Alyson Fox has always had an artistic spirit, but it took her a while to unleash it. “I had a breakdown in college—I had actually started out as a nutrition and fitness major—and my nana, my dad’s mom, said, ‘You need to take an art class—you’re so creative.’ So I took an art class, and it changed my whole direction. It woke me up in a way I was really excited about,” explains the Austin, Texas, resident. From there, she pursued a graduate program straight out of school at Florida State (where she had ended up focusing on photography) and started getting a handle on other forms—painting, sculpture, and whatever else allowed her to avoid pigeonholing herself.

Speaking of that anti-definition attitude: While Alyson currently makes some of the coolest colorful, lighthearted necklaces around, jewelry designer is far too strict a label for what she does. “I started a website called asmallcollection.com with the idea that it would be ever-changing—I think there’s something psychological about me that I don’t want to do just one thing,” Alyson says. “It’s been a joy for the last three years. I don’t really put rules on it—I have a line of dishes and luggage coming out. Right now it’s jewelry, and who knows what it’ll be in a couple of years.”

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