What’s the first thing we should know about you?

This is no easy feat this question. I just finished playing soccer for the first time as a 38-year-old mother, and I am pretty chuffed. But probably coffee. I know it's cliché, and I am rolling my eyes as I write this, but I even told my husband when I first met him that I’m probably not good at conversation until I’ve had one. It’s still true to this day. I also have trouble spelling, unfortunately, and separately. That’s three things!

Tell us a little about your path to Various Friends – how did the brand’s inception come to be?

I had always wanted something of my own since I was little. Notable mentions go to starting a bed linen label, being a travel agent and running a yoga and surf retreat in Sri Lanka. I never stopped trying to find my thing; everyone around me seemed to have found it. The funny thing is that it found me. I fell in love, got pregnant, became a mother, birthed a child and had the urge to create. Finding my thing was now about leaving something meaningful for my son. Like a jacked-up domino effect, Various Friends was born. I started to share my little knowledge of astrology at the time. I ditched my imposter syndrome and found my voice and artistry. My husband, with his 20 years’ experience as an art director, jumped on board as the graphic designer, and a few months in, we launched our first range of prints and birth charts.

Astrology plays a pivotal role in your life and your work. Is this something you’ve nurtured all your life, or did it evolve organically as you grew older?

Fascinated by sun signs since childhood, my education was reading horoscopes in magazines like Cosmo. I knew my family’s signs, and the most crucial part was that I was an Aries, which is so Aries. When I became a mother, I delved into the study of Astrology more seriously. Feeling lost in my newfound identity when my son Banjo was just one, I sought guidance. I found an Astrologer to read my birth chart. She opened the sky with her insights and offered to tutor me. She was the Head of the Federation of Astrologers in Australia. That was seven years ago. The rest, as they say, is history.

What drew you to collaborating with Natalie Marie Jewellery for this particular collection?

It was a no-brainer: I have always adored Natalie Marie Jewellery, and when I was asked to collaborate and write about the moon, I was like a giddy schoolgirl. From the get-go, this was a collaboration in all its best forms.

This collection celebrates and pays homage to the myriad phases of the moon, and its representation in our own life journeys. What role does the moon play in your own life?

Change. The moon illuminates and suggests what’s changing. The moon is always in the corner of my eye, reminding me of change. I don’t sit down in rituals or hold ceremonies. Instead, I move with her rhythm. I begin when she is new, adjust when she is half, become aware when she is full, and release when she is waning. The best way to pay homage to the moon is to experience how we change. And I think that is why this collection is so beautiful in meaning and design.

The Ora Necklace is unique in its capacity to represent different phases of one’s life journey: The Believer, The Romantic, The Dreamer. How have each of these facets manifested in your life?

In my early twenties, pre-babies, I was the Dreamer. I didn’t put much into action; I had a yearning, but I was baffled about what that was and how I would do it. It was a time of intoxicating possibilities and what-ifs. It carved the perfect shape for the next phase. At 29, in my Saturn Return, I fell pregnant, you know the story. This was when astrology came in, and this was my Believer phase. I dreamt her into being. Now, I had to believe in her. Today, I'm the Romantic. The sense of being tethered to my past self and simultaneously letting go of what holds me back. It's a healing yet restless battle, my time to adjust and make peace with where I am.

Who, or what, are your current inspirations – let us know the people or places guiding and encouraging your creativity.

The common thread over the years is music, more so singer-songwriters. Nick Cave’s Red Hand Files are tiny masterpieces that arrive each week in my inbox. Matt Berninger from the National and Florence Welch from Florence and the Machine can write about the tender parts of life so that one lyric seems to know me better than I know myself. I turn to songs when I feel like I have nothing to write about, and sometimes, one line can inspire three hundred words or some car singing.

Your work requires you to draw a lot from the energies of other people and the complex workings of the universe. How do you seek balance, or grounding, amidst this higher purpose?

I ground with the ocean and writing. This means I have thousands of notes of just one or two words on my phone. I hear something beautiful or thought-provoking, which creates this nourishment—a timestamp for what’s going on astrologically. Understanding the context and writing out the truth as I see it seems to bring everything back into order. I’m writing just as much for myself as for anybody reading.

How does astrology allow you to connect to community?

I wouldn’t have a community without astrology. It is the rich tapestry that connects us. The sky is a mirror. I interpret it without too much shop talk and keep it on a personal level. One foot in my fancy words, yes, but the other is in reality. The amount of vulnerability with all those involved, whether it’s myself writing about the Full Moon or those sharing their stories with me, from beauty to brokenness. Mary Oliver once said that poetry wishes for community, and so does astrology.

Drawing from the collection’s inspiration, are you able to share with us some ways we can work with, or embrace, the phases of the lunar cycle in our own journeys?

The New Moon is where we begin to paint an idea: “Should I, shouldn’t I.” This is the inception phase, where things are uncertain, but something is starting to emerge. Each month, a New Moon will fall in the current Zodiac sign, which urges focus on a particular theme—writing intentions under a New Moon, journalling, or even silent reflection to bring some awareness. I love these lines from Maggie Smith’s How Dark the Beginning. "Let us talk more of how dark the beginning of a day is."

The Quarter Moons are half-light, half-dark. This is the shape of you between seed and blossom. These phases evoke the need for independence. Action, adjustment, and individuation. This is generally where you encounter obstacles and the need to turn a corner toward what you are trying to achieve. This is when you need to keep nurturing yourself through roadblocks.

The Full Moon is your fulfillment phase. This is the culmination point; you stand back and assess your efforts. You can see what is working and opening for you. I refer to this phase as your debut; there is meaning and purpose behind your ideals from the New Moon.