Meet our Staff

Daniel Kessler

Daniel is the new bear in our Internet Department cave. He has come roaring into the company redesigning, restructuring, and reformatting the Mama’s Minerals web site product inventory and marketing. All the fancy new products you see on the web site are his doing, and we are excited to welcome the changes he has initiated.
 
Daniel brings to Mama’s an extensive work history and lots of experience in the marketing world. Boasting two Master’s degrees in Marketing and Strategic Planning, his last job was based in Dubai, UAE working for a national consumer goods company. His primary goal for the Internet Department is to bring our web site to one of the top ten web sites in the world for our industry—a commendable goal that we wholeheartedly support!

In his spare time, Daniel enjoys human-powered outdoor sports. He is also an accomplished home brewer, and has won state and regional competitions for his creative beer concoctions. Daniel’s favorite items in the store are the quartz skulls, because they remind him of the ancient Meso-American skulls of the Aztec and Mayan cultures.

Alberto Ortega

Alberto joined our team the middle of last year (2010). A valuable member of the team, he was recently promoted to Events Coordinator and now oversees all of Mama's classes, workshops, field trips, birthday parties and other special events.

To Schedule an Event:
Alberto Ortega
Events Coordinator
Mama's Minerals
505-266-8443
events@mamasminerals.com

Alberto is also a family man and an active member of the community. Social justice and human rights are very important to him. Alberto has a part time job teaching parenting classes with Enlace Comunitario, a social justice organization, and works with El CENTRO de Igualdad y Derechos, the only Latino immigrants’ rights organization based in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

For fun and as an artistic outlet, Alberto performs and teaches Aztec dancing. His group has performed at the Smithsonian Institute, the Kennedy Center and countless other performance spaces. Alberto's group not only teaches the art form, but also the history, tradition, and culture behind the dance, through free and low cost Aztec dance classes and workshops.

Amanda Rice

Amanda is Mama’s Minerals’ resident geologist.  Hailing from a long line of geologists, miners, assayers, and rockhounds reaching back to her grandfather and great uncles, it was only natural for Amanda to become a part of the Mama’s Minerals family after graduating from UNM with a BA in Geology. Amanda’s father instilled in her a passion for the earth at a young age on camping trips in her native Colorado.  

In her spare time she loves mountain biking, long distance running, reading and cooking. Her favorite place to run is still in those beautiful Colorado mountains where she grew up.

Amanda teaches our kids' geology classes and hosts our birthday parties. She loves children and is thinking of one day becoming a science teacher. Amanda is welcoming her first child this June and all the Mama’s Minerals’ staff is excited for her to bring her little one to work. Her favorite store items are the globes with countries of inlaid stone.

Diana Romero

Diana is our rock, metaphorically and literally. Our Head Cashier, Diana is always at the cash register ready to greet and help everyone. She is the go-to woman when any employee has a question and in her five years of service to Mama’s Minerals customers, she has accumulated quite a lot of stone knowledge.

Growing up, Diana was always an enthusiastic rockhound and beader, which is what brought her to work at Mama’s Minerals. She also has a soft spot for marbles and spheres, with quite a sizeable collection at home.

Diana can be seen always wearing a pendant of her favorite stone, Black Tourmaline. In her spare time she likes to relax, watch movies, and enjoy her two beautiful granddaughters who have been known to call her their "Queen."

Taylor Roth

Most people see Taylor and think he is a rock star (he is to us), but this interesting character is actually the newest edition to the Mama’s Minerals sales floor. Recently having moved back to Albuquerque from New York City, Taylor was drawn to work at Mama’s Minerals because he loves rocks and fossils. He has fond memories of collecting rocks while growing up in Los Lunas, NM, and his favorite thing in the store is the Ammonite Fossils.

Aside from living in the Big Apple, Taylor has studied cinematography and has worked on such notable sets as Indiana Jones, Transformers and Breaking Bad. He can often be seen riding his electric green bike to and from work, so please keep an eye out for him! In his spare time Taylor likes to rock out on his vintage Rickenbacker 4003 bass guitar, draw, make screen prints, and listen to his sizeable record collection. 

Steve Sanders

Steve is our web wiz in the Internet department. Initially hired to rebuild the old Mama’s Minerals web site, Steve oversees ongoing web site development and assists with marketing, web analytics, search engine optimization, web site content, technical support and other Internet-related tasks. This month (June 2011) is his two-year anniversary with Mama’s Minerals, and he loves the creativity and variety of projects and tasks he works on in his day-to-day operations. His favorite things in the store are the inlaid Earth globes and fantastic mineral specimens.

Steve rides his bicycle to and from work nearly every single day. He estimates that he saves 1 1/2 - 2 tons of carbon emissions pollution every year by commuting, shopping and running errands by bike. Please watch out for him and the many other bike riders on the road, as an increased number of cyclists have suffered deaths and serious injuries in Albuquerque this year as a result of drivers not paying attention or respecting the rights of cyclists. We value him very much.

In his spare time, Steve likes to take long workout rides on his bike, hike, bird watch, throw boomerangs, write, and spend quality time with his son Jonathan.

Yvette Sandoval

Some might say that Yvette is the mother of every rock and bead that comes through the doors of Mama’s Minerals. She has purchased, inventoried, weighed, and priced nearly every item in all three stores. As the heartbeat of Mama’s staff, it's very important to Yvette that she help each employee find their niche to blossom. A strong believer in education, not only has Yvette studied biology at UNM, she encourages all her staff to seek further education and is eager to teach employees new things about our business every day.

Though Yvette knew very little about the rock and bead business when she started with Mama’s in 1996, she is now the ultimate reference. Her excellent management skills can no doubt be attributed to her years of mothering her two fabulous kids, now teenagers. Yvette spent her early years at Mama's teaching kids' classes and running our kids' geology outreach program.

In addition to making jewelry, Yvette loves to read, dance, travel, and cook. (We like her to cook, too.)  She is very involved in her neighborhood and church communities, and her favorite store items are Selenite and Copper in any shape or form.