Elizabeth Hooper O’Mahony’s résumé might look disjointed at first glance. But any working mother would recognize the pattern right away. There’s a period as a high-school English teacher, then a sudden halt for baby No. 1. Then a return to the workforce for two years as a founding partner at V.O.D., helping the chic Victory Park shop get off the ground. When Hooper O’Mahony became pregnant again, V.O.D. owners Liz Thompson and Jackie Bolin bought her out.
“With the travel, the schedule, and trying to manage everybody, I was like, ‘I just can’t do this anymore,’ ” she says.
The moment she became comfortable with the idea of leaving her kids at home, she began searching for a creative outlet. “I’ve always loved jewelry, so I got online and started researching metalsmithing classes kind of out of nowhere,” she says.
She found a match at The Craft Guild in Carrollton and began taking classes. After three years of learning the ins and outs of the process, Hooper O’Mahony set out to see if she could turn her hobby into a profession. The long-standing hub for craftspeople came to the rescue again, connecting the aspiring jewelry maker to local women who could make the prototypes and wax carvings she needed to send to manufacturers to create her pieces.
It took two years to finally launch her namesake jewelry company, Elizabeth Hooper Studio. Her collections are filled with earrings, cuffs, rings, and chokers defined by deconstructed shapes and inspired by fine art. They are available online, but Hooper O’Mahony plans to do trunk shows in select boutiques and host pop-ups with other local creatives.
“I feel like that fine-jewelry niche is already filled, so I just want to make it fun,” she says of her organic designs. “The pieces are big, bold, and for people who just love to wear jewelry and have it be seen.”
