Mary Wakefield is the founder and CEO of Studio Skanda, the original gemstone bead store in Victoria B.C. that opened in 2001. A true visionary, Mary combined her love of creating beautiful spaces with her love of exquisite jewelry, and SKANDA was born.
Mary’s dream was to create a calm, safe and creative environment for her clients to experience beautiful jewelry. To set up shop, Mary traveled to Bali where she worked with local craftsmen who used her designs to create furniture, cabinets, and display materials to house gorgeous jewelry and gemstones. Mary then began designing one of a kind jewelry, using fabulous gemstones and rare jewelry pieces, sourced from all over the world. Mary and her staff enjoy helping people and coming up with creative solutions to their unique jewelry needs. Mary treats her clients and staff as if they are family, taking the time to listen and develop emotional connections with them. It’s not just about jewelry!
Now, Mary has found a little piece of heaven and Skanda will be close to the Sea and be working out of her studio at home.
Mary has a Marketing and HR Degree. Before Skanda, she worked in the corporate world, specializing in training and development as well as the needs analysis field in the retail sector. When Mary is not in the studio, she spends most of her time outdoors with her German Shepard, Indie. Whether paddling, mountain biking, sailing or hiking, Mary is constantly inspired by nature for her designs at Skanda as well as other mediums of art she loves to play with.