ABOUT ELITE PERMANENT JEWELRY ACADEMY
Welding is the easy part. Building a permanent jewelry business that actually lasts is where most artists struggle.
That's the truth ELITE Permanent Jewelry Academy was built around.
How This Started
ELITE was founded by Sarah Melinda Jenkins (formerly Otto), who started offering permanent jewelry in her Texas beauty studio in 2018, originally as a "foot in the door" service to bring new clients into her existing beauty business. At the time, no professional permanent jewelry training existed anywhere. Sarah already knew how to weld (she grew up on a Texas farm where welding is taught in junior high and high school) and her beauty students started asking her to teach them.
There was no online permanent jewelry training in the world. Sarah built the first one and it became an overnight sensation.
She went on to train 3,000+ permanent jewelry artists globally, including students who have built million-dollar permanent jewelry businesses. Sarah co-founded and scaled LINKED Permanent Jewelry Training, one of the largest permanent jewelry training platforms in the industry, and helped shape the modern PJ training industry from its earliest days. After exiting LINKED, she saw the gap that has haunted this industry from the start: skill versus scale. Most artists know how to weld. Almost none know how to scale a real business around it.
ELITE is her answer to that gap.
The Industry Behind the Industry
Beyond training, Sarah consulted with Sunstone and Pepe Tools during the development of the Zapp, Zapp+, and Helix welders, the three machines that now power most of the permanent jewelry industry. The manufacturers sought her input on what artists actually needed from professional-grade equipment because she was the highest-volume buyer in the category and the artist most actively pushing the technology forward.
Almost no other permanent jewelry trainer can claim to have shaped what the industry's equipment became. Sarah did, before there was even a name for what this industry would become.
Who We Serve
ELITE Permanent Jewelry Academy is an online training program and business operations platform for aspiring permanent jewelry artists who want more than a how-to course. We deliver the training, tools, supplier relationships, and operational infrastructure most programs leave out.
What ELITE Delivers
Three structured training paths:
Discovery Training (free), Accelerated Training (full curriculum + ELITE Certification), and ELITE Business In A Box (everything plus custom branding, a professional website, and one month of GOLD VAULT Chain Center automation)
A 150+ page training manual
written by hand, no AI, covering pulse-arc welding technique, business legal setup, pricing, marketing, and client experience
Direct vendor partnerships
with Sunstone, Pepe Tools, LINK925 Italia, and Imprinted Supplies, where any artist can shop welders, chains, tools, and supplies directly through ELITE
The ELITE Vetted Vendor Magazine
featuring 18 curated permanent jewelry suppliers and $685+ in exclusive supplier credits, available exclusively to ELITE students and magazine purchasers
Welder kits
across the Helix (Pepe Tools), Zapp+ 2 (Sunstone), and Orion mPulse 2.0 (Sunstone) systems, all professional-grade pulse-arc welders
Unlimited lifetime support
from Sarah and our vendor partners (we are an approved provider for both Sunstone and Pepe Tools)
Common Questions
Who is Sarah Melinda Jenkins?
Sarah Melinda Jenkins (formerly Otto) is the founder of ELITE Permanent Jewelry Academy and one of the most established voices in the permanent jewelry industry. She co-founded and scaled LINKED Permanent Jewelry Training, helped shape the modern PJ training industry from its earliest days, and consulted with Sunstone and Pepe Tools during the development of the Zapp, Zapp+, and Helix welders that power most of the industry today. She has trained 3,000+ permanent jewelry artists globally.
What is ELITE Permanent Jewelry Academy?
ELITE is an online training program and business operations platform that teaches aspiring artists how to launch and run a profitable permanent jewelry business. We offer three training paths (Discovery, Accelerated, and Business In A Box) and integrate directly with VAULT Chain Center for ongoing operations and VAULT Collective for marketing.
What's the difference between ELITE, VAULT Chain Center, and VAULT Collective?
ELITE teaches you how to start and run your business. VAULT Chain Center is the software platform you run it on once you launch (POS, inventory, scheduling, payments, automation). VAULT Collective is the marketing agency that scales it once you're ready to grow beyond DIY.
Is permanent jewelry training worth it?
For most aspiring artists, yes. Professional training shortcuts the learning curve, helps you avoid expensive equipment and supplier mistakes, and gives you the business systems to start profitable instead of figuring it out as you go.
Why ELITE Exists
ELITE exists so you do not have to piece this industry together on your own.
It exists to help you build something intentional, profitable, and built to last.
— Sarah Melinda Jenkins (formerly Otto)Founder, ELITE Permanent Jewelry AcademyStill that girl from the Texas farm. Just with a much bigger toolkit now.