Ronit Kopel, widely known as Ronit Yam, finalized the sale of her jewelry company on Sept. 20 — the same day her daughter and business partner, Shai Kopel-Pliner, went into labor. The agreement transferred 51 percent of the brand to Terminal X CEO Nir Horowitz for about 17 million shekels, not including special bonuses.
Hours after the contract was signed at Shai’s home, her water broke. As Israeli media reported on “the Ronit Yam exit” the next morning, Shai was already nursing her newborn. For Kopel, 57, the sale capped a tumultuous year in which she became a grandmother, finished building a home in Costa Rica and said she fulfilled her long-held ambitions for the brand she built from the sand up.
Kopel’s journey began far from the tropical beaches of Central America — on the northern cliff shore of Tel Aviv. In her early years, she was known as a young mother and surfer selling handmade metal, wood and shell jewelry from a small box she carried along the beach. Her distinctive style eventually drew international clients including Madonna, Beyoncé, Lenny Kravitz, Michelle Obama, Caroline Kennedy, Nancy Kissinger and Dalia Rabin.
Born in Bat Yam, Kopel is the eldest of three children. After her army service in the Defense Ministry office under then–Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin, she became operations manager at the Intima fashion chain. She later studied sports therapy and worked with at-risk youth before opening a private preschool she eventually closed.
Her shift into jewelry began in 2005, when a medium told her to “spread the thread of light” hanging from her neck. At the time she wore a leather cord with a small silver fish she had cut and shaped during a women’s desert expedition. Dozens of participants asked for one, prompting her to study silversmithing in Ramat Hasharon. A meeting with Maya Zilber of Dolphin Reef inspired dolphin-tail pendants, which Kopel sold successfully on the beach with her infant son strapped to her chest. Her daily earnings grew from a few hundred shekels to thousands.
As demand grew, customers saved her number as “Ronit Yam,” a nickname that stuck. She later married her husband, Sagi, a surf-loving contractor she first saw in a bar at age 24. Their daughter Shai was named after a dolphin that brushed against Kopel during pregnancy.
Six years ago, Kopel developed Bell’s palsy, waking one day with partial facial paralysis. She spent months undergoing treatment and said the condition stemmed from stress from managing home, family and a rapidly expanding business. A slight asymmetry remains.
Shai returned from a post-army trip to Australia during that period and found her mother struggling. At the time, more than 100 customers a day were arriving at their dead-end residential street, prompting neighbors to sue over the traffic. After the family moved, Shai stepped in to manage operations, allowing her mother to focus on design. She built a customer-service system, expanded digital operations and launched a clothing line, SENSAE. The company grew from seven employees to 35 within two years.
The family experienced renewed tragedy in October 2023, when Shai’s closest friend, Noam Shalom — also the company’s social media manager — was killed in the Nova music festival massacre. In the following weeks, Kopel and her daughter sent hundreds of dresses, tops and jewelry pieces to evacuees from Kibbutz Be'eri and Nir Oz. Families of victims sought to memorialize loved ones with the pieces they had worn. Kopel said the company accepted no payment.
Former hostage Omer Shem-Tov visited them in Costa Rica and told Kopel he had been abducted wearing one of her necklaces. He said the abductors returned it to him on the day of his release.
Two months into the war, Kopel and her husband flew to Costa Rica. Her grandmother had recently died, leaving each grandchild 20,000 shekels. Kopel used the money to fund the trip, which she described as deeply restorative. The couple later purchased 18 dunams of land and completed a home with a pool painted with a giant dolphin tail. Kopel said the business sale cleared the family’s debts, allowing them to live part time in Costa Rica. Shai has since purchased a home in Greece.
In early 2025, the brand opened a lifestyle store at the WIX complex in Glilot, with more locations planned. Kopel said the partnership with Terminal X will help expand internationally, citing the company’s resources and e-commerce capabilities.
Throughout her career, Kopel has described herself as independent and determined. She often wears a pendant shaped like an orca tail as a personal emblem of strength. “The orca is me,” she has said.
First published: 10:50, 11.30.25