We recently connected with Jennifer Salta and have shared our conversation below.

Jennifer, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I grew up with a learning disability that caused me to struggle socially and academically. I was aware of this from a very young age and around 10 I started to obsess about my future. I felt there was no place for me. This idea haunted me as a kid and I would often have trouble sleeping. One night she had me make a list of things I enjoyed all of them had to do with art in some form. My mother happened to be also be an artist and she volunteered to paint the sets for the elemtary school play. I went with her after work every night to paint the sets. When the play went up my peers (some of who I had been bullied by before praised me). I knew then that art was my language and sharing my craft was how I was suppose to communicate with the world. I am now in my 30s and a mother myself. I always think about this moment and I never pass up an opportunity to share my work or teach someone else how to find their own voice creatively.

Jennifer, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I started my career after graduating from the Design Technology Conservatory at SUNY Purchase. I went to school for costume design and quickly found myself being mostly involved with accessories and reproductions for theater. After a few years I quickly realized it was not exactly the work I wanted to be doing. I ended up getting a job at a small jewelry store where I was a sample and production worker. I have very little experience but when it came to working with my hands I was a fast learner. From there I became an assistant designer to a jewelry brand in NYC called SATYA. My time there was very educational.

I went on to work for 10 year in the product development industry. I designed and worked closely with large brands to help bring the product to life. Even after all my time working with these companies I a most proud of where I am today. I now have my own jewelry brand where I am free to make what I want and work one on one with clients. When I work on a custom piece for someone it is always special. Jewelry is something that can become so personal I really get to know them. I am not just trying to sell my clients a ring that I have in stock I am involving them in the process. I work mostly in the technique of lost wax casting. I carve pieces from wax and cast them into fine metals. My work has an organic and whimsical feel to it.

Leaving the corporate design world and all of the perks was a hard decision but ultimately I was always meant to be living my life as I am now. As a contributing member to my local community, a working artist and mother.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I left my final job at a factory in 2018. I have been dreaming for years of what my own wholesale jewelry line would be and look like. I took a huge risk I maxed out credit cards and decided to take my shot at bringing my work to the wholesale trade shows. I had one great season so I decided to commit again which was February of 2020…Again I put everything I had into displaying at NY NOW The largest accessory wholesale show in NY. Which was held at the Javits center in Manhattan. Right before the show I found out I was pregnant with my first child. I was exhausted but the show was great. I had enough orders lined up to survive another season. Less then a month after the show ended the Javits Center was made into a make shift hospital for COVID patients. Shortly after that the entire world shut down. Every order I had commits for canceled. I had no way to pay off my debts, I was sitting on merchandise I had already made and I was pregnant. This was a terrible time.

But in retrospect I am proud of myself for what happened next. I pivoted my business to focus on my online sales. I held virtual sales on social media. I did everything I could to keep myself afloat and I am still here. Now I have multiple streams of revenue and am expecting my second child in June.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Since I started my career working in production. I was very use to creating what I thought would sell or what other people wanted to see. Due to the nature of product development I had to always be researching trends and what was happening on the market. I am still unlearning this. It is so freeing to make what speaks to you. The danger is that it may not speak to everyone. The most important thing I would tell a young creative is to just keep producing. Make whatever comes into your head. Do not get hung up on who will buy it. Slowly you will see all these strange little things are stepping stones to help you find what you want to say as an artist or designer. There is a skill or lesson to be learned even with in the things no one else seems to want to buy.

Contact Info:

• Website: jsalta.com
• Instagram: @j.salta_

Image Credits
Jennifer Salta