Ten Minutes with Kori Jones of I-Rok Gems

For jewelry designer Kori Jones, 2008 has been a pretty mellow year. While her husband has been serving in Iraq, she managed to successfully launch her jewelry business I-Rok Gems. She was voted one of the Top 20 New Designers in Texas. Then, four weeks ago she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. Wonder Woman, try to keep up!

Texas-based Kori started out as a buyer for a small chain of bead stores. It was there that she realized she just cultivated her gift as a designer. Being a buyer just wasn’t enough. Kori started designing, manufacturing, and creating her own line of jewelry. Her first line, The Italian Collection, is inspired by the Venetian tradition of glass blowing. She uses bold colors, modern designs, and unique shapes to set her designs apart from the masses. Kori’s latest creation is inspired by Mother Nature’s natural forces—Earth, Fire, Water, and Air—“to express the goodness that is all around us.” With a new baby, a thriving new business, and a husband on his safe return home, Kori Jones has an incredible amount of goodness around her. Thanks for sharing some of it with us!

Oligoville: Describe a typical day in your life.

Jones: Well this year has been particularly interesting as far as trying to balance starting a business, giving birth to my first child four weeks ago, and dealing with my husband’s departure to Iraq for the year. I would say a typical day involves a lot of multitasking that includes: designing jewelry, contacting stores, delegating the workload, and more recently trying to do all that while keeping up with a new little girl.

Oligoville: When did you know that you just had to be a designer?

Jones: In 2007. I had worked as a buyer for nine years for a local bead company and then tried my hand at being a sales rep for a jewelry company out of California and finally realized that I should be trying use my skills to make something of my own happen. I had been making jewelry for ten years by then and my past jobs had helped me make some good contacts, so I decided to try my hand at designing full time in November of last year.

Oligoville: What three things got you where you are today?

Jones:

1. A love for jewelry!
2. The support of my husband.
3. A desire to try and incorporate being my own boss while doing something I love.

Oligoville: On a typical day, describe what you’re wearing and where you found it.

Jones: I prefer to wear more basic clothes with more exotic jewelry. It has been a while since I shopped for clothes due to being pregnant, but I love to buy local jewelry designers from Austin places like Parts and Labour on South Congress and Adelante on 38th.

Oligoville: What advice do you have for aspiring designers?

Jones: Love what you do and find people who can help you market yourself.

Oligoville: What do you do to kick back, relax, and let loose?

Jones: My husband and I are outdoor people and we enjoy traveling. We also like to go scuba diving and caving.

Oligoville: If you could dress any celebrity, who would it be and why?

Jones: Uma Thurman because she looks great in bold jewelry, she is fierce in her fashion choices and she is a strong independent woman (not to mention gorgeous).

Oligoville: If you were not a designer, what would you be?

Jones: Well I am enjoying being a mother. But I would also give teaching some thought.

Oligoville: What superpower would you like to have and why?

Jones: I would be like Barbara Eaden from “I Dream of Jeannie” … I could blink and things could be organized or cleaned up just like that.

Oligoville: When did you last laugh out loud?

Jones: Today and as often as possible.