How she became a jewellery designer

She went from sports administrator to jewellery designer - after a flash of insight in the craft aisle. Here's how!

By:

Jane Boyd -More.ca

Who

Karen McClintock, 45

Where

Ottawa

What she was

Consignment shop owner and sports administrator

What she is

Jewellery designer

How she made the leap

Some things help when starting a new venture: timing, talent and, if you're lucky, a little serendipity. Karen McClintock seemed to have all three going for her as she rose to become a sought-after jewellery designer whose clients include the country's top fashion retailers. But when financial ruin and illness threatened to derail her burgeoning business, McClintock discovered she possessed another invaluable asset — fortitude.

And it began in a most unlikely place: Walmart.

Becoming a jewellery designer - in the craft section

In the summer of 2005, McClintock wanted to modify an old necklace she'd come across while hunting for garage sale items. She found herself in Walmart's craft section, where, she recalls, "it was as if a door had opened." Although she'd never tried her hand at jewellery making, she sold her first piece by the end of the week. Shortly thereafter, she was selling tems to friends and neighbours eager to know where they could get more.

The timing was right for a venture that would fit into McClintock's complicated life. In 2003, she'd married for a second time, and her husband, Jim, lived in Cambridge, Ont., with his two children. Meanwhile, she and her two kids, then nine and five, had a home in Ottawa. Managing the more than 500-kilometre trek between the two cities was demanding. "I was trying to balance my marriage with raising my children. I was driving back and forth and looking after two houses," she explains. "I couldn't land in one city for more than a week."

A former heptathlete with a master's degree in sports psychology, she'd also been feeling a distinct lack of purpose in her life. McClintock had once been technical director of Water Ski Canada and then owned a consignment shop, which she sold just before marrying Jim. "I was lost without a goal," she maintains. "I'd worked all my life and I'd always had goals. I'd always been driven. Suddenly, I had no identity."

That would soon change. Not long after her trip to Walmart, McClintock was filling orders for friends and buying supplies in Toronto shops and sourcing wholesalers. It was her husband who suggested she try the retail market. "I was sitting on the bedroom floor surrounded by the jewellery I'd been making all that summer. Jim came in and said, ‘You should find a place to sell all this.' " She approached Shepherd's, a well-known Ottawa retailer. "I felt I had nothing to lose, so why not shoot for the moon? The worst that could happen is someone would say no."

The retailer recommended she work in sterling silver and asked her to design a cruise wear collection; McClintock returned with 15 pieces and had her first retail sale.

So how did she tackle the next set of challenges?

Her competitive spirit emerged on hearing that a jewellery designer she'd met at a Toronto bead store had shown her own line to Holt Renfrew. "Why not me too?" McClintock wondered. "I think my being so naive and knowing so little was a blessing," she muses. "I kept thinking, I have no expectations, so I have absolutely nothing to lose."

"Classic with an edge" is how she describes her designs. She gets inspiration from nature, paintings and everyday objects, finding it easy to get lost in the design process. "I love it," she enthuses. "Sometimes I'm working in production and I have to stop to design because I can't get an idea out of my head."Her craftsmanship and enthusiasm struck a chord with the fashion powers that be; after impressing a manager of Holts in Ottawa, she met with a buyer in Toronto who advised her to develop a signature look. "I said, ‘If I do that, can I come back again?' And the buyer said yes." McClintock worked on refining her distinctive style, which features combinations of semi-precious stones, Swarovski crystals and antique coins.

By 2007, her collection was available in six Holts stores across Canada.

"In sports psychology, you learn to prepare mentally, physically and technically so at the start line of a race nothing's left to chance. And when I began this business, all that [theory] went out the window. I had no training. I didn't know what I was doing or where I was going," admits McClintock. "But everything seemed to come along as I needed it. I think things present themselves to you when you're ready."

Facing setbacks, one at a time

Yet, McClintock certainly wasn't prepared for the events of the next two years. By December 2008, due to the economic downturn, Holts carried her collection in just one store. Undaunted, she hired a sales agent who steered her to new retailers in Toronto and Montreal. Next came a huge personal challenge: Husband Jim was president of a publicly traded company and, in the wake of the market crash, he and McClintock suffered financially. Then Jim had a stroke and had to take time away from work.

"It was a wake-up call," believes McClintock, who was finding it increasingly difficult to live in two cities while managing a growing business and being there for her children. "Jim and I were both stretched to the limit, and the stress was crazy. We needed to restore balance in our lives." They put both homes on the market and today, living and working from a townhouse in Ottawa, McClintock is happy with her scaled-back life. Jim's health is back on track and "everything's simpler now," she says.

But no less busy. The day we spoke, orders for 100 pieces were due in three days. How much longer can she produce them herself? "When I need help, I hope that presents itself too," she laughs. "When the orders exceed my ability, I know I'll have a solution."

More.ca exclusive: Check out our slideshow of Karen's designs.

Meet other women making their dreams come true: A contractor turned art model, an administrator turned spice guru, and a stay-at-home mom turned sex toy entrepreneur.

This article originally appeared in the April 2010 issue of More