What you’ll learn in this episode:   How Gabriela made the leap from air traffic control to jewelry design, and when she knew it was time to quit her full-time job Where the inspiration for Latitude Jewelry’s collections came from How Gabriela navigates selling her jewelry internationally Gabriela’s advice for people who want to take a risk in their careers   About Gabriela Rodrigues Gabriela Rodrigues is the CEO and jewelry designer of Latitude Jewelry. Born in Brazil, her lifelong love affair with aviation and travel was sparked at an early age by her mother, Lúcia who was an air traffic controller.   Gabriela has always had an artistic side and a flair for fashion, having studied for a degree in Fashion Design at college. Her interest in designing jewelry began later, when she did a yearlong goldsmith course to indulge her creativity. It was also a welcome escape from her stressful and challenging work life in air traffic control. Friends and family wanted to buy her designs and her very first jewels were inspired by her experiences and travel background. Latitude Jewelry was born in 2019, and Gabriela took Amelia Earhart, a pioneer in aviation, as the inspiration for her first commercial range, the A.E Collection.   Additional Resources: Latitude Jewelry Website Instagram Photos available on TheJewelryJourney.com Transcript:   Gabriela Rodrigues changed careers from air traffic controller to founder and designer of Latitude Jewelry, but she didn’t leave her past behind. Her jewelry collections are inspired by everything from the sunsets she saw from her air traffic control tower to the aviation icon Amelia Earhart. She joined the Jewelry Journey Podcast to talk about how she undertook her career transition; how she fleshes out her many ideas; and how her past career prepared her for the challenges of entrepreneurship. Read the episode transcript here.    Sharon: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Jewelry Journey Podcast. This is the second part of a two-part episode. If you haven’t heard part one, please head to TheJewelryJourney.com.   Today my guest is Gabriela Rodrigues. She’s founder and CEO of Latitude Jewelry. She’s speaking with us from Portugal, but she was born in Brazil and lived there for many years. Welcome back.    How else were you prepared? Were you prepared for the changes or the fast pace of business?   Gabriela: Since I decided to open this business, my goal in this business was always to be sold in all places—in as many places around the world. So, I was preparing myself for this. I studied about taxes, customs, pricing, currency and everything. I was very well-prepared, not only about the designing part of the business. I studied how to develop a collection, branding, marketing, but also how to manage a business, pricing jewelry, because it’s very different from other kinds of products. I’m always studying and preparing myself to be where I am. Does it mean I know everything? No. I’m far from it. I’m always desperate, but I think I’m doing my best to be here. So, I’ve been preparing myself since I decided to have a business.   Sharon: How is pricing jewelry different from other commodities?   Gabriela: That’s another problem from Brazil because we deal with the gold prices now, but this is something that everyone deals with in the industry. We also have the problem of currency because we negotiate all gemstones in dollars. The ups and downs of payout in dollars make it a mess for us to price our jewelry there. It’s kind of crazy because one day the currency exchange is O.K., the other day the dollar goes up. It’s insane how we do things there.    Of course, the gold is something the industry, wherever you go, is having trouble with. If there’s a rise in gold prices, all the industry will suffer from this. The dollar price exchange with the Brazilian real is a mess. It complicates a lot of our business there because we are not selling in dollars; we are selling in real, so if the dollar goes up—our cost