Our Team
K A T Y
Owner & Designer • Founded Grayling: Winter 2009
Hailing from Montana, land of plentiful mountains and beautiful surroundings, Katy's lapidary grandfather sparked her love of jewelry and stones in particular. As part of a military family, Katy spent six years living overseas in Europe and Asia where she gathered inspiration for what would eventually become Grayling.
Some of her favorite childhood pursuits were playing store and selling travel-sized shampoos door-to-door. Katy got her start in the jewelry business selling pieces out of her locker in high school and eventually, her love for the craft blossomed into a full-time career. In 2009, she manifested her dream of running her own business designing and handcrafting versatile, hypo-allergenic pieces all jewelry lovers can wear.
A I M E E
Manager • Operations, Web & Jewelry Design • Joined Grayling: Fall 2013
A Northwest native, Aimee dreams of living someplace warmer but we're not letting her go anywhere! She's in charge of all new product releases and keeping everything in our studio organized (including Katy)! When she's not busy adding new items to our website, she's assisting Rachel with photo shoots, and planning orders with our suppliers. As our sweet-yet-tenacious team den mother, Aimee makes sure product release schedules are on track and that we always have the correct raw materials on hand (while still making time to hammer some jewels or pop some bubbly every now and then)!
Aimee is always smiling, no matter what. She loves surprises, animals, and dark chocolate and has been searching shelters for a huge sweet pup to keep her wild cat company. Aimee is always looking for her next travel destination, has excellent taste in music, and happens to possess the most enviable style. She has a serious knack for successfully pairing color and pattern in her everyday outfits and makes us all step up our style game at work.
S H A N N O N
Manager • Production & Operations • Joined Grayling: Fall 2017
Known for her level-headedness, Shannon stays calm and collected no matter what's going on (usually with a grin on her face)! She makes sure our store is filled with enough inventory and your online orders are processed quickly so they arrive on time. On any given day, Shannon spends just as much time stone-setting and making jewelry as she does working with customers in our retail store!
Shannon is known for her genuine, warm personality and gorgeous mermaid hair. When she’s not in our workshop, she’s probably planning her next trip to see her family in Montana, or at the cinema catching the latest horror flick! Shannon uses her creative downtime to work on her sketching and painting (this girl is bursting with talent) and could probably never tire of the faces of her furry children (okay, kitties).
R A C H E L
Art Director • Joined Grayling: Fall 2020
After bouncing up and down the West coast, most recently San Francisco, Rachel landed back in Portland. She spends her days plotting ways to keep Grayling looking shiny and bright, whether it be shooting new styles in her studio, or showcasing all things shiny with our marketing team. Rachel makes us all swoon with how makes our pieces sparkle, so that our fans can feel amazing when adorned in them.
As a former travel magazine photo editor, Rachel is always taming her relentless travel bug. Which she attempts by spending lots of time outside, planning future trips and dropping everything to say YES to spontaneous weekend excursions. She often unwinds in the garden, cooking with friends, wandering bookstore aisles, or tinkering in her art studio. Her dazzling wit and storytelling keeps us all on our toes, when we can keep up with her that is!
K A L I
Assistant Manager & Fulfillment Lead • Joined Graying: Fall 2021
A born + bred Portlander, Kali has been with us since 2021 and she’s our little bit of everything gal. From slinging a wide assortment of Grayling’s jewels, to supporting the shipping team to make sure your pieces are not only gorgeous but get there on time, and being a warm welcome to our customers. She’s got just as big of a soft spot for jewelry and metalwork as she does for her coworkers (aww, how lucky are we?!).
Easily our most tapped-in culture queen quick to make us all giggle or tell a silly story, Kali is just as enamored by jewelry off the clock and it was a hobby long before it was her 9-5. You can usually find her hunting for novelty vintage sweaters - and we do mean hunting, it’s a sport. That is when she’s not cuddling her little dog Mellow, reading, getting her gamer-girl vibe on, happily napping the day away or beefing up her sticker collection that’s truly a sparkling sight to behold.
K I M
Assistant Manager & Customer Experience Lead • Joined Graying: Fall 2021
Breezing in from down south in New Mexico + California, Kim is snug as a bug here in Portland. She adores working with her hands and adding to her technique arsenal as a metalworker in our studio & truly can’t get enough of the satisfaction that finishing a shiny piece of jewelry brings, and she does it all for you, folks.
When Kim’s off the clock she’s been spotted bounding down the river with her pups, thrift shopping, rockhounding or documentary binging like there’s no tomorrow. She’s also a sucker for every trinket at Paxton Gate, obsesses over playlist curation and don’t get her started on all things mythical and cryptic (Mothman, anyone?). When she’s not trying her hand at a new craft project she’s easily persuaded to watch the sunset at a rooftop bar with something delicious to sip on. Cheers Kim, we’ll join ya.
J E S S
Production Assistant & Shipping Team • Joined Graying: Summer 2024
Much to our delight, our very own Georgia peach Jess has made their home in Portland. They can’t get enough of working with their hands, which they get to do on a daily basis at Grayling, as a crucial part of our production and fulfillment teams. Shining to perfection, packing up all your goodies and sending them with love, of course!
Jess is never without a warm smile or an insightful chat, but don’t let that fool ya, they’ve well trodden the paths on the Renaissance faire circuit and have a very shiny sword collection, so keep your wits about you. When they’re not wearing suits of armor at the faire or just everyday y2k street wear style (which we envy), this Capricorn can be found making art of all kinds, watching movies and anime, and being a modern day Ariel cooing over their collection of precious trinkets.
S T A R
Production Assistant & Customer Service • Joined Graying: Summer 2024
Strolling over from St. Louis to Portland in the last decade, our production and customer service teams have been so much brighter since Star landed on our team. A true fashionmonger at heart, Star loves helping customers discover their own unique style & build out dream looks, always tickled at how the curation unfolds on our fellow jewelry-lovers. Aka, ask for Star next time you're at the shop and want to freshen your hardware!
In their downtime, Star jams to K-pop, heads to live shows or watches anime and horror flicks with friends. More often than not, there’s art involved; making their own art, hosting pop ups for their fellow artists in their community, or plotting when to get away to the LACMA, the Met or museums abroad for inspiration to fuel their next project. When they’re not in search of the perfect bowl of noodles or cuddling their kitty, they also keep all the plants at Grayling alive, well and genuinely happy with that magic green thumb!
C I R A
Production Assistant & Shipping Team • Joined Graying: Fall 2024
From Salt Lake City to Scotland (and a hefty handful of zip codes in between) Cira has settled in Oregon for the time being which we are, selfishly, thrilled about. They’ve been crafting jewelry for 5+ years and are a true magpie - can’t get enough of shines & sparkles, which makes them the perfect fit on our productions and sales teams.
Outside the office, Cira is often enriching their life as a devoted yoga student and teacher, pursuing holistic learning of all kinds, unwinding at the sauna or with a paint brush in hand. It’s a safe bet they’re most likely on the move; getting outside with their doggies and spouse, escaping to the ocean, vibing at music festivals, traveling to the long list of must-see cities (but honestly, probably Iceland, their favorite place on Earth. We’re packing ourselves in your suitcase, fyi).
