Sarah Hamel

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Name: Sarah Hamel

Where do you live?
Parkdale

Profession:
Owner and operator of Made You Look Jewellery Studio and Gallery and Made You Look Accessories.

Please explain what you do in your job:
I run two jewelry stores located directly across the street from one another. Together the stores represent more than 100 Toronto jewelry designers. Jewelry is made right on site in our large jewelry manufacturing studios by 20 of our in-house, self-employed, resident designers. We sell diamonds and gold and "serious" jewelry in one store and multimedia, fashion-forward fun and funky jewelry in the other.

Current job:
Helping self-employed jewelry designers to run their businesses. Helping customers choose custom wedding and engagement rings. Meeting with new designers to consider showcasing their work in our galleries. Re-launching our website. Running the Metal Arts Guild of Canada.

List of accomplishments:
My first job was working as a cashier at a large grocery store where I learned everything I needed to know about good customer service. I also worked as a candlestick maker for a woman who was running her own business where I learned everything I needed to know about how not to run a small business.

How do you measure success in your profession?
Happy studio, happy customers and money in the bank. New ideas, new direction and never-ending enthusiasm.

How did you get your start in your chosen career?
I did the three-year jewelry arts program at George Brown College.

When did you decide this is what you want to do for a living and what was the 'moment'?
I started at George Brown College when I was 21. After a dismal career in high school, I had come to take the jewelry arts program through a process of elimination. The moment came when I realized my parents were willing to pay for school "now" so I decided I'd better pick something and give it a try - how bad could jewelry making really be?

It was through doing this three-year course that I learned there was a need for a jewelry creation facility.

All of my classmates intended on running their own jewelry making businesses but it was an expensive thing to set up on your own. As part of a small business course that we took in second year, we were asked to make a presentation about what we were going to do when we graduated.

I presented the class with the scenario where I would rent studio space to a community of jewelry artists and sell their work on site in a gallery. The next moment all of my classmates asked me if I was serious about my idea - they wanted to be part of this environment that I was proposing. It was then that I decided to actually make it happen.

What did you have to do in order to get involved with this profession?
Thirty out of 300 applicants were accepted in to the jewelry arts program in 1999. I think my edge was in the fact that I was so familiar with all of the important craft venues that were available to artisans at that time. I used to visit those places and get familiar with people's names; I figured out who was who and I saw what made their businesses successful. I brought that knowledge into the classroom and it gave people hope for their own careers.

Pros and cons of this job:
The pros are that you get to see the effects of your hard work and feel like you are important part of your industry or community.

The cons are that you are always turned on and that there is tremendous pressure to keep many balls in the air at one time.

Skills required for this job:
Organization, focus and delegation. Patience, humour and good intention.

What can youth expect if they want to pursue this job?
The jewelry and accessories industry is completely saturated. The only way to make a living is to stand out and do something different that is still safe enough that the average consumer will not be afraid to buy. Then you need to open yourself up to try anything the industry has to offer you. Working for other jewelry designers is the best way for you to be exposed to all of the possibilities. Fix your aunt's broken jewelry and enter one-of-a-kind works into gallery shows - as a result fabulous things will start to happen.

Percentage of people who actually succeed in this field:
I don't think anyone has tried to do what I am doing before. As for the self-employed jeweller, I would say one in five can make a proper living doing this job.

Salary range:
$20,000 to $500,000 per year

Advice to youth who are thinking about pursuing this field:
Know that you are choosing "the path of most resistance" but it is also the path of most excitement.

Anything else you would like to say?
I am thankful for the support of my parents without whom none of this would be possible.