Personal History
Tampa,
1984
In 1984, I moved from Dallas, Texas, to Tampa, Florida. I was immediately inspired.
Coming from Texas, it felt like a different world. Palm trees, beaches, pelicans in the sky. Here in Florida, right outside our house, I could collect seashells half buried in the sand. Ride my bike under rows of palm trees. Pick oranges off my neighbor’s tree. The ocean, just a car ride away. This place—this was magical.
The shells I collected came back to my bedroom, where I kept them on my windowsill.
On weekends, we would take day trips to places like Tarpon Springs to buy natural sponges that Greek divers brought up from the sea. Sometimes we would go farther south, down to Coconut Grove in Miami, where I would spend the evening walking beneath blue and pink neon lights.
I spent days at the beach and time at springs where manatees swam in the water. I even went to mermaid camp that first summer. And of course, I had a season pass to Disney World and Epcot.
These are the things I remember most clearly about growing up in Florida. Something about the air and the water made me so happy to be alive.
On regular days, we would get up in the morning and stop at a little Greek restaurant on our way to Clearwater for tea and baklava. Afterward, we would go to the beach and spend hours feeding the seagulls by the ocean.
In fact, I was having so much fun at the beach that I ended up missing the first half of kindergarten. Completely worth it, I think.
On fancy days, my mother would take me to Hyde Park Village in Tampa. We would go to Godiva, where I could choose one piece of chocolate. I always chose the same one: an oyster with a pearl inside.
When I think about the beginnings of Lily Frank, I return to these memories. Long before I was designing clothing or jewelry, I was collecting and noticing the things I still love today.
Looking back, it makes perfect sense that I ended up making jewelry from shells.
Even my favorite chocolate had a pearl inside.
