Little known facts about Liette Murphy (that's me!):
I bought my first car at 16. It's a 1974 Dodge Dart with a V-8 318 engine (no wussy slant-6 for me, thanks!) I bought my second car at age 35. Now I'm 48, but I still have the Dart. It's not in the great shape it was when I bought it, which I feel very guilty about, and I always dreamed of fixing it up. Maybe one day, when I make my millions.... It's what you might call a yard car at this point. I am taking serious offers, however.
I failed Spanish once in high school and once in college. Then I got my bachelor's degree in Spanish Linguistics. The key was to start working with a couple girls from Puebla, Mexico who were learning English at the same rate I was learning Spanish. Actually being able to hold a conversation in another language with a native speaker was amazing to me. (I also studied French and Portuguese and can fluently tell you in both languages that I don't speak French or Portuguese.) I lived and studied in Mexico during college, and have probably seen more of that country than I have of my own.
I started working in the restaurant industry at age 14 (which allowed me to pay cash for the aforementioned Dart). I was a line cook for 14 years (which paid my way through college), and a restaurant manager and general manager for 16 years. It was an invaluable experience. One I hope to never repeat!
I got hooked on making jewelry when I went back to Mexico after graduating college in 2002, and hung out with makers on the street selling wire-wrapped jewelry set out on blankets. I learned a few techniques and kept practicing. Taxco, a town famous for silver-smithing, is close to where I lived and I entertained ideas of going there to study. I didn't have the money at that time, but when I got back to the States I started looking into where I could take classes. Pima College in Tucson had a robust metals program and I convinced the instructor to waive the pre-requisites and let me into Jewelry Making 101. The rest, as they say, is History...