BIOGRAPHY WRITER MEDIA MEET SAMANTHA

The SAMANTHA WILLS Jewellery business is officially closed.

Our retail partner DAVIDJONES.com will be the exclusive stockist for the next 6-months.

We have archived the past 15 years on our Instagram feed, visit it any time to take a trip down memory lane

NEED TO MAKE A RETURN?

Our Customer Experience Team will be here til July 30th, 2019 to honor our 6-month product warranty management.

(Please note; we will not be accepting change of mind, only faulty items under warranty)

info@samanthawills.com or 02 9690 2122

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VIA FORBES

VIA FORBES

 

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. 

After 15 years, and stating that she felt the SAMANTHA WILLS jewellery brand had achieved all it had set out to do, Wills announced that she was closing the jewellery business in January 2019 to focus on her profile work as a speaker, writer and creative.

Passionate about supporting women in business, Wills continues her work with the SamanthaWillsFoundation.org, and is an advocate for gender equality and conscious kindness.

Based in New York City where she is currently writing her first book, Samantha travels globally as a creative ambassador and keynote speaker. 

 
IMAGE VIA GRAZIA

IMAGE VIA GRAZIA

 
Change, in my experience is rarely easy. ⠀ ⠀ Buddha said; “Everything changes, nothing remains without change.” ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ He is correct, I admire how calmly and anxiety free it seems he said it…. I also wonder if Buddha was in a therapist’s office twice a week (🙋🏼‍♀️) trying to navigate it. ⠀ ⠀ That’s how I answer the question I am being most asked most in the weeks that have followed the closure of the @SamanthaWillsOfficial jewellery business.... ⠀ ⠀ “Soooo, how’s it all feeling?” people ask me, smiling broadly like they expect me to be about to jet off to a tropical island and lay under a beach umbrella taking only important calls via a coconut. ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ “It feels like I need to be in therapy twice a week… So I am,” I reply. ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ The person who asks the question instantly has a look of regret they did, and I usually just shrug my shoulders a little, smile a little, and say “change... it’s not easy.” ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ @WomensHealthAus recently spoke with me and some other Australian women making some big changes, the article is based on career and getting to the point where you achieved everything you wanted annnnnd…. then what? Or if you are looking at it from a different angle, the dream job you thought you wanted may have changed along the way and that requires a slight re-route in the course. The full article is on newsstands stand now, with the gorgeous @Elsapatakyconfidential on the cover. ⠀ ⠀ “Change, like love - is a battlefield“ – Buddha ⠀ ….(Just joking, Buddha didn’t say that. Me and Pat Benatar did.) ⠀ ⠀ I will be speaking on change, intuition and decision making in the keynotes I will be presenting in the coming months around Australia. ——- For more information, check out link in bio (Wagga Wagga… I’m also heading your way too!) – SWx ⠀
I am thrilled to be back in Australia soon for a week with @BusinessChicks as part of their #TheFoundersTalks Series. I will be presenting keynote in Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth & Sydney where I will be talking about the decision making process I went through on deciding to close the @SamanthaWillsOfficial jewellery business. ⠀ ⠀ At The Founders Talks, I will be presenting what was seen publicity with the #SamanthaWills Jewellery business - a successful brand - vs what was playing out privately for me at the same time. I believe these parallels are important to share, because there is a light and darkness to every story, one simply does not exist without the other. I will be sharing insights from the past 15 years and look forward to meeting you after the event.⠀ ⠀ ⠀ I hope you’ll join me, tickets are limited – more info and tickets via link in bio. ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ Thank you #BusinessChicks for facilitating these events and evoking these conversations, I am truly honoured to be involved. See you soon, Australia! – SWx ⠀
“When I die, bury me in Maticevski!!!” — My exact words to @lirije_memishi when this dress arrived... Thank you beautiful Lirije for the loan, and thank you @toni_maticevski for creating such magic. -SWx
Test polaroids from the studio fitting of this insane gown I was lucky enough to wear last night, by Australia’s best @toni_maticevski 🖤 -SWx
Last night at the American Australian Arts Awards @_aaausa, in New York City. ⠀ ⠀ Many years ago, I was sent a picture (shown in gallery) of a piece of paper stuck to a cement pole during the Dublin Contemporary 2011 Art Exhibition, it said: ⠀ ⠀ ”ART WON’T SAVE THE WORLD. GO VOLUNTEER AT A SOUP KITCHEN YOU PRETENTIOUS F#CK.” ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ I’m a passionate advocate for the arts. ⠀ ⠀ Not just the high end, fine art, classical ballet, Julliard trained, couture aristocracy type of art, but also - and possibly, more so - the other end of the arts. The “I started creating on my kitchen table”, “busked on street corners”, “drew pictures in math's class”, “paint after the kids went to bed”, “did photography for fun”, “I was just doing it as a hobby and I kind of just fell into it”, scrappy start-up kind of arts. ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ I think that’s why I liked the Dublin Contemporary flier so much, it was scrappy; in medium, and language.  I am unsure if it was posted as part of the exhibition, or by an anti-art protester taking the piss, but either way, I thought it was brilliant and sent it to all my creative friends. It was also my screen saver for many years.  To me it read as a reminder on two topics; … (continued in gallery above) ____ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ Congratulations tonight to Elle MacPherson, Simon Baker and Zoy Frangos who were all honoured for their contribution to Australian Arts in America. There is something incredibly special about being abroad in a room full of Aussies. - SWx ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ To celebrate Australia Arts in in the USA, it was such a honour to work with an all Australia team, with my many, many thanks to the following artists: ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ Gown by Australian Designer: @Toni_Maticevski ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ Hair by Australian Hair Stylist: @HeyWhatsChaplin ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ Makeup by Australian Make-up Artist: @TobiMakeup ⠀ --- ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ Referenced in story: @CelesteBarber, @TaylorSwift,  @Heidi, Madelyn Jenner (via her Mum) @r_amc
No matter how long I’ve spent in the Northern hemisphere, I’m still far too Australian for these temperatures 🐨🥶Much love, from the mountains. x
It is so quiet up here, you can literally hear the snowflakes falling. Some days you don’t see another soul. It is serenely beautiful, and very magical. ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ Bowie’s having an absolutely terrible time....as shown in both these photos. ⠀ ⠀ Hope you’re keeping warm (Not you, Australia! I know you’re melting at the minute!! Stay cool down there!) ⠀ Much love, from here. -SWx
About 90 minutes north of New York City are hidden little places like this. Till the weekend I’m bunkered down here writing, and what better place to do so.... This building is an old converted schoolhouse, and while I’m sure it’s somewhat warmer in other months, it’s beyond spectacular mid winter. ⠀ ⠀ You will see in gallery above I managed to catch some some footage of Aslan, (and I’m only half joking when I say I’m expecting Edmund and Lucy to emerge from a wardrobe.) ⠀ Please send wine, C/- Narnia. -SWx
Today we say, farewell. Thank you for being so gracious as to taking this journey with us. With all my love and gratitude..See you in a little while. -SWx ⠀ ⠀ @samanthawillsofficial ⠀ SAMANTHA WILLS JEWELLERY ⠀ 2004-2019
This photograph was taken in New York City in 2013 by American photographer, Caitlin Mitchell for a profile for @marieclaireau magazine. ⠀ Caitlin sent me this signed print a few weeks after the shoot and I re-found it just recently. Six years on since it was taken, I look different. Things are different. ⠀ I couldn’t look at this photo for a while, that’s different now too. ⠀ ⠀ Thankyou for all your love and comments and messages for the stories I’ve shared over the last week as we wind down the final days of @samanthawillsofficial. This will be the last one for a little while. It was a recent realisation for me on the continual co-exsistence of confidence and uncertainty. -SWx ⠀ ⠀ Tomorrow we say farewell... @samanthawillsofficial 2004-2019
This story discusses sexual assault. If you would like to speak with someone, you can call 1800 737 732 or Lifeline on 13 11 14. ⠀ _⠀ I wrote the article in the above gallery in August 2017 and published it on the @SamanthaWillsFoundation. I have edited it down slightly to fit the above format, the full version as originally published is at samanthawillsfoundation.org ⠀ ⠀ In the month following the publishing of this piece, I received over 150 messages / emails / letters / DMs. —- 99.99% of them were from females & they ranged from women saying that they saw themselves in different parts of the story I shared, all the way to a letter from a woman writing to tell me that nearly four decades ago she was raped by her third grade teacher in the class room one day after the final bell rang. She wrote it had taken her the forty years since it happened to work up the courage to tell someone. ⠀ ⠀ I recently told her I wanted to re-post the article & asked her if could I share the above,when she said she was happy for me to,we spoke a bit more and she said had carried her story with her all these years because of the fear of speaking up. ⠀ Fear she wouldn’t be believed. Fear of shame. Fear of embarrassment. ⠀ FEAR. It’s a very dirty four-letter F word, & a haunting one to live with. But a very common, and very valid one. ⠀ As much as the movement is shifting & voices are being heard, today we are still very much in a time when reporting a sexual assault is met with public humiliation, ridicule and questions like; “What were you wearing at the time?” “Are you sure it wasn’t just a bit of harmless fun and you possibly took it the wrong way?” “How many drinks had you had when he allegedly forced himself on you?” ⠀ ...”Well, if it really happened, why didn’t you say something at the time?” ⠀ “Why did you wait so long to speak up?”... ⠀ As I state in the original article above; I stand with, & whole heartedly commend all the women who are speaking up. ⠀ ⠀ What I would now add to that in a post script 18 months later is that I stand with your fear and your bravery, and do so no matter when the instance occurred. ⠀ ⠀ You have all my respect - SWx
Our team is amazing & have had such care & investment in our community. Katie @natiekorthwood drove this program & it was a company wide highlight to read her quarterly updates on what she & the team had put in place. ⠀ ⠀ The concept was that each month we would send product, sometimes SW product, sometimes something bought elsewhere, even something baked by one of our team. But it was personalized to who we were sending it to. It was not based on spend, or social engagement. We might notice someone’s kind demeanor on the phone, a hardship we had become aware, or a feed Katie had crept on into seeing someone trying to track a sold-out item down. ⠀ ⠀ She would often be diving deep into our sample cupboards to find the elusive piece to send to the women whose conversations she had insta-eavsdropped on,*lurking deep in feeds & posts. Often driving past people’s homes on her way home & stealthily leaving the product on their doorstep (*Katie is not nearly as creepy in real life as I’ve made her sound here) ⠀ ⠀ 🖤 — 1. I wanted to publicly thank Katie for heading up this initiative over the years with such sincerity & empathy. ⠀ ⠀ 🖤— 2. The above gallery shares two of my favourites over the years. The email we received from the recipients teenage son, Liam in the first one cracked my heart wildly open. Michelle’s response, and including ‘to pay it forward’ added a whole other level of gratitude. ⠀ ⠀ The second, ‘SOMETHING BLUE’ was a reminder of often the spoken but easily forgotten in moments, that people are dealing with things that we know absolutely nothing about. ⠀ ⠀ 🖤— Small acts of kindness go further than we will ever know. ⠀Business or not, we all have something to give. A smile, a “how are you today?”, a helping hand, a kind thought. Surprise + delight.... I promise you’ll be delightfully surprised in return. - SWx ⠀