Women employed in the jewelry industry have a place where they can go for advice and camaraderie: the Women’s Jewelry Association, which has a New England chapter based in Warwick. The association is perhaps best known for the annual scholarships it awards to promising college students in the jewelry industry.
Karen A. Golembeski, chapter president, recently spoke with Providence Business News about the association, what it offers women and why they want to join the group.
PBN: Tell us about the Women’s Jewelry Association.
GOLEMBESKI: The association’s roots are right here in New England. A woman named Toni Lyn Judd (who remains a member today) saw a need for this organization and then hooked up with another colleague, Cindy Geller, and they contacted a few dozen women and they had a meeting. That was in 1982 in Boston. … The group went national in 1983 and the New England group became a chapter of the organization.
Right now, we have around 1,000 members nationally and I have 100 members locally, but I also have another 200 members whom I call “Friends of WJA” because they support our efforts.
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PBN: How are your members employed in the jewelry industry, in what capacities?
GOLEMBESKI: I would say about one-quarter are employed by manufacturers and wholesalers, another quarter by retailers, another quarter of them would be designers and another quarter would be in assorted professions such as nonprofits, publishing companies, suppliers and special services [including] insurance and computer education. We have members who are lawyers, bankers and college professors from Rhode Island School of Design and Rhode Island College.
PBN: What does the association do to help women in the jewelry industry?
We also give money to our members. We give member grants of $500 each to anyone who is continuing their education to better their career. It can be a computer course, a writing course; it can be anything that is improving their career. … We have the Diva Awards for up-and-coming designers, chosen by jury selection.
The awards are presented every year during a Las Vegas trade show where we showcase the winners’ jewelry … We also have an award of excellence, presented every year in New York in July, that we give to women in all different areas. … And since 1992, we have given one award each year to an outstanding man in our industry, the Ben Kaiser Award, for lifetime achievement.
PBN: Do you have a lot of male members?
GOLEMBESKI: I would say, nationally, we have about 5 percent. I wish we could get more men involved.
PBN: How many WJA chapters are there?
GOLEMBESKI: We have 13. We just opened one in India last July and we’re hoping this year to open chapters in Italy and in China.
PBN: What do you think women in general contribute to the jewelry industry? PBN: What advice would you give a young female regarding a career in the jewelry industry? PBN: What do they get out of networking? INTERVIEW
GOLEMBESKI: Because we buy jewelry, we really have a firsthand knowledge of what other women would want, what works well for them. I think women have better follow-up, which is second nature to us, because I believe we work harder and we’re accustomed to juggling many tasks all at once. I think we bring that skill to anything that we do. Most jewelry companies are small and you have to wear many hats, so you need to be able to multitask.
GOLEMBESKI: I personally encourage students, if they’re in design, to think about going to Europe for a semester or two. You want to go Europe for the design. They’re always the leaders, in Italy and so forth, and if you talk to most designers, they’re inspired [by European designers].
And if they’re going to go into marketing, they should go to Asia and China because that’s where the majority of the merchandise is being made. It’s all being manufactured there, both the components and the finished products.
Unfortunately, Wal-Mart- or Kohl’s-type merchandise, that is all manufactured in China, whether it be made of base metal or precious metal. You should know exactly what is being made and what is out there in the market. … That’s the wonderful thing about [the association], now that we’ll have a China extension, if you can’t get there, you’ll be able to network and talk to these people.
GOLEMBESKI: If you’re a designer, you’re stuck in a little place all day where you’re working. You don’t get to talk to people outside except if you need something for your business. And then you don’t know where to go [for advice].
I must get three or four [telephone] calls a week from people looking for information, on packaging, where to get stones, should they use regular sterling, what do I think about Argentium? … Fortunately, I am an encyclopedia of jewelry [knowledge] so I am able to help. I even get questions about job opportunities. •
Karen A. Golembeski
POSITION: President of the New England chapter of the Women’s Jewelry Association
BACKGROUND: She has been involved in the jewelry industry for more than 30 years. She worked 20 years for a jewelry-manufacturing company in Bangkok, Thailand, as vice president of sales. Prior to that, she owned her own business in the 1970s with her family in New York City, the American Pewter Company. She presently is a consultant for her own sales and marketing business, Elite Associates, based in Warwick.
EDUCATION: Attended Providence College School of Continuing Education and received a certificate in total-quality management from Rhode Island College
FIRST JOB: Sold magazines door-to-door throughout Rhode Island when she was 17 years old
RESIDENCE: Warwick
AGE: 62
