Being born and raised in a small town called Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates but having Welsh parents, had always left me feeling privileged in my dual identity. I’d always wanted to create something that paid homage to both these cultures and the push to do this came when I moved to Cardiff in 2017. Having lived in Arabia for 24 years and struggling to adjust to my new life, I held a gift I had received for my 21st birthday close to me at all times, my name in an Arabic teardrop necklace. I missed the desert, the people and the way of living but I was reminded of all this daily, through my necklace. In 2019, I launched Shamsa as a way of sharing my love of Arabia with the rest of the world, one piece of jewellery at a time!