Today we’d like to introduce you to Deric Metzger.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’m a transplant from the Washington, DC area. I moved to Carlsbad to attend the Gemological Institute of America as their youngest student in residency. During that time, I had a devastating motorcycle wreck on the highway and lost much of the fine motor control in my hands. A lot of perseverance and physical therapy later, and my design work was selected to represent GIA at the Vincenza Oro jewelry event in Italy. I was hired to manage a design department and sales team for a chain of stores in Alaska before I was done with my degrees and since went on to become the most award-winning CAD/CAM custom designer in North America (Instore/Indesign magazine 2012 article High and Mighty). I did a collaboration with Xikar to make luxury cigar accessories, and I’ve ghost designed for many stores around San Diego as well as big projects for Disney.
In 2009 after losing someone, I became involved with Survivors of Suicide Loss San Diego. The nation’s oldest non-profit organization providing support and resources for those who have lost a loved one to suicide. I’ve been facilitating support groups and speaking at universities and shelters and acted as a panelist for psychology students etc. Our organization helps to train first responders and the military as well. I’ve done consulting for news and did a segment for Fox News on suicide in the LGBTQ community some years ago.
Recently within the past handful of years, I’ve sought another personal passion and added the title of perfumer (nose is what we’re called in the industry) to my outlets of expression. Which has completed my passion/duty/expression life balance. I’m fortunate enough to get to know people both locally and afar and help them celebrate their best achievements, assist them through their worst moments, and help them make and keep memories.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
No diamond is made without pressure. Having to find a way to work with the nerve damage from my motorcycle wreck in a field that relied on my dexterity was a major challenge.
In the aftermath of losing someone close to me to suicide, I struggled immensely. It cost me my home-I lived in my car for a while, I stopped working, and the trauma was all-encompassing. Coming back from that to become a guide for others was a hard but necessary journey.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
My work with jewelry is not typical. I am known for my very heavyweight and highly texture-rich pieces. I design jewelry not for its initial buyer but for those who will inherit it. I’m fond of saying that I design in four dimensions because too often, I see longevity and wear and tear completely ignored by most mass-manufactured jewelry, and I want to create things that will connect with people and become repositories for their memories. A physical repository of stories to be told and handed down. You only achieve this status when it’s made well enough to last and designed interestingly enough to be worth keeping as a signature accessory.
My work with perfume is similarly all about memory. Scent is the strongest sense tied to memories and can instantly transport you to a moment or connection with a person who may not be here anymore. There’s plenty of mass-made “nice” fragrances out there, I don’t chase that: I want something more potent and more distinct so that it is primed to make memories within a way a generic smell simply can’t elevate itself to.
And my work with SOSL is probably my most unfortunately rare duty and talent. Having been through the wringer myself, I have a bit of a reputation within the organization and community of survivors as being the go-to counsel for the hardest parts of the grieving and recovery process. It’s a solemn responsibility born from the depths of tragedy. If you have a skill that benefits your community: I feel you are morally obliged to help as many as you can.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
My parents had been my greatest advocates, and they did so wisely by getting out of my way and letting me test my limits without boundaries as best they can. My father was a plumber, and my mother a computer programmer, so my artistic pursuits were outside their wheelhouses, and they did the most they could to support my endeavors and let me forge my own path. I would not be who I am without them being who they were.
But there is no “self-made” person. We are all a product of those who have gifted us with their wisdom and experience, and expertise throughout our lives, and how we deploy and implement those lessons and grow outward from them is what determines how good of a student we were.
I’d like to thank everyone I ever loved that also chose to spend their time with me, and am eternally grateful for all the lessons learned.
Contact Info:
- Website: Etsy.com/shop/demerjewelry
- Instagram: Instagram.com/demerparfumlimited
