March 28, 2024

One young female business owner’s journey of self-acceptance in 2020

The fact was, since late 2018, Georgia had been running her own jewellery business;House of Bijou, solo, and relied upon her regular income to keep it afloat.

“When you run asmall businesson the side, your full-time job is what you rely on to keep it going,” she explains, “At first I was absolutely devastated but I thought- actually this could be the opportunity I needed to put all my efforts into my business and be able to really push it forward and have that time to dedicate to it. It was a blessing in disguise. ”

Georgia Thomas, 25, lost her job in HR at the beginning of lockdown.

“It was obviously a massive shock. You have to tell yourself not to take it personally, but it’s still so hard,” she says, “You feel like your whole world has come crashing down. ”

Georgia decided to start the brand after a trip to Paris with her boyfriend inspired her. She studied fashion buying at university, so was well versed in how to start a business. Nevertheless, it’s impressive that she was- and still is- able to run the whole operation single handedly.

“It’s literally just me! And until a couple of months ago I was doing this part time so it was a lot of early starts and late finishes,” she says, “I would love to hire a team though! Because right now I am doing everything – from photography to packaging! ”

The work that went into the brand – from hours of research, a lot of her own money and days of solo (wo)man power – are finally paying off, no doubt aided by the renewed focus lockdown has given her. She launched a collection in support of MIND charity over lockdown- inspired by her own mental health struggles and how in awe she was of the work the charity does.

“I am now working on my own designs as well which I should be able to get out within the next 5 months and that will make me feel really unique,” she says, “For me, it is about giving women confidence- the feeling they can take on everything. That is what it gives me. ”

Whilst her unexpected unemployment was the catalyst for real brand expansion; 2020 has taught Georgia other lessons as well.

“Growing up I have dealt with a lot of racism – especially growing up in Essex which is a predominantly white area,” she says, “The first time I heard the N word was when I was in primary school and someone came up to me in the playground and called me that. I was told they couldn’t play with me because I had brown skin. That stuff really does affect you. When you are being judged at five years old because of the colour of your skin- that trickles through to adulthood massively, when you are the only person of colour on the team. ”

The legacy of her experiences with racism came to a head when deciding how to market her brand.

“When I was starting I thought about it a lot and I really thought- because of all the prejudice I faced- are people going to not buy from me because of the colour of my skin? I didn’t want people to think that. I hid behind my business from day one. ”

But this summer, and the resurgence of Black Lives Matter, changed all of that.

“I had to sit down and really understand what I am doing and think about what my brand stands for. I’ve created this brand that I am so proud of- but I don’t want anyone to know it’s me. If it is all about confidence but the person who started it doesn’t have the confidence to really put her name to it- what does that mean? ” she says, “. My whole life I have never found my voice and lockdown has made me learn to love myself a little bit more and has given me the confidence to speak out. When you see others doing it, it really helps you to do it. Now I really feel like I have to stand up and not be afraid. ”

Now Georgia’s brand, with her proudly at the helm, is surging onwards. With her own lessons learnt during lockdown, she has this advice for any young woman keen to start a business now- particularly women of colour.

“Just never worry about what other people think of you. Stay persistent and stay true to yourself. ”

One thought on “One young female business owner’s journey of self-acceptance in 2020

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