Founder of Alex and Ani
Carolyn Rafaelian
Biography
Carolyn attended Prout Memorial High School for girls in 1982. For college she attended the University of Rhode Island for 3 years (1987-1989) where she was a part of the Alpha Xi Delta sorority. She later transferred to the American College in LA where she graduated in 1990.
After college Carolyn decided that she wanted to join her fathers business and work on her own life as well. She eventually got married and had two girls named Alex and Ani. In 2002 Carolyn became co-owner of Cinerama the factory her and her dad opened along with her sister Rebecca. Her designs became the leading seller of that company.
Before Starting Her Business
- Before starting Alex and Ani Carolyn worked in her dad's jewelry factory making jewelry with him.
- She learned many of the 12 characteristics while she worked with her dad in the factory because before she worked there she didn't know anything about running a business. Carolyn learned all of those traits from her dad.
Age Now
Age of Her Business
Age Then
Founding of Alex and Ani
- In 2004 she founded Alex and Ani because she wanted to be independent and have her own store not share with her family. Carolyn named it after her two oldest daughters Alex and Ani. She wanted her creativity to show while picking the name but also for her children to be able to live on with the store after she leaves the business.
- She started with the idea of four cocktail rings then it grew to a whole line of jewelry of expandable and recyclable materials made in America.
More about Carolyn
Her Opportunity to Open Her Business
Carolyn realized she wanted her own business two years after she took over her father's jewelry factory.
She realized she wanted to create her own business based off of the designs she already had created with her father’s business.
- It started off as selling her products to local stores and then eventually nationally then into having her own retail space and making millions of dollars yearly as it was becoming more and more popular.
Alex and Ani Now
Carolyn is now selling her jewelry nationally and has grown her company more than 3500% in the past 12 years.
She has had over $200 million in sales, 1000 employees, and she also has over 40 retail spaces nationwide.
Carolyn is looking into going International but not in the near future.