It’s hard to say whether her persona as president of one of the state’s most well-known jewelry stores is who she is or if the horsewoman is the person sitting in the chair on the other side of the desk. Since she assumed the position as president of the jewelry store, purchasing the business from her mother, Sami Jack, there is strong evidence she is combining both her loves into her world.

“I woke up one morning and said, ‘Mom, I love horses,’” Bjorkman said. She wasn’t yet six-years-old, but she held on to that love she felt when she was a little girl. She began riding when she was six and hasn’t stopped since. She is now 33.

Bjorkman is passionate about her horses, as well as her business, and she is successful in each. She is low-key and high-energy, but it’s the laid back part you see.

“My horses are a lot cheaper than a psychologist,” Bjorkman said. “When I am riding, it breaks my day apart. It gives me something to focus on that isn’t stressful.”

Horses may be the catalyst for Bjorkman’s life journey. When she announced her love for horses to her parents, she began taking lessons, working with horses, spending as much time as she could at horse camps and ranches. She was on the rodeo queen circuit for six years, participating in Miss Rodeo Arizona, Parada del Sol, Country Thunder and other events. She was first runner up in the Miss Rodeo Arizona contest one year and the Country Thunder event another.

“I was always a bridesmaid, but never a bride,” she said. “But what I learned doing that has helped me in every aspect of my life.”

A major tomboy, Bjorkman had help “learning how to be a lady.” Former Fountain Hills resident Joan McGivern, who herself was a model, taught Bjorkman modeling, poise, grace. The rodeo queen life also gave her experience as a public speaker, horsemanship, interview techniques and competing.

Bjorkman also attributes her love for horses to her affinity for responsibility.

When she told her father she wanted a horse, he told her no. She decided she needed to change his mind.

“When I was eight or nine, after my dad had told me I couldn’t have a horse, I decided I had to prove to him I needed a horse,” Bjorkman said.

She put together a “huge” spread sheet, on poster board, showing all the details she could about owning a horse – how much I needed to buy a horse, how much it would cost to feed him and board him. All kinds of stuff.”

After a convincing presentation, her father agreed to the horse. Bjorkman said she ended up buying her first horse – a one-eyed Appaloosa named McCoy.

“To show you what a good sales person I am, I bought McCoy for $600, and after he was going blind in his good eye, I sold him for $2,600,” she said.

The lessons just keep coming.

“All my life I have worked with horses, grooming them, taking care of them, cleaning them, cleaning up after them,” she said. “It’s all I wanted to do. It gave me tremendous focus.”

She says she would encourage parents to listen to their children’s dreams when they are young; those wishes could become their greatest passion and the path to their success.

Bjorkman spends as much time as she can with her horses, Tom and Hitch. She competes in reining horse shows throughout California and Arizona.

Reining is an exacting sport. The athlete – the horse – and the rider must be on the same page to do well. Her horses know that, and as the rider, she knows what she has to do as a member of the team.

“I found a passion that really has inspired me,” she said. “Horses are my passion and my drive, but I have been able to take those things and use them in business. It makes me happy.”