Hi, I’m Maryana 

A wife and mother of two beautifully made, vibrant, fun-loving, adventurous and curious little humans who are 7 (son) and 5 (daughter). I’m a registered nurse and counsellor. I’ve worked in a busy emergency department for almost 10 years, which has opened my eyes to both blessings and misfortunes of this world.

I’ve come from a sheltered household, so the more I was exposed to trauma, the more I became curious about human behaviours and why people do what they do. This led me to study counselling. Studying counselling was therapeutic for my soul. There, on campus, my own healing journey began. I’ve learned so much more about myself. I became intrigued with attachment styles as well as trauma and its rippling effects. Viewing the world through my career has led me here.

I made a conscious decision that I wanted to be a present parent. I wanted to do better, because now I knew better. Play was how I interacted and connected with them on their level.

     

 ( They are my why… )

In fact, everything we're currently reading about the benefits of play, is only scratching the surface. There is no wrong way to play.

If you’ve stumbled across this, I want to thank you for reading my story and joining me on this play journey. I hope that by sharing my story, I was able to inspire you to play. Don’t over complicate it, they want your presence and whatever you have at hand 💓

- How it all started at Beautiful Mines -

Honestly, I was looking to build a small collection of open-ended toys for my son. But it also came at a time where hubby and I dropped from two full-time incomes to one. So, like most families, affordability was a major issue. I started sourcing what I wanted and when my friends came to visit, they loved my little curated collection and saw their own babies/ children play with them. Very little time passed before I was sourcing for my friends and friends of friends. This is how this business was born.