As a teenager, Bella Weems said she always dreamed of owning her own car. With $350 of babysitting money and a love for jewelry, she started her own business and did just that.
Seven years later, Weems’ dream grew into a multi-million dollar jewelry company. Origami Owl has more than 45,000 designers across the United States and Canada. Weems said she could not have imagined her company becoming what it is today.
“We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into,” Weems said.
The name Origami Owl comes from Weems’ love for both owls and origami. She said when she first started the company, she put the name together and once the company took off, the name stuck.
Chrissy Weems, CEO of Origami Owl and Weems’ mother, is the only family member who works alongside Weems in the company. Weems says she enjoys getting to work with her mother every day and is thankful for the love and support from her family.
“I couldn’t have done this alone,” Weems said. “I had so many people who surrounded me and believed in me from the very beginning.”
Besides owning a multi-million dollar company, Weems is just like any other 21-year-old. She enjoys singing, surfing, traveling and all things Disney. Her husband Dallin Lambert and her have been traveling all over the world. They recently returned from Bora and Bora and Weems hopes to travel to Ireland and Iceland one day.
Weems and her husband were recently married and currently reside in Arizona. She said she loves living in Gilbert because of the major feeling of community and the sense of home.
Long-time friend of Weems, Lauren Case, 18, said the two met in church and the friendship blossomed from there. Case and Weems have created YouTube videos of them singing together and have performed in coffee shops together. Weems even flew Case out to Chicago to sing at the annual Origami Owl convention.
“The thing which inspires me most about Bella is her ability to make big tasks and big dreams seem simple and achievable,” Case said.
Her creativity does not stop at jewelry, she also creates YouTube videos and has a blog that she frequently posts on. Weems said she is going to start an Origami Owl “vlog” channel and post daily videos about life around the office or “nest” as they like to call it.
“I never thought I could start a business being that young, but she’s proof that you can,” Kylie Lamunyon, who met Weems at a concert and has been following her on social media ever since, said.
What started out as a little jewelry stand in boutiques, to a kiosk at a local mall, flourished into a giant social selling company. Weems said the aspect of social selling came from the idea of helping out her customers. Customers would contact her asking if there was any way they could be a part of the company and help out. She said with each customer came along a story and that’s where the idea of becoming a designer or social seller came in to play.
“We wanted to do something that would impact people’s lives,” Weems said.
Weems said when she was 16, she had gone to a car dealership and fell in love with a car but decided not to buy it. She said on her sixteenth birthday, her parents surprised her by using the money she had been saving to buy the car she fell in love with. It was a white Jeep Wrangler that she named Alice.
Today, Origami Owl is continuing to flourish with the sales of Living Lockets, charms, bracelets, etc. Weems is still inspiring people to reach their dreams no matter how big or small.
