He Sold a $40,000 Bracelet Before He’d Ever Made One. Now He Designs Jewelry for Justin Bieber and Drake.

Jason Arasheben is simply a personage among celebrities. As the laminitis of luxury jeweler Jason of Beverly Hills, he’s designed civilization pieces for stars for illustration Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Kim Kardashian and Drake, crafted title rings for the NBA and NFL, and built 1 of the astir recognizable brands successful high-end jewelry.

Along the way, he’s fielded nary shortage of different requests.

“We’ve made gem food tanks and $2 cardinal gem shoes. We’ve had personification inquire for a monolithic Jesus pendant pinch their ain look alternatively of Jesus’ (which I declined to make). We’ve moreover had personification want a gem pendant modeled aft their ain antheral anatomy,” Arasheben says.

Suffice it to say, it’s been a chaotic ride. But you don’t get diamonds without a small pressure.

Diamond successful the rough 

Coming from a family of immigrants, Arasheben’s life seemed predetermined. His parents moved from Iran erstwhile he was a toddler pinch dreams of their boy becoming 1 of the “big four”: a doctor, lawyer, designer aliases engineer.

Despite his entrepreneurial instincts, Arasheben initially gave successful to those expectations, moving his measurement into UCLA pinch plans to be rule schoolhouse aft graduation. But torts ne'er took. Instead, he recovered himself progressively drawn to the luster of Los Angeles nightlife.

“I was blowing money fast,” he admits. “Come sophomore year, I realized I was $28,000 successful debt.” 

Not wanting to show his parents — and wanting moreover little to return a occupation astatine a unit concatenation — Arasheben recovered himself backed into a corner. Then, while shopping for hairclips pinch a female he was dating, he had an epiphany. 

“I was like, ‘Wait a minute. I person a captive assemblage connected the UCLA campus. I person a group of imaginable customers. I had $400 left. I could either make the minimum costs connected my in installments paper and unrecorded disconnected Ramen for a week, aliases bargain $400 worthy of wholesale items, and waste them to the girls connected campus.'”

To Arasheben, it seemed for illustration the cleanable business. The only problem was getting UCLA connected board.

“I approached UCLA and had this thought of mounting up a six-foot array connected field to waste to these girls, and they said nary consecutive to my face,” he recalls.

But Arasheben didn’t springiness up.

“I doubled backmost and asked again, Arasheben says. “For 7 consecutive days, I went successful and pleaded pinch them. On the past day, I said, ‘I’m successful the business programme here. Being a spot of education, you request to harness my entrepreneurial spirit.'”

They still said no.

Then he offered to springiness 20% of his gross to the school, and their tune quickly changed.

A trim above 

The adjacent day, Arashaben spent his past $400 connected metallic trinkets, integrative hairsbreadth clips and different accessories. He borrowed a array and a achromatic tablecloth and group up shop connected North Campus.

“I thought it was a awesome measurement to not only make money, but meet girls too,” Arashaben laughs. 

The thought took disconnected immediately. He sold $800 worthy of merchandise connected his first day, past $1,000, past $5,000.

As request grew, Arasheben hired friends to tally a 2nd array connected the South broadside of campus. Before long, he had replicated the exemplary crossed So-Cal, expanding to six full campuses: USC, Cal State Northridge, UC Santa Barbara, Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine and, of course, UCLA.

By his elder year, Arasheben was making existent money.

Looking to grow beyond campuses, he built acrylic countertop displays, filled them pinch accessories, and sounded them to nail salons passim Southern California.

“I drove to each azygous nail salon from Calabasas to San Diego, and I would say, ‘I’m going to spot this show connected your countertop, and each 2 weeks I’m going to travel back, spot what you sold, and you salary maine for it.'”

By the mediate of his elder year, he estimates 250 salons had signed on. 

Then, while studying for the LSAT, he had a realization. He looked up the starting net for a first-year Harvard Law graduate. At the time, it was astir $110,000 a year.

“I said, ‘This doesn’t make immoderate business consciousness whatsoever because I’m going to spell to rule school, suffer 4 aliases 5 years of income-earning potential, past travel retired successful indebtedness and make little than I’m making now. That makes nary consciousness astatine all.'”

So Arasheben told his parents he wasn’t going to rule school. He was going to support increasing the business he had built done assemblage campuses and nail salons — moreover though, astatine the time, he didn’t person a marque aliases a semipermanent plan.

Unsurprisingly, the determination didn’t spell complete well. Arasheben didn’t speak to his begetter for the adjacent 2 years.

“The measurement my encephalon works, if he had told me, ‘Congratulations, I deliberation it’s a awesome idea,’ I would’ve had a batch little motivation,” Arasheben admits. “That’s ever been my mentality. If you adjacent a doorway successful beforehand of me, I’m going to find a measurement to break it down.”

Arasheben kept increasing the business, but he besides realized it was clip to deliberation bigger.

“I came to the realization that, while I was making bully money, I needed thing that was moreover much scalable,” he says. “And thing pinch a marque down it.”

A gem of an opportunity 

The business was generating betwixt $20,000 and $30,000 a month. But conscionable arsenic quickly arsenic the money came in, Arasheben was spending it, taking afloat advantage of LA nightlife. At the time, he was going retired to clubs almost each nighttime and surviving period to month. Looking back, he calls it 1 of the champion investments he ever made.

“It allowed maine to swipe shoulders pinch high-net-worth individuals, for illustration athletes and actors,” he says. “When I bought a array astatine a club, it was adjacent to personification who could spend high-end jewelry.”

Noticing the oversized chains and gem jewelry worn by galore of his chap clubgoers, Arasheben decided to return his business successful a caller guidance — toward the Hollywood Hills.

He began designing civilization gem pendants for NBA players, hoping to show them the pieces the adjacent clip their paths crossed astatine a club.

“Did I person immoderate acquisition successful the gem industry? Zero,” Arasheben admits. “Did I cognize what the hellhole I was doing? Not astatine all. But I knew that’s what I wanted.” 

Arasheben’s nightly outings became arsenic overmuch astir business arsenic they were astir debauchery. He group a extremity of introducing himself to 10 caller group each night, refusing to time off until he did.

“Reputation matters and who you are matters, and I knew that I had to waste because I really didn’t person merchandise to sell,” he explains. “Once I sold myself, my merchandise and work would support the customers coming back. But to get that customer, I request to waste them connected the thought that I americium not only reliable but personification that they would for illustration to do business with.” 

His networking strategies ranged from standard, for illustration oculus interaction and patient handshakes, to sitcom-style antics for illustration spilling his portion connected personification “accidentally” to break the ice, thing he says he’s done aggregate times. 

“I wanted each relationship to beryllium a memorable one,” Arasheben laughs. “I utilized to deterioration large outfits because I wanted them to retrieve me.”

The crown jewel 

Arasheben estimates he sewage “about 70 to 100” nos earlier he yet sewage a yes from erstwhile hoops prima Anthony Mason.

“Every azygous clip I spell out, you’re pitching maine that you want to creation maine a portion of jewelry,” Mason said. “And today’s your fortunate day. I’ve had capable drinks that I want you to travel to my edifice tomorrow. We’re playing the Lakers. Before I time off for the game. I want you to travel and bring each your jewelry.” 

Arasheben jumped connected the opportunity, agreeing to meet Mason astatine 3 p.m. the adjacent day. There was conscionable 1 problem: He didn’t really person immoderate jewelry.

“All I had was 1 creation connected a expanse of insubstantial that he didn’t moreover like, and he wanted maine to travel the adjacent day,” the laminitis recalls. “But I was not going to discarded the opportunity.”

Arasheben sewage to work, putting together a makeshift catalog pinch a small Elmer’s glue and elbow grease, which he presented to Mason the adjacent day.

“He asked wherever the jewelry was, and I told him everything I did was bespoke,” Arasheben recalls. “I showed him each of these designs, immoderate of which weren’t moreover mine. He saw a bracelet that he liked, and I said, ‘No problem. I’m going to make it for you.’ He asked really much, and I said, ‘$40,000.’ I conscionable threw a number retired of my butt. I had nary hint what the value should beryllium aliases really overmuch it was going to costs maine to make it.”

Not to beryllium deterred, Arasheben sewage to work, knocking connected doors successful the Downtown jewelry territory and making connections until he recovered personification who could manufacture the bracelet for him.

“Looking backmost connected it, they overcharged me,” he recalls. “I ended up making for illustration $2,000 connected a $40,000 sale. But he loved it.” 

It paid off. Arasheben quickly capitalized connected the opportunity, turning Mason into his first personage ambassador. Today, he’s the look of 1 of the world’s astir recognizable luxury jewelry brands.

Eyes unfastened for opportunity 

Many successful entrepreneurs committedness by manifestation and imagination boards erstwhile reasoning astir the future. Arasheben prefers to return it 1 opportunity astatine a time.

“I for illustration not knowing what opportunities dishonesty ahead. I for illustration knowing that tomorrow could bring a different opportunity than today,” he says. “I was talking to my boy astir this the different day. He said, ‘I don’t cognize what I want to do. I can’t show you what I’m going to beryllium doing a twelvemonth from now.’

“I asked him, ‘How galore reddish cars did you spot today?’ He said, ‘I don’t know.’ Then I asked, ‘If I gave you $5 for each reddish car you saw today, would you know?’ He said, ‘Absolutely.’

“I told him that’s precisely really you should look astatine life. Every personification you meet and each acquisition you person could beryllium an opportunity — you conscionable don’t cognize which 1 yet. You person to support your eyes unfastened for it. So I don’t cognize what tomorrow holds, but I cognize it’ll beryllium thing awesome because I’m ever looking for that reddish car.”