Anna Samsonova is a Chicago, Il based jewelry consultant with 20 years of luxury experience working with retail and wholesale companies in sales, merchandising, buying, branding, event marketing, upscaling and operations. Her career began at Fred Meyer Jewelers in sales while attending college, she continued to study gemology at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). After earning her Graduate Gemologist degree from GIA she stayed to be a diamond grader in their lab.
Anna later joined Ben Bridge Jeweler, a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary with retail stores across the states, and worked there for nearly a decade. She spent the first few years working in quality control at Ben Bridge Jeweler's headquarters, honing her skills in attention to detail that she still utilizes to this day. During that time, she also provided sales support for in-store events and trunk shows at one of the original Seattle retail locations. When an opportunity to work with the Bridal Buyer arose, she made her move to the Merchandising Department. That experience led to her promotion of Assistant Fashion Buyer, where she worked with the Senior Fashion Buyer on all fashion categories and managed the brands including Mikimoto, Roberto Coin and aided in the launch of the in house brand of Lisa Bridge Collection.
In 2019, Anna launched Samsonova Consulting to optimize and accelerate business growth for retailers, designers and wholesale companies through strategic brand development, merchandising, operations, upscaling and customer-centric programs. Anna is currently on the Board of Advisers as well as Education committee (previously Events also) of Black In Jewelry Coalition (BIJC), the Conclave, Supplier, and Membership Recruitment and Retention committees of the American Gem Society (AGS) as well as the Chicago Guild President, The Rising Leader Council and Events committee for Jewelers for Children (JFC) and serves on the Executive Advisory Committee for the Seattle nonprofit Providence O’Christmas Trees. She is a sustaining member of AGS, and reinstated the Young Title Holders over a decade ago. She finished her role as New Chapter Development Chair and Level 1 Director for Women's Jewelry Association (WJA) and facilitated their Jewelry Loupe Program. She is an alumni member of the GIA and past president of the Seattle WJA, AGS and GIA groups, as well as the recipient of several association awards for excellence in service. When Anna is not developing innovative customer experiential programs or improving operational procedures - she can be found exploring the world and sipping on a glass of whiskey or wine, especially sparkling!