By Kristen Oliveri
Helena Krodel has spent more than two decades in the worlds of jewelry, fashion and luxury, building a career around an instinct for people, relationships and opportunity. But becoming an entrepreneur wasn’t part of her original plan.
Today, as Chief Growth Officer of DAVIDALAN, the New York-based high jewelry atelier founded by her husband, David Alan, Helena is bringing those years of experience to a much more personal chapter: building a business alongside her partner and helping shape a modern approach to one-of-a-kind jewelry.
In this Wealth Reimagined Q&A, Helena shares the career decisions that changed her trajectory, why she believes relationships are her greatest currency, what today’s luxury client really wants and why jewelry holds a kind of value that extends far beyond its price. She also talks about her lifelong love affair with New York City, the destinations she travels to for inspiration and how her own definition of wealth continues to evolve.
Q: You’ve spent two decades working across fashion, luxury, media and private client networks. Take us back to the beginning. What did you imagine your career would look like, and how did you ultimately find your way into this world?
A: When I was 9, growing up in CT, I wrote an essay about living in New York City and my dream to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). When I turned 18, my parents were not too keen on me living alone in NYC. I attended the University of Rhode Island. I studied Textile Marketing and minored in business. I always believed I would work in fashion, jewelry, or accessories. I love the history, the craftsmanship, the science, and the aesthetics of fashion, but I never loved the waste or the transience. This is how I came to be obsessed with fine jewelry, which pairs beauty, craft, and science with longevity.
Q: Looking back at the different chapters of your career, was there a particular moment or decision that changed your trajectory?
A: There are two. One was responding to a very small classified PRINT ad in The New York Times. There were 500 applicants. I nailed the interview and got the job as Media Liaison of The Jewelry Information Center (JIC). This organization was the PR arm of the United States fine jewelry industry and was later absorbed by Jewelers of America (JA).
The second was deciding to join forces with my husband, David Alan. David was a private jeweler and had a small, strong business but never promoted himself. He had asked me many times over many years to join the business, and I always said: “No, thank you.” One day, he asked, and I replied: “OK, you are ready.” It was a scene out of The Karate Kid with Daniel-son and Mr. Miyagi.
Q: You’ve built a career around relationships and connecting people. What would you say is your superpower?
A: My superpower is THE MIDAS TOUCH. I like to manifest business opportunities from the smallest, seemingly insignificant conversations. While I listen and learn from people, I quickly start to connect the dots about how I can help them and create mutually beneficial business opportunities.
Q: You’re now helping build DAVIDALAN as a contemporary high jewelry atelier in New York. What drew you to this next chapter, and what about the world of high jewelry feels exciting to you personally?
A: My career aspirations did not include being an entrepreneur. Growing up, I saw the highs and lows my father navigated while owning and operating two small, successful businesses. I am Type triple AAA- highly competitive, extremely risk-tolerant, and love to work hard, so being a business owner somehow found me.
As Michelle Obama said: When they go low, we go high….” as in high jewelry.
In the fine jewelry industry, there is a race to the bottom with pricing wars. Gold prices hedge higher, and diamond pricing is volatile, yet shoppers are still trained to want lower and lower prices. Regarding design, there is a sameness syndrome happening in fine jewelry. Everything has started to look eerily the same.
What excites me right now about the high jewelry world is DAVIDALAN's specific POV. Very few designers understand the nuance and masterful making of a one-of-a-kind jewel. David is a classically trained master jeweler, self-taught designer using advanced technology, a trained architect and artist. I have never seen a more prolific mind or designer.
Q: Jewelry can carry an extraordinary amount of emotional weight: a milestone, a relationship, a person or even an entire family story. Has working so closely with high jewelry changed the way you think about what makes something truly valuable?
A: Yes. I grew up with a wise father who worked in real estate, which instilled in me a belief in investing in tangible assets. One year when he did very well, he had a private jeweler come to my home with a trunk full of jewels. My mom and I carefully selected a few things that felt personal and precious.
Diamonds and gemstones carry immense energy as they are millions of years old. There is no other object that you wear closer to your body every day for a lifetime. Jewels tell stories; they are talismans, they are precious, and they bond us to other human beings. Jewelry is one of the only objects passed down for generations. One can hardly say that about the legacy of a Louboutin.
Q: New York City has long been intertwined with fashion, jewelry, culture, and reinvention. What does being a New York-based atelier mean to you, and where do you still find inspiration in the city?
A: New York City is our MUSE. The energy, the grit, the goal-setting of New Yorkers is unmatched. It’s New York or nowhere for me. NYC is where I started my career, where I found my partner in life and business, and where I gave birth to our golden child, Presley. Give me that stale city air over fresh countryside smells any day. The City eternally fuels me. Post Covid, NYC is going through a retail renaissance. On days off, you will find me at THE MET, at an art gallery, or shopping for fresh new fashion, fine jewelry, interiors, art, and merchandising mastery.
Gratefully, David and I share this obsession with New York. When he was younger and training to be an architect, he would ride a bike and photograph his favorite NYC buildings. Many became the seed for pieces of high jewelry we created later.
Q: Luxury is being redefined by a generation that often values access, personalization, and experience as much as traditional status symbols. What do you think today’s luxury client is really looking for?
A: Access, personalization, and experience are buzzy concepts right now. However, they are not just buzzwords. This is the gold standard and the minimum standard for success in luxury today.
I jest that rich people are people too. Today’s luxury consumer wants what everyone wants: to be treated well, listened to, and to be unexpectedly delighted by steady service and quality products.
Q: When you’re not working, where do you love to travel? Is there one destination you return to or somewhere you’ve visited that completely changed your perspective?
A: All of my favorite travel destinations revolve around interesting, invigorating shopping. Shopping is a magnifying glass that amplifies culture, its people, its history, and, of course, its fashion.
I love vintage jewelry shops in Paris.
The markets in Marrakech are pure magic; I especially like buying the slipper shoes (babouche), the tea (Atay), and the jewels (Berber), not in that order.
Lastly, Miami is MY AMIE. My home away from home. I love the pop art, the mid-century architecture, the cheesy beach merch in bright 80s colors, but mostly the hot weather and easy commute from NYC.
The most mind-bending trip for me was Thailand. My best friend growing up moved to the States with her family of 12 from that small, sweet country. David and I spent three weeks there. The traditions, the food, the rituals, the beautiful people brought me back to my childhood and made me more grateful to be an American.
Q: What are you reading right now?
A: Thank you for asking. I exclusively read business books or non-fiction. Right now, I am speed-reading three back to back: Rich AF and Well Endowed, both by Vivian Tu, and Let Them, by Mel Gibbons.
Q: What does wealth mean to you today, and has your definition changed as your life and career have evolved?
A: My dad used to say: “money isn't everything, but it is way better than whatever is in second.”
I have spent some time thinking about money myths and wealth. Here are my conclusions:
Working hard and money are not always mathematically equated.
You will never be rich by working 9 am-5 pm.
Those with wealth have mastered the law of attraction. They believe they deserve it, and so the universe provides.
You are not a better person if you have money. Money only enhances who you really are.
Good deeds are free.
Money can’t buy manners.