Kelsi Sheren is a combat veteran and artillery gunner in the Canadian military who served in Afghanistan in 2009 with the Canadian, American, and British armed forces. She was a competitive Tae Kwon Do champion from the ages of four to nineteen and holds a second-degree black belt. After deploying to Afghanistan at nineteen, Kelsi was diagnosed with PTSD and sent home only to begin a new war—the war with herself. When her therapist recommended art therapy, Kelsi started making jewelry out of spent shell casings. She began with a warrior bracelet that led to the creation of a successful jewelry and eyewear brand, Brass & Unity. Twenty percent of net profits go toward helping veterans who are suffering from PTSD, depression, anxiety, and suicide. In 2020, Brass & Unity was nominated for Canada’s top fashion award, The CAFA Fashion Impact Award. Brass & Unity has developed an avid following among celebrities such as Ellen DeGeneres, Beth Behrs, Michael Bublé, Jenna Dewan, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and Julianne Hough and has been featured on Ellen, Good Morning America, the Today show, People, InStyle, Forbes, ELLE, Fashion magazine, Carson Daly’s "Mind Matters," and BuzzFeed.
