyone wanting to dream beyond small town world. Or for the aspiring jewellery entrepreneur.
I have to be honest - I’ve never owned a piece of Samantha Wills’ jewellery but I’ve always known of the brand. I wasn’t sure exactly what the detail behind the business closing was, so I was intrigued when I found this book in a gorgeous store in Berry, NSW. This book gave me so much more than what I was expecting. Samantha writes BEAUTIFULLY. Wow.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I loved this. Geoff Bainbridge made me laugh out loud. There’s lots to relate to. I loved the frank, dry wit; the truths told; the relatable insights and the lack of pretence. The story has obviously been thoughtfully crafted to remain true to the Samantha Wills brand, nevertheless, it rings true. It’s a must read!
Had never heard of Samantha Wills before this, but added this book to my list because it was quite highly rated. I do agree it was a good read (no pun intended) on the joys and struggles of making it as a young entrepreneur! Understandably never a fully replicable process, but I'd imagine some lessons learnt are transferrable.
I listened to this as an audio book and it took me just four days to finish it. Samantha tells her compelling story with warmth and honesty and is extremely likeable. I found it fascinating and inspiring. Thanks for sharing everything Samantha - the highs, the lows and the muddle. Highly recommend listening to Samantha narrate her story.
I really loved this book. I have been a long time fan of Samantha Wills, and while I knew a lot of her story already, I really enjoyed reading the highs and lows in more detail. It was well written, very relatable and so open in sharing the ins and outs of running an empire like Samantha Wills.
Thank you for sharing your heart, words and story Samantha. A true gift — you have a way with words and I have read this book many times. As a business founder, brand builder, storyteller, Mum and creative it seems your words hit my heart just right whenever I pick this book up. Thank you xxx