Janet Heller made that now infamous GOAT necklace for Superstar Olympic Gymnast Simone Biles and the whole world went GOAT Crazy! This year's global commercial for a single piece of jewelry may in itself be the GOAT! The Greatest Of All Time! I got caught up in GOAT fever myself, and after watching the intricate making of Simone Biles 3D Diamond Goat Necklace on Janet Heller Fine...
Janet Heller made that now infamous GOAT necklace for Superstar Olympic Gymnast Simone Biles and the whole world went GOAT Crazy!
This year's global commercial for a single piece of jewelry may in itself be the GOAT! The Greatest Of All Time!
I got caught up in GOAT fever myself, and after watching the intricate making of Simone Biles 3D Diamond Goat Necklace on Janet Heller Fine Jewelry's Instagram, I took a shot and sent a warm private Instagram invite to Janet Heller to join me on The Debbie Nigro Show.
It made me smile and shake my head in a good way, that the whole world was now paying attention to this talented female entrepreneur. Wow. Talk about a public relations opportunity! LOL
I somehow just felt compelled (woman to woman) to congratulate her and tell her how happy I was for her for this stupendous attention for her and her company because first she deserved the recognition for her talent and integrity, and second because I know how much harder it is, for women entrepreneurs who are also mothers, to succeed in business.
And in my usual spirit of "Risk it! or Regret it! I invited Janet to come take a bow on my show even though I was sure there were much bigger networks who'd be clamoring for her attention.
I was pleasantly surprised when she messaged me back and took me up on the offer.
Told her was I was very proud to have her on my show and that somehow, she must have trusted me to tell her story.
(Like her I try to bring peoples stories to life in a unique and meaningful way.)
Janet said,
"Thank you so much Debbie. I really am so excited to be on your show today.
Yes, that's right. I mean, we've got thousands and thousands of requests.
It's overwhelming. I cannot even keep up with it.
My social media team can't keep up with it. But for some reason, I just, I don't know, I was drawn to you and your message and here we are."
Every hard-working entrepreneur knows getting good PR for their business is incredibly valuable and rewarding. But the Global free PR Janet got in the 2024 Olympics is the most extraordinary free PR I've ever seen.
Olympic Gymnast Simone Biles commissioned her exquisite GOAT piece she showed off during the 2024 Olympics, from Janet Heller Fine Jewelry in Calabasas, CA. to commemorate her remarkable achievements and undeniable legacy. She sure does have a legacy as the GOAT, and Janet said she was a joy to work with.
NBC reported, "Simone Biles says she knew people would 'go crazy' over her Goat Necklace."
Janet's legacy is that she and her company, Janet Heller Fine Jewelry have been crafting exquisite, personalized pieces for discerning clients for 15 years.They're a premier custom jeweler in Calabasas, renowned for their meticulous attention to detail and an unwavering commitment to quality. Janet Heller has become the go-to choice for those seeking unique, meaningful jewelry.
BTW: That stunning 3D GOAT necklace (Greatest Of All Time) has 546 diamonds! Also, no small feat! How did she do that?
Janet said,
"Well, so a lot of jewelry can be made where when you make the wax of the piece, once you've done the CAD image and you've done the rendering and then you go and you make the wax, a lot of times you can have the little holes for the diamonds in the wax. So when you print the wax, it already has a hole for the diamond.
But I don't like to do that. I like to have my diamond setters drill each and every hole by hand. Just, you know, these are master artisans, master craftsmen, and that will enable the necklace to last so much longer. I mean, we want it to last forever, basically. And it's just an incredible art that they do. They have to wear those, you know, almost binocular glasses type things. They do it by hand. It takes a very long time and we pick the diamonds out beforehand so we have them all laid out. We know the size and then you have to look at each stone, drill each hole so that it fits that stone and it's just the craftsmanship and the quality is just unmatched in my humble I think that's the most important thing."
Janet has come a long way over her 15 years in business and I wondered now that she was having this amazing global moment of acknowledgement, what she remembered from when she first started out?
"When I first started out, my first necklace that I feel about jewelry and about selling jewelry. I want to share the love. I love jewelry. I want to bring the love to everybody. I want to make it accessible to everybody. I started with one piece, a love necklace. Somebody bought that from me and then somebody else thought on them. They asked where she got it from and then in turn came to me. Really, that's how my business has grown, very organically and mostly word of mouth, which to me is the biggest compliment any jeweler or artist or entrepreneur can have."
Word of mouth is sure very loud right now for Janet Heller Fine Jewelry and that 3D Diamond GOAT necklace, and people have been asking her to make one for them. Will she?
"I'm not gonna replicate that particular iteration of the goat necklace that is exclusively for Simone. It's so representative of her accomplishments, her achievements, and so I do not want to replicate that because I feel that Simone is one of a kind and I want that necklace to be one of a kind as well."
"So I will not be making any other piece of jewelry that is an exact replica of that goat And I feel that if somebody wants something custom, that we should make it about them, about their story, their milestones and not about somebody else's. Although I'm so flattered that people would want me to replicate it, but I feel like it's such a personal representation of somebody's story."
Janet also was commissioned to create the Olympic rings necklace, symbolizing Simone Biles' journey through multiple Olympic Games. Jordan Chiles, another gymnastic powerhouse wears several Janet Heller pieces that celebrate both her athletic achievements and personal milestones. Her collection includes a 14KT Gold & Diamond Olympic Rings Necklace, a custom diamond tennis bracelet and a diamond necklace bearing her nickname "Baby Jo,"
Janet said,
"Yes, and it all started with Tara Davis Woodhall, who is an Olympic long jumper. And Tara went to school with my daughter. They went to middle school and high school together. Wow. And Tara reached out right before the Tokyo Olympics for us to make her an Olympic diamond rings necklace and Simone saw the necklace on Tara and Jordan child thought on Tara as well, and they both reached out to me to make them a diamond Olympic rings necklace as well. "
Janet Heller's company originally was called The Foundry and only recently changed it's name to Janet Heller Fine Jewelry.
"Yes, it was named something else and we felt that it just wasn't personal enough and my daughter actually encouraged me to change the name of the company to my name, and honestly, I think it's crazy how we changed our name and then all of this happened. I feel like we were manifesting when we did that".
Janet grew up in South Africa and I wondered when she was a little girl did she want jewelry instead of dolls?
"Funny thing is I played with dolls a lot, Barbie dolls, until I was a much older age than most other girls and I kind of used to play with one of my best girlfriends and we used to kind of hide the fact that we played with dolls.
But my mom is an incredible artist too. She's a knitter and a crocheter and she used to make us these most incredible outfits for the dolls and then we would also make like with beads, we would make jewelry. I always wanted them to be adorned with jewelry. My mom loved jewelry too, albeit costume jewelry and my grandmother too, but I just always had beads on and necklaces and bracelets and just always wanted to make something and create something out of beads to make jewelry. So ever since I can remember, that's been my passion."
Janet is a mom of 4 who for 10 years was a full time Mom. She shared how she started out in the jewelry business.
"I have I have three sons and one daughter. I started working in the California Mart when I was about 20 No actually when I was about 19 and I worked there for five years I worked in an accessory showroom, and we would have we would represent jewelers and other entrepreneurs who made accessories and stores would come to the showroom to buy them. I just remember being so involved mostly with the jewelry companies, helping them with their designs and trends and just being so invested into the jewelry part of it. So even then I was doing that. And then I kind of wanted to start my own jewelry company at that point, but I met and married my husband and we had four kids so for the first I would say maybe ten years I was just a full-time mom and then I just couldn't stay away and got back into it. "
I feel Janet's story sends a loud message out there to a lot of mothers out there in the world, who while raising children might be feeling like they're missing out on their business or entrepreneurial dreams, because they just can't do both things right now. Point is, maybe 'right now' is just not the right time to do both.
The message is to them from Janet?
"There's a season for everyone".
This is surely Janet Hellers season and I'm happy for her.
You can see the fascinating making of the symbolic GOAT necklace on their Instagram account.
And you can see all the other beautiful Janet Heller Creations on their website.
And you can meet the lovely and talented Janet Heller here in this podcast of our live conversation on The Debbie Nigro Show. If you'd rather read than listen the transcript of the audio is included.
