About Us

“Dare to be Bold” has been the motto of J.Forks Designs since inception in 1999. Though many people associate the words with the bright, big, bold jewelry and spunky graphic tee shirts, the saying lives deep within Jenny Forks’ blood. With Native American Roots, Jenny spent her childhood seeking out adventure and regularly exploring. Growing up on a ranch near Beeville, Texas, her days were packed full of riding horses, hunting, hiking, camping, playing softball and spending as much time outside as possible. To say she was a tomboy is an understatement.

The time she spent outdoors in the southwestern United States had a profound impact on the rest of her life. It sparked her curiosity in stones, from turquoise to coral, jasper to pearls, and everything in between. Jenny’s interest in stones helped ignite her passion for beads. At a young age, she started to teach herself how to make jewelry and gifted items to her friends and family. As she grew older, through trial and error, Jenny taught herself how to set stones, work with silver, craft intricate designs, and become a jewelry designer.

By the time Jenny was in high school, she started selling her jewelry at the restaurant  where she had worked. One might attribute her strong work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit to her family background. Her father Bill has been a firefighter with the Beeville Fire Department for over 40 years and is the current Fire Chief. Her mother, Gwenyth, recently retired as the executive vice president of the First National Bank in Beeville, and her grandparents owned their own moving and storage company in Beeville for over 50 years.

In the Summer of 1999, Jenny was fresh out of high school with a newborn baby girl. Determined to provide a great life for her daughter, Jenny decided to take a bold leap of faith and turn her passion for jewelry into her career. Using a $3,000 credit card as startup capital, Jenny founded J.Forks Designs on a mission to help embolden people to feel both beautiful and confident while tackling life’s obstacles.

Jenny’s hunger for challenging herself has never ceased, and the influence from the southwestern desert continues to shine through all of her pieces. She is still very much a tomboy at heart, and you will never spot her in a dress. However, she always layers her look in bold J.Forks jewelry. If she is not in her studio creating, you will find her spending time with her children, or wandering through the wilderness continually exploring, learning, and growing.

 

ABOUT J.FORKS DESIGNS

J.Forks Designs is a Southwest-inspired jewelry and graphic tee-shirt line based out of Boerne, Texas. Since inception in 1999, Jenny Forks cultivated a reputation for designing bold jewelry and accessories using high-quality semi-precious gemstones, handcrafted leather, sterling silver, and beadwork. Together with her husband Cody Ackel, who has been handcrafting leather for over 15 years, they created the never-before-seen signature look of handset stones into leather. This creative style has evolved into a defining characteristic of the J.Forks Designs line.

J.Forks Designs offers a variety of superior quality looks, from delicate and simple to large statement pieces. As a result, J.Forks Designs has released over 50,000 different styles. Today, J.Forks Designs is selling in over 500 stores, in six countries, and is still growing! Wanting to make it a bigger experience, J.Forks Designs added a full-scale graphic tee shirt line that embodies the "Dare to Be Bold" spirit in every design.  

Over the past 20 years, Jenny has fostered a team of people to help execute the company's mission and vision. Each piece is handcrafted in-house, and even with the production team, Jenny personally works on every single piece that leaves the studio. 

Because J.Forks Designs is not a mass-produced jewelry line, many of the pendants, earrings, rings, and bracelets are one-of-a-kind. In order to provide the most interesting and unique pieces, Jenny spends countless hours sourcing the highest grade materials and works directly with the mines.

 

HIGH-QUALITY GEMSTONES

High-quality, semi-precious gemstones have been a staple of the J.Forks Designs look since inception in 1999. We primarily work with North American Turquoise, coral, freshwater pearls, bone, spiny oyster, jaspers, agates, and many other natural stones. 

 

LEATHER

Known for the trademark look of hand-setting stones into leather, handcrafted leatherwork is a defining characteristic of the J.Forks Designs look. With an in-house team of leather workers, J.Forks Designs produces a variety of different pieces from hand-tooled earrings and pendants to strategically set stones.

 

SILVERSMITHING

J.Forks Designs has a team of silversmiths that hand-sets stones and leather in sterling silver.

 

LOOM BEADWORK

Inspired by Jenny's Native American roots, J.Forks Designs incorporates hand-loomed beadwork into our pendants, necklaces, earrings, cuffs, and more.