sarah and the blue bijou story
October 4, 2007
Born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, I now reside in Utah Valley. Making jewelry (and
subsequently test driving new designs) is something I love to do. An entrepreneur at heart, I
couldn't wait until my immigration came through so that I could establish blue bijou, a wonderful
idea that had been simmering in my mind for some time. It has been incredibly rewarding to
evolve into a business owner as well as jewelry designer and see all the ideas, previously
trapped in the pages of my journal, realized at last.
Though I have made jewelry for fun since I was a child, I never thought to do anything more --
until recently. Tim and I were married in September 2005 and as I was being fitted for my
wedding dress, I tried on some crystal jewelry to match the beautiful beading on my gown. My
mother offered to make my wedding jewelry for me, which she created from Swarovski crystals.
She, along with a colleague, Alice, inspired me to revisit this hobby, and as I did, began to see
the potential in making it a business.
After coming up with several names for my jewelry company, friends and clients encouraged me
to use a thesaurus and go back to the drawing board. I'm glad, because after months of trial
and error, the name blue bijou was born. Bijou is French for "jewel" and couldn't be more perfect.
As the story goes, I made the mistake of not reserving my blue bijou website right away. Long
after registering my business with my city and the state of Utah, I tried to register my blue bijou
website and was distraught to find that it had already been taken! As it turns out, two sisters
from London, England had came up with the same name and were starting a jewelry company
of their own! One integral difference is that instead of handcrafted jewelry, they import their
jewelry. After conversing back and forth via email with Caren Henry, co-founder of bluebijou in
the UK, she made the brilliant comment that there must be a business opportunity for us in all
this. To date, bluebijou has purchased several of blue bijou's earrings for resale in the UK.
There was a silver lining after all and what I had previously thought was the worst thing that had
ever happened to my business has became one of the best things.
Additionally...
Upon arriving in Utah, we also had the good fortune of becoming involved with a reputable New
York Stock Exchange company called Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. A 35-year-old tried and
tested business, Pre-Paid Legal specializes in providing affordable legal access to protect every
family in North America. Another phenomenal product offered is the Identity Theft Shield which
provides daily monitoring of your entire credit report and full restoration in the event your identity
is ever compromised.
Personally, having these services available to us since arriving in this new country has made me
feel so much safer than I would have otherwise. We have had our wills prepared and
experienced greater peace of mind.
Please visit our website to watch a brief video overview about how to protect yourself and your
family. Perhaps you know someone who could benefit from this information. We look forward to
your feedback.
Born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, I now reside in Utah Valley. Making jewelry (and
subsequently test driving new designs) is something I love to do. An entrepreneur at heart, I
couldn't wait until my immigration came through so that I could establish blue bijou, a wonderful
idea that had been simmering in my mind for some time. It has been incredibly rewarding to
evolve into a business owner as well as jewelry designer and see all the ideas, previously
trapped in the pages of my journal, realized at last.
Though I have made jewelry for fun since I was a child, I never thought to do anything more --
until recently. Tim and I were married in September 2005 and as I was being fitted for my
wedding dress, I tried on some crystal jewelry to match the beautiful beading on my gown. My
mother offered to make my wedding jewelry for me, which she created from Swarovski crystals.
She, along with a colleague, Alice, inspired me to revisit this hobby, and as I did, began to see
the potential in making it a business.
After coming up with several names for my jewelry company, friends and clients encouraged me
to use a thesaurus and go back to the drawing board. I'm glad, because after months of trial
and error, the name blue bijou was born. Bijou is French for "jewel" and couldn't be more perfect.
As the story goes, I made the mistake of not reserving my blue bijou website right away. Long
after registering my business with my city and the state of Utah, I tried to register my blue bijou
website and was distraught to find that it had already been taken! As it turns out, two sisters
from London, England had came up with the same name and were starting a jewelry company
of their own! One integral difference is that instead of handcrafted jewelry, they import their
jewelry. After conversing back and forth via email with Caren Henry, co-founder of bluebijou in
the UK, she made the brilliant comment that there must be a business opportunity for us in all
this. To date, bluebijou has purchased several of blue bijou's earrings for resale in the UK.
There was a silver lining after all and what I had previously thought was the worst thing that had
ever happened to my business has became one of the best things.
Additionally...
Upon arriving in Utah, we also had the good fortune of becoming involved with a reputable New
York Stock Exchange company called Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. A 35-year-old tried and
tested business, Pre-Paid Legal specializes in providing affordable legal access to protect every
family in North America. Another phenomenal product offered is the Identity Theft Shield which
provides daily monitoring of your entire credit report and full restoration in the event your identity
is ever compromised.
Personally, having these services available to us since arriving in this new country has made me
feel so much safer than I would have otherwise. We have had our wills prepared and
experienced greater peace of mind.
Please visit our website to watch a brief video overview about how to protect yourself and your
family. Perhaps you know someone who could benefit from this information. We look forward to
your feedback.
"Garrotin" at the February 11, 2007
Valentines Mozaico Flamenco Student
Performance. Photo credit: Elvira Yebes
Valentines Mozaico Flamenco Student
Performance. Photo credit: Elvira Yebes
| Copyright Blue Bijou 2007. All rights reserved. |
Aside from jewelry, I am a flamenco
dancer (Exhibit A) and am somewhat
distraught over the lack of flamenco
in Utah. If you hear of anything, let
me know!
dancer (Exhibit A) and am somewhat
distraught over the lack of flamenco
in Utah. If you hear of anything, let
me know!
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