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Meredith Young combines her love of creating fine jewelry with philanthropy
BY LYNETTE CARRINGTON / PHOTO BY BEVERLY SHUMWAY
Meredith Young is a jewelry designer that seamlessly combines passion for jewelry design, business savvy and philanthropy. Her various areas of expertise culminated in the founding of her company two years ago. Young, who started metalsmithing in high school, found herself at a creative crossroads in college. Though she ultimately majored in art history and English, she later enrolled in metalsmithing classes at night while working a successful day job in the recruiting industry, eventually ending up in the technology sector. Working hard and procuring the necessary tools and equipment, eventually the time was right to found her company and commit to creating jewelry full-time. Young orchestrates fine jewelry designs that think outside the proverbial jewelry box. Her work often reflects imagery from the natural world with the incorporation of mini-geodes and leaf and spider web motifs. “My source of inspiration is two parts. One being sheer inspiration from the raw materials, whether it’s a different kind of geometric-cut opal or rough tourmaline with a certain type of inclusion in it, and the second being what happens during the fabrication when I make prototypes,” she says. “Sometimes [when I’m] out in the studio, I’ll be making something and then I get an idea, and I give that a chance.” Young currently serves on the board of TAG Ranch & Foundation in Utah and supports Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County, a place she visits often to see family. Locally, she has also worked with Mothers Awareness on School-Age Kids (MASK) and Breakfast Club 100 through Valley of the Sun United Way, the latter of which receives a portion of proceeds from Young’s jewelry line. She also has some designs in the works that will specifically benefit moms. “It’s a legacy thing. I don’t have kids, so this is my legacy,” she says. Meredith Young Jewelry is available at Stephanie’s in Old Town Scottsdale, or online at www.meredithyoungjewelry.com.
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So Scottsdale! February ‘18