Bunny moved to Australia in 1994 and was attending culinary school. He studied to be a chef and worked for his family, opening five restaurants for them within a year. However he was accustomed to working in India, and he found that the lifestyle in Australia was different. Because of this, the work balance of being a chef was not for him. Hospitality was a demanding industry and he wanted to somehow change it into a product so that he could work on his own terms. He also wanted to travel. So on the weekends he began selling jewelry at the markets in Australia.
He enjoyed it but the income wasn’t enough to support him. Luckily Bunny always liked to think out of the box, so he approached a student union and started a group that set up markets in all the universities from Monday through Friday. This showed Bunny what he was capable of, and that he was a tried and true entrepreneur. He would work in the markets in the morning and work as a chef at night. When rave culture entered Melbourne, he began selling at raves and dance festivals. After this period of time, he began falling in love with the details of the jewelry. For him, if he was going to do anything he was going to do it right or not at all. For this reason, he started getting particular about the design and quality of the stones. For him it was quality over quantity, always. He believes that the essentials to a business are the three pillars: Products, Service, and Price. He always made sure that the three pillars were aligned.
Bunny didn’t know anything about the metaphysical side of crystals until he crossed paths with the book Love Is In The Earth by Melody. In 1999, he was in a period of his life where he had to make life changing decisions. Should I leave the hospitality and food industry? Are crystals my true life path? Throughout his trials and tribulations, he wore an Amethyst crystal necklace. Amethyst is the stone that reveals your true path. He also fell in love with Malachite, the stone of transformation. This was when he realized that the metaphysical properties of crystals were important. He found himself attracted to these two stones during his period of great transformations, and when he read about them in Melody’s book he knew it held meaning.
After his spiritual confirmation with the stones, he began to wholesale all over Australia. People came from all over since Bunny had a reputation of having good stones. His first customer was a lady who had wanted 30-40 pieces and inquired about a good price for them. He now has a strong list of 100 retailers.
In 2011, Bunny envisioned a store and knew he had to bring it to life. He wanted to display his pieces the way he intended. He traveled to Venice Beach in California and he loved the beach. He had a good feeling about Abbot Kinney, and chose his store’s first location with his heart. His future goal is to open more stores in the United States and expand in the US market. When I asked him what he would say to somebody who wants to become a jeweler, or anybody who has a dream, this was his response:
“Follow your dreams, but always do your research. Have a plan B for everything before you take a leap. It’s about how you adapt to change and be prepared for change, there’s no such thing as luck. It’s about planning and meeting opportunities.”
