Las Vegas jewelry designer, 27, makes move from online to storefront in the Juhl

Before she began designing jewelry for a living, Las Vegas native Jenna Consiglio followed her parents’ advice — she looked for what she thought would be a stable career in marketing design.

After one year of college, the downtown resident decided that the college path was not for her. Instead, she took a risk and enrolled in fashion school.

Five years after launching her online jewelry site, JAECI, Consiglio opened her first brick-and-mortar storefront on the bottom floor of the Juhl, 353 E. Bonneville Ave., in July.

JAECI is an interactive boutique that sells graphic jewelry and clothing designed with popular quotes and symbols. They’re divided into two categories — Sweet and Sassy — both including collections meant to match people’s identities and personalities, but the Sassy items can include curse words.

The 27-year-old entrepreneur said the store and her designs are a reflection of who she is. The store is named for Consiglio’s initials and also stands for “Journey. Aim. Experience. Create. Inspire.,” her personal mantra.

Each collection corresponds with a moment in Consiglio’s life. During her junior year at Centennial High School, Consiglio was diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis. She collected all sorts of quotes that motivated her to get through that time.

She hopes her pieces will do the same for her customers.

“My goal is for people to come in here and resonate with something and actually leave the store feeling more empowered — with a smile on their face — and that they stopped and reflected on who they were, and knowing that they can make anything happen as well,” Consiglio said.

Consiglio also wants the store to be an engaging space for customers. One of her best-sellers is the spirit animal necklaces and bracelets collection, which invites customers to take a four-question quiz that will determine which animal best symbolizes their personality.

In a corner of the room, she has a confessional booth where customers can anonymously respond to the question of the day. Consiglio hopes it’ll be a fun way for her customers to interact with each other and stay in tune with the lives of people in their community.

“I want this to be a new retail space,” Consiglio said. “You see all these retail stores that have been around for a long time, but we really want to do something more interactive and experience-based.”

Consiglio said her journey to opening the first JAECI boutique was a slow process. As an entrepreneur, she said she’s never liked to ask anyone for financial help and funded her store with more than $35,000 that she saved up from working a full-time job while she designed jewelry.

Consiglio hopes to add more stores in California and ultimately New York in the future.

“At first, a lot of people think that you pop open a store, and you are going to be successful, but for me, I took the patient route,” she said. “It’s hard work, but you have to persevere.”

Her mother, Lisa Consiglio, said Jenna has always had an “old soul” and loved to build bonds with others.

“She connects with anybody she sees, and you can see that in her jewelry,” she said. “It’s very deep, it’s very soulful, and it’s very to the point.”

JAECI is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and by appointment only Sundays and Mondays.

Visit jaeci.com or Facebook.com/ibejaeci, or call 888-756-6968.