Origami Owl co-founder and acting CEO, Chrissy Weems has seen the simple idea she helped daughter Bella grow from the ground up to become a global company worth more than $250 million. The Weems family came together to support their daughter, Bella who was given the task of creating a company of her own by her Mom, Chrissy and developed the initial idea for Origami Owl. Now a direct sales professional and philanthropists, Christine “Chrissy” Weems continues to push for a brighter future for the people she comes into contact with by partnering with more than a dozen charitable groups in her local community in the state of Arizona.
The Arizona State University graduate was a stay at home Mom when she began the most successful part of her career as a co-founder of Origami Owl. Hoping to build her daughter, Bella’s confidence, and her entrepreneurial spirit by helping her start a business to raise money for a car to be bought for her 16th birthday. Chrissy Weems had pledged $350 to match the $350 Bella had already saved from babysitting jobs when she was 14-years old. With two years to save money, Chrissy and Bella Weems came together to develop their love of crafting to create the Origami Owl range of memory lockets.
Few entrepreneurs can be seen to have achieved overnight success but for Chrissy Weems, the Origami Owl direct sales company has been just that. Starting out renting a space in a local Arizona mall, Weems fund Origami Owl quickly in profit and took the step of turning the business into a part of the direct sales market with a team of more than 600 sales professionals working to design their own jewelry for resale.
Over the course of her career, Chrissy Weems has built on her education in fine arts to showcase her skills as a designer and business leader for the 21st-century. Initially working as part of the design team, the current CEO was responsible for the development of the “living locket” range of clear jewelry containing charms and memorabilia which created such a major early success for the company.
In July 2017, Chrissy Weems took over the role of CEO at Origami Owl and oversaw a large level of expansion for the brand including a move into the Canadian market. The Origami Owl brand was established in 2010 and had already been valued at more than $250 million by 2013 with the Weems family taking many of the most important positions within the company.
Married for more than 25 years, Chrissy Weems is a mother to five children which makes her achievement in heading a multi-million dollar brand even more impressive. Not only does Weems focus on the development of her Origami Owl brand but she also ensures a range of charities also benefits from the success of the company. The idea of being a “Force for Good” runs deeply through the Origami Owl brand because of the work of Chrissy Weems to provide funding for good causes throughout Arizona. The “Force for Good” project takes a range of good causes including those supporting children, academic opportunities, and the economic empowerment of women in developing nations.