Prior to beginning her own line in 1997, Melissa Joy Manning majored in Art History at the University of California, San Diego and received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Jewelry Design and Sculpture from San Francisco State University. She also studied Traditional Silversmithing at the Instituto de Allende in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico and European Design Principles at the University of Barcelona. All of her work is handmade in her Oakland, California studio.