From cooking for Billie Eilish to a cancer diagnosis: How these BFFs weather life

Trailblazing vegan chef Shannon Martinez, 40, and rock ‘n’ roll jewellery designer Emma Terzini, 45, got each other at “hello”. But it took cancer, divorce – and a shared A-list muse – to really seal the deal.

EMMA: Before I met Shannon, I’d bought her cookbook [Smith & Daughters: A Cookbook (That Happens to be Vegan)] and loved it. I started following her restaurant on Insta. I thought Shannon was awesome: a brave chick with vision and attitude. And possibly intimidating with her no-bullshit, zero-f—s charisma.

We met in March 2019, at Download Festival in Melbourne, through a mutual friend. I told Shannon I was a fan. She was super-friendly, full of energy, loud, funny, smart and talked as fast as I do. I felt comfortable straight away. Neither of us was looking for friendship, but we’ve been inseparable ever since. We’re both busy entrepreneurs but, more than that, we’re each other’s safe space. We understand each other.

I separated from my husband a few months later. Embarking on a new friendship while I was so vulnerable, with my life unravelling around me, was very unexpected. Learning how to co-parent through a divorce, coping with that grief and keeping my jewellery business [Heart Of Bone] running during the isolation of the pandemic … I was pushed to my limit. Shannon just got it, though. She was the friend who showed up in her cool, badass way with meals for me and the kids. It was never intrusive. She’d say she was just driving past; it wasn’t a problem. She never made me feel uncomfortable about accepting her generosity, nor did she allow me to feel sorry for myself. She’s someone who has this magical way of making you feel better.

Soon after, in April 2020, Shannon was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer – and she and her partner broke up. She was angry, which gave her the fire she needed, unexpectedly, to power through the chemo. She was formidable.

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When she got physically low and was losing her hair, I never rang her to say, “You poor thing.” My job was to remind her of her strength, reassure her she was going to be okay. Sometimes she just wanted to be alone, though. I’d swing by, drop off some chicken soup and leave again. I totally get when she needs me and when she doesn’t.

We were newly separated women facing down some challenges, including a global pandemic. We distracted ourselves by filling the Smith & Daughters space on Brunswick Street with this huge installation made from hard rubbish we collected off the streets at night. Then we created a homewares collection – hand-carved plates, decorative cocktail kits, coffin-shaped chopping boards – in a pivot that was so hard to pull off with everything being shut, but we managed it.

I love making jewellery for Shan. I’m working on a pair of matching best-friend rings that I’m repurposing from our exes’ engagement rings. The diamonds will be set in black onyx and white gold.