Who is this Diva?

Chapter 2: How I Got Here (The Deep Cut)

Before we get too deep into mood boards and magic, I think it's only fair to tell you how I got here. Alchemy of Home didn’t just fall into my lap, and I didn’t fall out of a coconut tree (iykyk) with a fully formed business and a niche aesthetic. This road has been winding.

First things first: I’m Liz, but I also answer to Lola, and only two people on earth are allowed to call me Beth- surprisingly, they’re not my parents. I grew up solidly middle class in a small town in Missouri. I’m just as comfortable in a dodgy dive bar as I am in a bougie cocktail lounge- big Libra energy there.

I grew up riding horses and getting straight A’s since kindergarten. I still ride every week, and I have a horse named Tahoe. I have three cats too: Crookshanks, Moira, and Mila. Tahoe is my first born, but the cats run the show.

I went to Missouri State and graduated with honors in Fashion Merchandising- a degree I never really used until now, kind of. Post-grad, I moved to Chicago and almost immediately got pulled into a high-control organization (aka: a cult) that shaped a lot of what came next. I lived in Philadelphia for a while, then back to Chicago, and finally settled back in St. Louis to rebuild once the bottom inevitably fell out from under me.

I won’t dive deep into that chapter, because thankfully, EMDR therapy works, but those years taught me a lot about how easily creative energy can be manipulated, monetized, and misunderstood. I spent years believing I was the problem, not the system. I now know better.

At 27, I moved back in with my mom, completely fried emotionally and energetically. I had to rebuild from the inside out. I entered the corporate world not because I wanted to, but because my spirit was too bruised to try anything else. I believed with what was left of my heart that I was only good enough to follow someone else’s lead rather than blaze my own trail. Cults will do that to ya, man.

But you know what? Corporate life was there for me when I needed it. It gave me a container to heal, and to be honest, our systems from childhood groom us to enter a corporate structure, so in some ways, I was able to adjust. In others, I never did. I started practicing yoga and meditation, reconnected with old friends (and drank heavily, if we’re being honest), started riding again. Little by little, I felt my creativity spark.

In 2019, I started a resin art business almost by accident. I was making things just to feel something (lol), posted my work once, and it took off. I founded Lola + Rose Emporium, filled with handmade pieces, candles, bath salts, mugs- basically, everything a late-20s millennial-in-crisis could ever need.

It brought in some fun money, but it wasn’t sustainable. I burned out after a few years. Still, I loved every piece I made, and I’d love to weave that energy back into Alchemy of Home one day.

By 2020, it was time for more space. I bought my first home (off-market, magically), and it became my true sanctuary- a place of healing, experimentation, and deep creative return.

In 2023, I co-founded Wayne Rose Properties with a dear friend. We turned a small property into a beautifully furnished rental for traveling professionals. It was an extension of the same magic- turning space into sanctuary. That property showed me I could merge styling, intuition, and investment into one aligned offering.

The second half of 2023 and all of 2024 was a highlight reel filled with career success, travel, transformation, solo trips, music festivals, lazy nights and general frolicking. I cherished that time- it was a period of settling in that I’d never really felt before. I celebrated my growth and resilience, and soaked up all magic, big and little. But even in the good, I could feel a shift coming. Something deeper was being asked of me.

And now here I am: creating Alchemy of Home. Not because I have it all figured out, but because this is the work I’ve been doing in the background for years. I’m not just teaching a process. I’ve lived it.

I’m not chasing perfection anymore. I’m choosing presence- through the good and the bad. And I want to help you do the same. Whether that means creating a guest-ready rental, transforming the energy of your living room, or reconnecting with the part of you that still believes home can feel like magic.

You’ll find all of that here. Thanks for sticking around for the long version. I’m just getting started.

— Liz