Hyde
By Robie Liscomb
A love of learning languages has propelled Jennifer Hyde to the top of her class, earning her the Jubilee Medal in the Humanities for 2006/07.
After graduating from Mt. Douglas Secondary, the Victoria native took off for a small French village near Paris, where she worked for a year as an au pair, caring for three children and further perfecting her French.
“That experience gave me a tremendous advantage when I returned to major in French at UVic,” says Hyde, who also attributes her success to being something of a perfectionist. “I have trouble doing things half-way,” she admits.
And that attitude applies as well to her other passion—creating jewellery. Inspired by her mother, an artist and craftsperson, Hyde started making her own jewellery as a child and, at age ten, began selling it at local craft fairs. She helped support herself through her undergraduate years working at a downtown bead store and now she’s launching her own online jewellery business at bellezzabeads.etsy.com.
Though initially planning to pursue a career in teaching, Hyde currently hopes to find part-time work as a translator so she’ll have time to build up her jewellery design business.
But first she’s off to France again to reconnect with the family she lived with, soak up the sights and maybe even establish an international clientele for her jewellery creations.
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