Member Spotlight: A Golden Opportunity for Sunnyvale Wells Fargo Business Owner 

Bay Area Council member Wells Fargo serves more than 3 million small business customers. Priya Vasan of Sunnyvale is one of those small business customers.

Her kids call her the Kamala Harris of business. Like Harris, the country’s first South Asian vice president, Vasan is a pioneer. Both near her Bay Area store in Sunnyvale and in her native South India, women-owned jewelry stores are remarkably rare. Vasan, a seasoned jewelry saleswoman with over a decade in the industry, was already buying products, developing long-term client relationships, and making millions’ worth of sales each year. In 2019, she felt the “spark” to go out on her own.

Vasan walked into a Wells Fargo office in Santa Clara, California, in December 2020 to make a transaction, but walked out with a contact who put her in touch with Geetha Natraj, a regional business relationship manager, who could help her get the business loan she needed to open Priya Jewelers. Natraj’s intrinsic understanding of Indian culture and its importance to Vasan’s business model was crucial. Natraj worked with a Small Business Administration (SBA) business development officer to coordinate with the SBA to secure its guarantee for Vasan’s loan.

“I feel powerful as a business owner,” she said. “I feel like you can do anything with hard work and if you believe in yourself, and I completely, completely, truly believe in myself that I can make a successful business.”

Vasan is about to celebrate the first anniversary of her fine jewelry store. Read about Priya’s story and how Wells Fargo helped her go out on her own and start her own small business.

To submit a Member Spotlight, please contact Chief Membership Officer Kirsten Vernon.