“An important tenet in the company culture is to give employees steering and a positive sense about work and their capabilities.”

For those of us who grew up before the days of modern technology, spare time meant we had crayons in our hands instead of iPhones. We colored on kids menus at restaurants, drew on sketch pads with markers and doodled on just about everything. Our minds wandered without limits and creativity was a by-product of long quiet hours. Jennifer Rubin, owner of Petroglyph, was one of these kids.

Jennifer was always creative. Sewing and drawing and writing stories. Her school years were filled with craft projects. When it came time for college, however, her dad agreed to pay…IF she went to business school. So, she hung up her art apron and hit the books.

With a business degree secured, her first job out of college was as a Production Assistant delivering mail on a bike at Paramount Studios. She worked her way up to an Associate Producer and was managing contracts and production budgets behind the scenes at both Paramount and Disney.

“It was so much fun to be in my early 20s, living in Los Angeles, working in the film industry,” Jennifer said. Without a lot of downtime, a small ceramics studio across from the Paramount lot offered an oasis from the hustle. She started to moonlight there at odd hours. Her creative fire re-ignited.

Jennifer’s term in Hollywood yielded to other desires and she moved from LA to Santa Cruz with the hopes of starting a family and opening her own ceramic shop. Although she didn’t consider herself an entrepreneur, opening her own studio felt doable. And that business degree finally found its use! She signed a two-year lease on a defunct coffee shop storefront off the beaten path in Santa Cruz and she was in business.

A labor of love then – Jennifer made all of the pieces herself and sunk every minute of time into the studio. A labor of love today – Jennifer is committed to supporting her employees in their early work endeavors. “An important tenet in the company culture is to give employees steering and a positive sense about work and their capabilities,” Jennifer said. Whether it be employees or customers, she cherishes her role of supporting people in their personal expression and creative growth.

Along with the Roseville location that she opened in 1997, Jennifer has three other Petroglyph Ceramic Lounges in the Bay Area. She has even expanded into candle-making, opening two candle-making lounges called “Glow” (stay tuned – she’s looking to open one in Roseville soon!).

After so many years in the community, she still experiences the best surprises when she recognizes a colorful tip jar at a coffee shop made by her staff, or when she’s at a dinner party and gets served on a hand painted plate, or seeing the mug on her accountants’ desk that was made by his six year old son at Petroglyph.

Petroglyph is a do-it-yourself ceramic studio lounge where you can create interesting and useful objects, get together with friends, and spend time with the family. It is a comfortable and inspiring space located in Rocky Ridge Town Center. Learn more about Petroglyph here.