I went to Downing Street. I still can’t quite believe it.

On 3rd June, I put on my best business casual outfit I have, got on a train to London, and walked through the doors of 11 Downing Street. I’ve typed that sentence a few times now and it still doesn’t feel entirely real.

I had been named a national finalist for the Sole to Sole Award at The Small Awards 2026, an award that celebrates the resilience and drive of the self-employed, the sole traders, the one-person businesses who hold everything together themselves, and along with over 80 small businesses from across the UK, I was invited to a special reception hosted by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves.

The Sole to Sole Award (Just sitting with those words for a moment) If there’s one thing I know about building this business, it’s that doing it alone is both the hardest and the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done. Every decision, every commission, every early morning and late night at the bench, it’s all mine. The weight of that, and the joy of it, in equal measure.

To have that recognised, not just by the awards panel, but in that room, in that building, was extraordinary.

The atmosphere on the day was everything you’d hope for. Warm. Welcoming. A real sense of genuine connection. The room was full of people who have built something from scratch, who understand what it costs, who keep going anyway, not because it’s easy but because they can’t imagine doing anything else. My kind of people. I felt immediately at home.

When I started Rebekah Ann Jewellery full time in 2019, I couldn’t have pictured standing in that room. I was just a goldsmith with a deep belief that how things are made and how customers are treated matters. That the materials we choose, the ethics we hold, the care we put into each piece carry real meaning. Its the micro relationships we create working together. Twenty-three years at the bench. Thousands of hours of making. A practice built slowly, stubbornly, with intention.

I’ve always worked from a wabi-sabi philosophy, the Japanese idea of finding beauty in imperfection and impermanence. Nothing is permanent. Nothing is finished. Nothing is perfect. And somehow, that’s exactly what makes something valuable. I try to bring that to everything I make, and increasingly, to how I run the business too. Showing up imperfectly. Doing it anyway.

Being in that room at Downing Street reminded me that showing up, consistently, honestly, over years, is itself a form of success. You don’t have to be the biggest or the loudest or the fastest growing. You just have to keep going, keep caring, and keep making things that mean something.

I’m enormously proud. Not just for myself, but for every small maker, every sole trader, every person running a one-woman or one-man show, that has a growing business they started from a single belief. and wondering whether any of it is being seen. It is. It was certainly seen that day.

Thank you to everyone who has commissioned a piece, shared my work, cheered me on from the sidelines, or simply believed in what I’m building here. You are part of this story too.

More to come. And in the meantime, if you’ve ever thought about commissioning a piece, or simply want to know more about what I do and why I do it, I’d love to hear from you.

R x