Library Champions: Zachariah Turpin, Jackson Hole Jewelry Company

"Libraries are honest institutions that assume the best of everyone who walks through the door." For Zachariah Turpin, that belief captures much of what he values about both libraries and community.

Born in Jackson Hole and raised in a family of entrepreneurs, Zachariah spent much of his childhood on the road as his parents pursued new ventures around the country. This was the pre-screens era, and he and his sister would pass the time reading Choose Your Own Adventure books, including the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, and especially the Guinness Book of World Records.

Today, Zachariah's reading habits look a little different. As Founder and Creative Director of Jackson Hole Jewelry Company, his bookshelf is filled less with fiction and more with books on business, leadership, and growth. “I interact with knowledge differently now,” he says. 

He describes himself as someone constantly searching for new knowledge and perspective and defines a knowledge pie chart as "One percent is what we know, one percent is what we don't know, and ninety-eight percent is what we don't know we don't know.”

That curiosity has shaped both his career and his approach to leadership. 

After returning to Jackson Hole with his wife, Shari, in 2010, Zachariah joined the family gallery business. In 2013, he and Shari opened Jackson Hole Jewelry Company, building the business around two guiding principles: quality and service.

Zachariah believes local business owners have a responsibility to be thoughtful stewards of the local economy through the way they welcome visitors, support employees, spend locally, and invest in community organizations. He believes that building a successful company and supporting his community happen side by side, drawing from shared resources and a sense of gratitude for the place that makes both possible.

"The valley made the company," he says. "It's not giving back because it was never ours to begin with." 

That philosophy has led him to support a variety of causes, including health and human services organizations, animal welfare, and children's charities. It is also what drew him to support the Teton County Library Foundation & Friends. Zachariah believes strong communities depend on stable, growing, thoughtful institutions, and that’s exactly how he views the Library.

As an Emerald Sponsor of the Annual Library Benefit, Zachariah’s support is about more than writing a check; it is about meaningful engagement and strengthening the library’s programs, services, and opportunities that benefit people across Teton County.

That same philosophy also guides his business.

Every day, visitors and locals walk into Jackson Hole Jewelry Company searching for something meaningful: a reminder of a place, a milestone, or a moment in their lives. The pieces they take home often become keepsakes passed from one generation to the next. In many ways, libraries do something similar. They help preserve knowledge and stories that endure.

By supporting the Library Foundation and Friends, Zachariah Turpin and Jackson Hole Jewelry Company are helping to ensure that Teton County continues to be a place where knowledge, like the finest jewelry, is built to last.