Daily Inspiration: Meet Sarah Ortega

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Ortega.

Hi Sarah, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My love for jewelry and design started with my mother’s Albuquerque boutique, Ooh! Aah! Jewelry. Being by her side sparked my own passion and taught me everything about the business. My father, a hardworking lawyer and advocate for Mexican immigrants, instilled in me the importance of fairness and equality, values I strive to incorporate into my own business.

In college, I designed jewelry in my dorm room and sold it to my friends, so opening my own branch of Ooh! Aah! Jewelry was inevitable. My Denver boutique morphed into Sarah O. Jewelry as it became a space where I could collaborate with clients to create their dream pieces. It’s been a dream come true for me, too!

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Owning a business will always be a journey with lots of twists and turns, and ups and downs. One challenge that I know all business owners faced was during the pandemic. There were endless unknowns and the landscape changed every day. We had store and jeweler shutdowns and cancelled gemstone shows, which impacted our production timelines and inventory on hand. We also weren’t sure if and how consumers would continue to spend on fine jewelry. All this meant we had to really tune in to our audience and communicate clearly with them throughout. We were constantly pivoting based on the insights we were gleaning, and managing expectations due to delays and/or changes in process. Rather than panicking, we got creative– and the business actually grew and improved during this time because of it! My goal was to retain every single employee working for me, and I did just that!

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I have an enormous passion for colored gemstones, and I believe they’re one of the things that really set our designs apart from the competition. I personally hand-select each unique gemstone featured in any of our one-of-a-kind pieces. Ranging from teal Montana Sapphires to sparkling champagne diamonds, these designs are eye-catching and unusual. I travel to gem shows around the nation to sort through thousands of stones and come home with an unusual and beautiful selection. With each stone meticulously selected by me personally, these designs are a true testament to my passion for creating uniquely exquisite jewelry. Additionally, At Sarah O., sustainability is always top of mind and we ensure our exclusive designs are created with only ethically sourced gemstones and diamonds. Our handcrafted pieces are built to last a lifetime because we believe jewelry is more than something beautiful, it’s a part of your story that can be passed down for generations.

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I was really focused on team sports growing up. I loved spending time with my friends, playing soccer all through high school, and being on the swim team — I actually started swimming when I was 7 and continued all the way through high school. I spent so many summers at the pool, whether I was training, lifeguarding, or teaching swim lessons, and I absolutely loved it. In my spare time, I worked at my mom’s jewelry store, especially during the holidays when school was out, which gave me my first glimpse into the world of small business and creativity. I was also really involved in school and enjoyed jumping into any activity or event I could be part of.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sarahojewelry.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahojewelry
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarahojewelry/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@sarahojewelry?lang=en