Elora artists proved to Jenny Bird she could earn a living through creativity

TORONTO – Michelle Obama wore her earrings. Selina Gomez wore her rings. Hannah Waddingham wore her bangles. Jennifer Lawrence wore her anklet.

But the greatest thrill for jewelry designer Jenny Bird is seeing regular women wearing her creations.

“When I see women wearing my jewelry, I just love it,” Bird said in a phone interview.

Bird, who was born and raised in Elora, and later lived on a farm in Ariss, is living a blessed life in Toronto right now.

She heads a burgeoning jewelry business also called Jenny Bird, where she’s living the creative lifestyle of her dreams.

And having big-name celebrities wear her pieces certainly hasn’t hurt her brand, she said.

She connects with stylists and they connect with the celebrities, Bird said.

“The celebrity world operates in images and they use stylists. And stylists need modern products that make their clients look modern.

“If [a celebrity] loves my earrings, she can have them. It’s a big compliment when she chooses to wear them herself.”

Bird’s designs aren’t trendy, but they are modern and add a contemporary boost to any wardrobe, she said.

“That’s the purpose of Jenny Bird – to keep you looking modern and current. I have a role to play in your closet.”

It’s been a big year for Bird. The Globe and Mail placed her company at number 18 of Canada’s top growing women-led companies in 2026.

Bird also received the Alumni Award of Excellence in Entrepreneurial Spirit from Wilfrid Laurier’s alumni association in May.

“I feel grateful for the recognition, and we have accomplished a lot,” she said. 

“But that was never my goal. I don’t care if my name is in lights. For me it’s about making a positive economic impact. And I hope to inspire others to do all they can do.”

It’s easy to talk about her success now, but Bird’s career did not follow a straight line.

At her father’s urging she got her Bachelor of Business Administration at Laurier and joined him as an investment advisor after she graduated.

She did it for a few years, but despite the generous salary, “I wanted to be an entrepreneur,” she said. “I wanted to be creative.”

She switched career paths to brand marketing, but it still wasn’t checking all the boxes for her.

“I had a real desire to create,” she continued. “And I had a vision of this life, where I could create and earn a living doing it. How dreamy would that be?

“The vision was too sweet to not pursue it.”

She tried sewing handbags, but it was hard to make a go of it, she said. She got another 9-to-5 job, but at age 30, she quit again, throwing herself into her new luxury leather handbag business.

Her bags featured unique hardware, and she was learning the casting process, preparing to scale up the business. Then the recession hit.

“There was no market for leather handbags anymore,” she said. 

But she realized that while women were no longer buying $500 handbags, they would treat themselves to a $100 necklace now and then. So she switched from handbags to jewelry.

“I did it quickly,” she said. “I needed the mortgage payment.”

But you don’t just become a jewelry designer because you want to.

Bird said she doodled as a child and had some talent. Which is why she was enamoured with all the artisans in downtown Elora who earned their livings as artists.

“There was a silversmith on Mill Street and I thought, ‘This is their life? An adult was doing this?’” she recalled.

“Elora gave me exposure to an artistic career in craft. I was so enthralled.”

Her family later moved to a farm in Ariss, and her grandmothers taught her to sew.

Her first business was a lemonade stand. In middle school she made and sold scrunchies, and opened a “store” in her living room where she sold homemade bookmarks.

“That was the proprietor in me,” she said with a laugh. “I guess it was always there.”

Back in Toronto, her jewelry started to sell. And ideas for jewelry pieces started to flow.

“I love jewelry design,” she said. “The ideas seem innate in me, like a language. It’s very rewarding, and a little addictive. I enjoy envisioning the end products and the process of bringing them to life.”

It took time to get the product line going, but it finally took off.

Jenny Bird has been in business for 17 years. She now employs 75 people, and the C-suite is entirely women.

She also runs the Possibilities Fund, where one per cent of every purchase is directed to organizations that help women in urgent need as well as mentorship programs and mental wellness initiatives.

To date more than $500,000 has been donated to organizations including the YWCA Canada, The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health’s Womenmind program, Baby Love and Baby2Baby.

It’s like a figure eight, she said.

“Women buy jewelry to feel uplifted; a percentage of the sale goes to organizations that uplift women. It’s a beautiful, cyclical thing,” she said.

Bird has lifelong friends in Elora and visits often.

Most of her sales are online but she has a few stores that carry her line, including the Ron Wilkin Jewellers boutique store in Elora.

Bird said cynical people will say that you need connections to wealthy people to become successful yourself but that’s just not true.

“I’m proof that there isn’t anything you can’t achieve if you work hard and keep at it,” she said. 

“You can achieve a life less ordinary. That’s what I’m proud of. If that can inspire others, I’m proud of that too.”