Lora-Jean was born and raised in central Connecticut. One very blustery February day in 1997, when she read that Austin had sunshine an average of 300 out of 365 days, she moved here in less than a month's time.

Since then, she has found work in both the field of finance and computers, providing technical support for a non-profit accounting software package. Having a career that requires a tremendous amount of left-brain thinking has made her a very strong believer that all women, especially moms, need a creative outlet. She discovered beading one day in 2005 while shopping at Hobby Lobby. She says, "I walked up to the cashier desk, put my things down, looked up and saw the prettiest bracelet I'd ever seen on the wrist of the cashier checking my purchases. I asked her if she would teach me how to make that bracelet, and afterward, she became my mentor, my business partner, and one of my closest friends."

Lora-Jean considers herself to be a bead addict; she loves to purchase, design, research, and create bracelets, earrings, necklaces, and anklets. She draws her inspiration from magazines such as InStyle, Vogue, and More, and spends hours pouring through beading books, magazines, and websites. Her passion drives her to bead almost daily, and she dreams of opening up her own bead and artisan shop someday. She especially gravitates toward anything that sparkles, including Swarovski crystals, spinel, precious gemstones, and silver-lined seed beads. Her latest addiction is the square stitch, using cubes, seed beads, hex beads, pearls or triangles to create very unique cuff bracelets. Almost no two pieces are the same, and she tries to create each piece with the person in mind. Her business is called "Be The Bead" and as her card says, she makes "jewelry for the soul, crafted from the heart".

You can see Lora-Jean's work in several ways: