Press
December 8, 2009 - Jewelry creativity sparks passion
October 10, 2009 - Vernon jeweler launches new collection at open house
October, 2009 - Kelowna Fire Museum Corporate Sponsor Spolight
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Young: Jewelry creativity sparks passion
By Joel Young - Kelowna Capital News
Published: December 08, 2009 6:00 PM
Updated: December 16, 2009 11:04 AM
Guess what folks, we don’t have to travel to New York, Los Angeles or even Paris to enjoy and purchase innovative fashion items for ourselves or loved ones.
We can find them right here at home in the Okanagan at a few locations to suit our taste and pocketbook.
And this week, we are visiting with one of the talented jewelry design entrepreneurs outside our front door.
I am constantly reminded of the magic of entrepreneurial creativity and innovation through the stories I have had the privilege of experiencing over the past nine years of writing newspaper columns and television producing in the world of the entrepreneur.
To quote a worn out phrase, “there is no concrete formula” seems to bubble to the surface of my mind when I sit in my favourite chair with my album of articles.
Every time, that exercise verifies to me that circumstances, both good and sometimes not so good, prompt the birth of self-employment through entrepreneurial pursuit.
Sarah Byrne, the subject of my column this week, offered me an additional wonderful phrase when we met recently over coffee to discuss her entrepreneurial birth, which epitomizes the root of many self-employment journeys.
Her “creative explosion” found its root when she designed a singular flower pendant for a friend’s wedding.
Byrne was born and raised in Vernon, involving herself in sports and community activities while growing up in the North Okanagan.
After completing a cadre of business courses, she moved to Kelowna in 1997, entering the corporate commercial insurance industry where she remained for about 11 years recently leaving for the birth of her first child.
Byrne remarked that deep inside her heart and soul she knew that although she loved working in the commercial insurance industry and still does, that she would one day embrace the passion to become an entrepreneur that she felt welling up inside her over time.
In 2002, she met her husband in Kelowna and married in 2007 which was really where the significance of becoming entrepreneurial came to be—during her maternity leave with the couple’s first child.
Byrne told me she seemed to consistently adhere to her creative side penciling designs on paper while thinking about jewelry trends and fashions and particular designs concepts that came to mind in her daily travel.
Beginning in a more serious vein, Byrne began to move forward with her thoughts with action acquiring various craft supplies to experiment with designing and assembling jewelry pieces for friends and loved ones during a Christmas period a few short years ago.
The reaction from everyone who received and viewed her early design creations were so excited with Byrne’s new journey that before she knew what was happening, she was experiencing a textbook case of market demand.
People were recognizing and applauding her latent talent for jewelry design. For the first time, she began to accept that her entrepreneurial dream machine.
Beginning also as a home-based business allowed for plenty of time for her new child and husband.
And Byrne decided that the time was right for her to enhance the business skills she acquired while in the insurance industry and recognized that working closely with Jaycees International, Okanagan Chapter and Kelowna Women in Business, two highly reputable women’s mentoring organizations were the avenues of choice for furthering her personal development.
And so Byrne’s entrepreneurial story continues into 2008 when she developed her network of jewelry raw material suppliers leading to the pivotal point for her new venture creation early in 2009, launching Glass Art by SIMS.
She poured out her heart through desire, passion to become a genuine new jewelry designer and glass artist from the Okanagan region of Canada. (Yes folks, she is thinking globally.)
Immediate popularity and custom orders accompanying her beautiful website and online order process amazed Byrne how quickly the reaction has been to her innovative and creative nature.
A female entrepreneur who believes strongly in her faith and that she has discovered what she is meant to do—bringing joy and pleasure to those who acquire and treasure her beautiful jewelry and glass art products.
Still, Byrne donates five per cent of her proceeds to the Education Center of the New Fire Museum.
Byrne is currently embarking on stepping up her skills, taking a silversmith course to prompt her to experiment aggressively in the sterling silver jewelry marketplace.
Byrne told me as we were getting ready to say goodbye from our coffee talk that she knew that becoming an entrepreneur required hard work and determination along with positive thinking, that she has to constantly exercise a well-balanced lifestyle as wife, mother and creative entrepreneur.
But, I can tell you that I didn’t have to ask, as the incredible smile on Sarah Byrne’s face told me it has been worthwhile. And to quote a lyric from a Carpenters hit song from the 1970s, “”we’ve only just begun.”
Check out Sarah Byrne’s jewelry products at Belle Maison on Bernard and the Briar Patch on Hollywood and Highway 33. Her website is www.glassartbysims.com. You won’t be disappointed.
Joel Young is an entrepreneurial leadership coach, educator and consultant and the founder of the Okanagan Valley Entrepreneurs Society.
eagleyoung@shaw.ca
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Corporate Partner Spotlight
Kelowna's new jewelry designer and glass artist offers designer styling without designer cost.
Give the best gifts, or just spoil yourself with SIMS!
Kelowna's newest jewelry designer and glass artist will launch her stunning collection of charmed wrap bracelets, necklaces and glowing glass art with a unique open house event at Anew Start Rejuvenation Centre on Wednesday, October 21st (5:30pm - 9pm)
Guests will be able to customize their own jewelry and glass art while sampling appetizers and sipping on the latest wines from two of the region's newest wineries, The View Winery and Intrigue Wines. There will also be an opportunity to try the latest fitness and lifestyle trend, vibration plates, and get great deals on detoxifying footbaths.
Sarah Byrne is the artist behind SIMS (which is derived from her maiden name, Simpson). After more than a decade working with business owners as a Chartered Insurance Professional, Sarah discovered her passion for jewelry design and glass art while on maternity leave in 2008.
"They say once you discover what you are truly meant to do there's no turning back, and I feel like I've finally made that discovery," says Sarah. "Particularly in tough economic times, accessories such as jewelry are a great way to update your wardrobe and make you feel great without necessarily having to spend a lot of money. My pieces are unique, customizable and they really do provide designer styling without designer cost."
With a six year involvement with JCI Okanagan (Junior Chamber) lead Sarah to truly understanding; giving back makes a difference!
Thus SIMS also donates five per cent of jewelry proceeds to The New Garry Drachenberg Education Center for preventing the #1 cause of childhood deaths in BC, unintentional injuries, at The New Kelowna Fire Museum.
Statistics show preventable injuries kill and disable more children than drugs and disease combined. Each SIMS bracelet and necklace features a SIMS signature heart charm, portraying the company with heart.
For more information about Sarah and her designs, visit www.glassartbysims.com
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Vernon jeweler launches new collection at open house
Vernon Morning Star Paper of October 10th, 2009.
Published: October 10, 2009 12:00 PM
Vernon’s newest jewelry designer and glass artist, SIMS, will unveil its collection of charmed wrap bracelets, necklaces and glowing glass art at a unique open house in Kelowna at Anew Start Rejuvenation Centre on Wednesday, Oct. 21 (5:30-9 p.m.). Guests will be able to customize their own jewelry and glass art while sampling appetizers and sipping on the latest wines from two of the region’s newest wineries, The View Winery and Intrigue Wines. There will also be an opportunity to try the latest fitness trend, vibration plates, and get great deals on detoxifying footbaths.
Sarah Byrne, the artist behind SIMS (derived from her maiden name, Simpson), was born and raised in Vernon, and now lives in Kelowna. Byrne is teaming up with her mother, Marianne Simpson, to offer The Marianne Collection of glass art by SIMS, which is available in Vernon. After more than a decade working as a chartered insurance professional, Byrne discovered her passion for jewelry design and glass art while on maternity leave in 2008. “They say once you discover what you are truly meant to do there’s no turning back, and I feel like I’ve finally made that discovery,” said Byrne, a member of Junior Chamber International Okanagan.
