LifeArt2B

Amy Ricalde

TEMPLE ST. CLAIR CARR, ENTREPRENEUR AND LUXURY JEWELRY DESIGNER

I was honored to interview the extraordinarily talented and successful Temple St. Clair Carr.  Her story is one of pure and distinguished achievement.  She began her jewelry business by following her inner wisdom to achieve tremendous results. 

Born in Norfolk, Virginia, she built a career from her passions for art and travel.  Temple’s drive and leadership style began its development during this upbringing. She came from a family who supported her ideas and repeatedly told her that she could achieve any goal she set her mind to.   Her family further influenced her with an early appreciation for travel and the arts, including exposing her to the Jeffersonian architecture and Country Gothic styles that accentuated her childhood home.  As an early adult, she studied marine biology, but became dissatisfied with its limits on personal expression.  Textbook in hand, she found her true inspiration in the streets of Venice and her sensitivities from the depths of Renaissance paintings.  Some of Temple’s attraction to the style was explained by her fascination with the classic look of the era, the richness in color, and its timeless quality.  She began combining her fascination with treasures of the earth with her lifelong connection to art and travel. Based on this foundation, she began to sketch her jewelry renditions of a “new classic” that incorporated color gemstones and classic designs from a different time period.  This would lead to her discovery by a Barney’s scout who would later take her designs to New York City.  Soon thereafter, Temple’s designs would attract premium pricing and a celebrity following that would lead to recognition and financial support from corporate giant, Tiffany and Company.

Today, the Temple St. Clair studio is located in Soho, NY, where Temple bases her operations and leads a staff of twelve employees.  She describes her leadership style as the cement of her personal and professional styles:  “I am the brand,” Temple proclaims.  “It is my responsibility to protect the brand, believe in brand and all its values. After all, they [her values] are my own.”  While she enjoys building friendships with her employees, Temple maintains that she protects her investment cautiously, maintaining a “keen” self-interest while striving to foster what she describes as an “egoless” workplace.  Being involved in every aspect of her business gives her the ability to observe at multiple levels.   Perhaps this is why she prefers the title “Creative Director” over “Chief Executive Officer.”

Temple sees herself as a transformational leader and feels that she and her company are constantly evolving: “I try and understand individuals and nurture the team to find a common goal.  The corporate world can be emotionless.  It is difficult to draw the lines so clearly.”  This compassion and nurturing style is not to be confused with a lack of drive or discipline: “My work-style is tough, as I push myself. However, I don’t always take care of myself as I should.”  Temple admits, “I expect everyone else to give 110% like I do. Mistakes and mediocrity are difficult for me to tolerate. My leadership style is progressive and improves just as the business improves.”           

Temple believes that sharing information is critical, yet describes the process as a delicate balance in order to accommodate hierarchy and respect timelines: “Sharing business plans is useless if those individuals don’t already harness the context where the information germinates.”  According to Temple, complex sexist issues exist in many contexts.  Male executives can be uncomfortable if they find a woman attractive.  Setting boundaries in these situations is complicated, as women are often forced to choose between monetary gains and “losing the connection” with their male counterparts.

Temple truly is her own “brand.”  She, like many other successful individuals, has a difficult time separating her personal and professional “selves.”  Her advice to potential entrepreneurs includes, “Just have the guts to do it, or you will be someone else’s employee. Well, some people like that.  There is so much possibility in this country, and it is especially evident to me after living abroad.  Mmmm… Italy!” (Carr, personal communication, January 25, 2006).

UPDATE:

You can read more about Temple St. Clair and her passions in her fantastical book called, “Alchemy”.

Harper Collins describes:

A Southern girl with a nomadic spirit and a voracious appetite for history and culture, Temple St. Clair grew up spending summer vacations in Morocco and Bavaria, studied at an international boarding school in Switzerland, and went night diving in Honduras with the son of Jacques Cousteau. In her early twenties, St. Clair landed in Florence, where she completed a master’s in Italian literature. In fact, she had no exposure to jewelry making until her visiting mother bought an ancient coin and asked St. Clair to commission a local goldsmith to make a piece of jewelry around it.

Armed with the coin and a sketch, St. Clair entered the ancient Palazzo dell’Orafo of Florentine goldsmiths, where she first discovered the centuries-old art of fine Italian jewelry making. Inspired by the distinctive craftsmanship, St. Clair continued to work with artisans to bring her designs to life. A new world soon began to open up to her—a world that engaged her multicultural education, vast experiences, and rich curiosity; a world that awarded her with a new identity as “an amateur anthropologist, a hopeless hunter and gatherer, a bit of a wanderer, and a self-made jewelry historian who loves to dream and draw.”

With an artist’s eye for detail and an unwavering esteem for the historic, St. Clair creates one-of-a-kind pieces that combine ancient influences with traditional craftsmanship and contemporary flair. In Alchemy, she takes readers on an idiosyncratic excursion into the intricate history and craft of jewelry making—from the ancient origins of talismans and charms, to the complicated pursuit of the perfect gemstone—all through the lens of her own fascinating experiences. The result is a mesmerizing and visually stunning book that will appeal to jewelry lovers, artistic dreamers, and anyone who suffers from wanderlust.