What is That in Your Hand?: Reflexions of a Divapreneur

People ask me all the time how I got into designing hand bags and jewelry. Well, like most things in life, it’s a long story. But the short version is that I was at an exhibition one day when I found myself drawn to a particular stand where hand bags were being sold. What I really liked was the fact that all the bags were made from cloth. You have to remember that at the time, fabric hand bags were only just becoming popular. I ended up buying some of the bags but felt the pricing was a bit low, so to test my theory, I tried to resell a few. I ended up selling all of them with people asking for more. They were really beautiful and each one had a very distinct and unique style. Not long after, I traveled abroad with the hope of continuing to order bags to resell. However, I suddenly found myself up against brick walls that I had never encountered before. Strange vocabulary, like customs, duties, textile quotas, shipping and other similarly dreadful words suddenly crept into my everyday dictionary. I soon realized that my new found “open door”, had just slammed shut in my face. So I found myself at cross roads, as indeed those of us who call ourselves divapreneurs or entrepreneurs, are also at crossroads – being whether to give in, or trudge on hopefully as we stand by helplessly watching the world economy throw its tantrums.

But I think it does take a different sort of mindset to be able to look through all this to see some of the positive spin-offs of what’s going on. For tough times never come empty handed; they certainly bring with them the negatives, but also the positives, in the form of new opportunities, fresh ideas, etc. When I saw myself standing in front of a shut door with the bags, eventually I chose to rise to the challenge, and rather than just SELL bags, I decided to DESIGN bags. Easier said than done because I didn’t know anything about bags in the first place, and knew even less about designing, but we won’t go there right now, ‘cause it’ll mess up my story…

Anyway, that’s the bag thing, but when I first started making jewelry, my personal economy was in such bad shape that it took me seven months to save the $35 I needed to pay for the class. Then it took me another six months of saving before I could buy the tools I needed to actually take the class. I wish I could say it ended there, but it didn’t, because I began by taking a very basic jewelry class that was so badly taught that I had to take it twice before I could figure out what it was about. My first creation was what I called ”the ugly pink and pearl necklace set”. It was so ugly, that I hid it in one of my drawers as soon as I got home. After a few months, common sense prevailed and I figured, it didn’t really make any sense to have taken the class and not do anything with what I had learned. So I wore the necklace set one day and a colleague of mine happened to see it and asked me where I had bought ”that beautiful necklace”. When I told her that I had made it myself, she asked me to show it to her boss, a college professor who also happened to be a jewelry lover. Of course I didn’t, but eventually she did mention it. Not only did her boss like the ugly pink and pearl necklace set, but she immediately placed an order for jewelry and subsequently became my best customer!

Looking back now at how both bag and jewelry evolved, I realize that each began with either a challenge, a problem, or both, and it wasn’t so much the obstacles that had held me back, but the fact that I couldn’t look beyond them to recognize what I had in my hands. I learned a powerful lesson on how important it is to develop a mindset that matches the creativity because if I didn’t think I had something of value to offer, no one else would either and that if I could see it, then I could have it, regardless of the challenges and obstacles. But honestly, what gave me that extra push was also the fact that I would wake up in the mornings with this nagging feeling that I had something in my hands that I wasn’t using. I would look down at my hands, but the more I looked the less I saw, until I got on the internet one day and started researching the work of other artists and designers. I studied their different styles with the hope that this would somehow help me to discover mine. I also tried to learn new techniques and test ideas for designs, for both bags and jewelry.

Everyday I wake up, determined to keep walking, as I keep looking at my hands and wondering what is hidden in them that I haven’t yet recognized. It’s a never-ending journey and I’m on mine. What about you?

Edith Nkwocha is a hand bag/jewelry designer and fashion writer committed to promoting African Couture and African Haute Couture. Visit her website at http://www.bilotecouture.com for more info.