In a sparkling career that she was born into, yet enthusiastically chose to make her life’s work, Rana Pierre Kassab-Daniken is the award-winning president and chief financial officer of the Oregon-based Kassab Jewelers, founded in 1975 under a different name and rebranded to its current, recognizable moniker in 1990 by her parents, Pierre George Kassab and Noha Sami Kassab. Named to the coveted Forbes “40 Under 40” list in 2021, among other professional recognitions, Ms. Kassab-Daniken splits her time between the three Kassab Jewelers locations. Her responsibilities, as multifaceted as the diamonds she sells, include assisting clients, custom designing jewelry, event planning, accounting, and bookkeeping. Plus, she oversees and manages the back office, team meetings, inventory, payroll, and marketing, along with nonstop decision-making and generating ideas with her team of 20 colleagues.
While working in leadership capacities at Kassab Jewelers from 2004 through today, Ms. Kassab-Daniken earned a Bachelor of Science in marketing and economics from the University of Oregon Lundquist College of Business in 2007. She is now pursuing a gemologist license. Well-rounded within her company and external business and professional communities, Ms. Kassab-Daniken is a member of the Jewelers of America, Lake Oswego Chamber of Commerce, and Alpha Phi Sorority. Charitably, she contributes to the Children’s Cancer Association and the Maurice Lucas Foundation, organizations close to her heart.
Kassab Jewelers, as Ms. Kassab-Daniken explains, specializes in the retail sales of high-end jewelry, focusing primarily on designer bridal lines, although Kassab also offers a variety of fashion jewelry and exclusive jewelry within these lines. Her business distinguishes itself from other jewelry companies by having exclusive rights to the designer lines that they carry, ensuring that customers will not find the same jewelry elsewhere. Kassab also develops its own customized jewelry, and because it is a family-owned business, it can offer fair pricing and provide the best jewelry and designer lines to accommodate almost anyone’s budget. Moreover, the business does not rely on a single sale to generate revenue for the year. Rather, it depends on many sales so that profit margins are more reasonable, allowing them to compete with online businesses. As president and CFO, Ms. Kassab-Daniken declares that her chief motivation is remembering, and still knowing, how proud her father was of the business that he, “a diligent and hardworking man,” built from scratch.
Recalling her family and business origins, Ms. Kassab-Daniken shared that each of her parents immigrated from the Middle East and met in Portland, Oregon, where they married 14 months after their introduction. The couple went on to have four children, including one girl, Ms. Kassab-Daniken, the one who helps her parents operate their business, and three boys. Each of Ms. Kassab-Daniken’s brothers, Rami Pierre Kassab, Danny Pierre Kassab, and Andrew Pierre Kassab, works successfully in the technology sector. Ms. Kassab-Daniken initially wanted to become a pediatrician, yet her father inspired her with his tireless work ethic and dedication to the family business. At first, seeking to find her own way in life before deciding later to join her father, she gained varied and invaluable work experience making deli sandwiches, and working at the front desk of a fitness club. When she ultimately started working with her father, she fell in love with watching him on the sales floor and building connections with people. She admired her father for being dynamic, fun, happy, and hardworking and for giving the business all his efforts. With pride and respect for his commitment, Ms. Kassab-Daniken is determined to work just as hard to uphold his legacy.
One of Ms. Kassab-Daniken’s most exciting career highlights was being named Top Jewelry Sales Consultant for Tacori Jewelry in 2013. As a reward for this achievement, she was given a complimentary trip to New York City and included in an article in Marie Claire, the magazine. Further, she counts being at the helm of Kassab Jewelers as her crowning accomplishment. Moreover, during the COVID-19 pandemic, after the downtown branch of her family’s business was vandalized, looted, and robbed, and six months later, the Lake Oswego branch was also robbed, Ms. Kassab-Daniken was able to guide her entire team to their most profitable year in 2021, despite the devastating events.
In the coming years, Ms. Kassab-Daniken’s “BIG Vision” for the near future is a standalone store to deliver a signature, one-of-a-kind experience as unique as the service and style they’ve always had. She wants to establish a magnificent showroom by merging multiple locations into a single flagship store. This 8,000-square-foot shimmering space will provide a complete range of unique jewelry, which will include the Kassab Legend Line and a menu of services such as insurance replacement, jewelry repair and manufacturing, and custom creations. Clients will continue to have the wonderful “Kassab Experience” of being treated with the utmost care and attention. As an added perk, they will be greeted with a unique experience, as each jewelry designer will have its own designated room. Couples who enter looking for wedding bands, for example, will be directed to a specific area where they can enjoy personalized consultation with their jewelry expert.
Ms. Kassab-Daniken’s career has taught her that a recognizable brand is earned with hard work and dedication. As a force and to honor Pierre Kassab’s legacy, her family works hard to preserve the legacy envisioned and crafted by Pierre, an immigrant who came to the United States looking for opportunities to help others and make a name that represented integrity and honesty. The Kassab family’s local company has become an integral part of the business landscape in Oregon, giving back to their adopted community, employing dozens of area residents, and making them a part of the family as Pierre always did.