Meet Sara Mizrachi | Owner/Designer of Sara Sela Jewelry

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sara Mizrachi and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sara, why did you pursue a creative career?
I began designing and creating jewelry as a young girl, discovering quickly the joy the creative process brought me. Of course I began with the typical plastic and clay beads kids use, graduating to glass and Swarovski crystal beads and then to silver and gems and fancier materials. My mom has a very large collection of these pieces, I’ve caught her still wearing necklaces I must have made by age 10! Between the encouragement of my mom and my friends, by age 13 I started selling my pieces at local flea markets, learning a ton along the way and at 17 I began to find the local artisan markets around my hometown of Brooklyn, NY and finding my style and learning more techniques, taking summer classes at FIT and then attending FIT and graduating with a degree in Jewelry Design .

Now I am 36, married with 2 children and one on the way, I am still in love with the creative process of making jewelry. I have evolved a lot, my design style still very much the same as when I was 17 but simplified and streamlined, always pulling inspiration for the materials in front of me. I love the colors, textures and shapes of nature, mixing geometric and organic. It truly brings me joy(and sanity!) and I love every moment I get to spend working on my business and the first true passion I ever had in life.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I have always been inspired by nature and her colors, shapes and textures. I love to garden, bird watch, hike and just having that time to enjoy the outdoors, lending to my love of gemstones and their beauty. I like to think this shows in my work, emphasizing the beauty of the combinations of metals and stones I choose with complimentary shapes, colors and textures. My designs have evolved over the years and it was not always easy, navigating through the large community of artisans in NYC, the recession of 2008 which took years to recover from…I utilized that hardship to find my current happy place, taking that time to discover new design possibilities and even finding my business name! I needed to make sure I stayed positive, utilizing friendships I made through networking, sharing my thoughts and feelings, leaning on that support. Positivity and a support system are key for a small business owner, which led to a few highlights of recent, including having my earrings being worn by Yara Shadidi on Grown-ish(S4 Ep7) and my earrings being worn Mandy Moore on This Is Us(S4 Ep13), which I have now shipped all over the world!

I have always kept my love and passion for designing and creating jewelry alive, even through the hard times and through becoming a mom. For me, jewelry is my self expressionism, my own lifeline to who I am outside of being a spouse and mother, and I love to share all these facets of me.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I am honestly quite new to Chicagoland! We moved in February of 2020 and I haven’t had the luxury to explore, but I would most definitely hit all of the art museums. I love the Shedd Aquarium and I am pretty sure I will love the Botanical Gardens. I would love to go on a full site seeing expedition of downtown Chicago and see all of the famous tourist spots, but like I did growing up in NYC, I love to just walk around and discover things on my own.

So far I have discovered some awesome places in Evanston. Dave’s Down to Earth Rock Shop is an amazing store for gemstone specimens and they even have dinosaur fossils! Downtown Evanston is full of local shops to find local artisans(including myself, the shop is called Artem Pop Up Gallery) and a great (vegan) cinnamon bun bakery, Cinnaholic. For book lovers like myself, Half Priced Books in Skokie is a great place to go and Bookends and Beginnings in Evanston is another awesome place to go.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to dedicate this shoutout to The Artisan Group whom I found a few years ago through another jewelry designer, Megan Malcolm. The Artisan Group is PR group that gives small businesses amazing opportunities to have their work showcased and gifted to Hollywood, Valerie Guerrero working her amazing butt off to get us these opportunities. We are all women owned businesses in the group, supporting one another through each others’ successes and hardships and offering advice. Stevie DAndrea, who recommended me for this fantastic opportunity with Shoutout Atlanta, is one of the members and is one of the many encouraging voices in the group. Of course I need to give a shoutout to my parents, husband and my in laws, who have supported me in my creative endeavors and celebrating my successes and getting me through tougher times. My children I’d like to thank for (mostly) listening to me when I tell them not to go into my studio.

Website: www.sarasela.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/saraselajewelry

Twitter: www.twitter.com/saraselajewelry

Facebook: www.facebook.com/saraselajewelry

Other: www.etsy.com/shop/sarasela