Entrepreneurship also takes place at places where you would least expect it. For example, in the InterCityExpress train while Aricha Okute commutes between her Berlin apartment and Helmut Schmidt University in Hamburg. In the Hanseatic city, the daughter of a half-German, half-Ukrainian mother and a Nigerian father works towards her PhD at the department of business administration, with focus on organization theory. Her dissertation on the development of enterprise networks, exemplified by the German rap and the German music industry, is in full work.

Creations from the bedroom office

On evenings and weekends, academic word chains and pretty beads wrestle over table space in Aricha’s combined bedroom and office. With the jewelry starts the entrepreneurial part of Arichas working day, sometimes already on the train, working on her laptop.

At 8 years of age, Aricha had short hair, but she didn’t want to be mistaken for a boy. So she sought after something nice for the ear. Her mother sent her to a jewelry store in Wilmersdorf, where customers can design their jewelry themselves – and all of Aricha’s pocket money was used up at once. Years later, she worked at that very jewelry store and learned a lot about materials supply and contact with customers.

Entrepreneurship with something aesthetic

As a creative counterweight to her business degree, 9 years ago, Aricha founded her own label, which now bears her surname: Jewelry by Okute. For her label Aricha designed with semiprecious stones, pearls and mother-of-pearl, with wood and horn, with glass beads and crystals as well as with closures of sterling silver – anything that is timeless. Of central importance for Aricha is quality that lasts long and is worth its price. Even years after buying, customers may return their pearl necklace to get it redone. And when something new is to be created from existing parts, Aricha can turn the old stuff into a new piece of jewelry.

Creative basics

Aricha gets her inspiration from the material itself, from fashion magazines, blogs and through cooperation with fashion designers. Sometimes her customers have specific inquiries. Arichas overall aesthetic claim is timelessness: her work shall not be subject to the whims of fashion. That makes her jewelry outlast many a fashion trend cycle.

Control by direct selling

Up until now, Aricha relies on direct selling. Production for her own label has the advantage that Aricha may work at her own pace and doesn’t have to bring new collections on the market regularly. What’s more, through her personal contact with customers, Aricha can better explain with all her knowledge of materials and workmanship to her customers what a high-quality piece of jewelry they’re looking at. So far, Aricha’s experiences with distributing through retail stores were below expectations. Same with online sales: photographs only convey that much and make the value of the material difficult to comprehend. Customers should be able to try, feel and experience the jewelry. Nevertheless, Aricha is planning new launches.

Small parts, big experience

For over 15 years now, Aricha Okute has been working with jewelry. She knows customers, dealers and relevant trade fairs. Entrepreneurship can take many forms, such as this one: professionalizing one’s passion, organizing marketing and sales – and all of a sudden business is growing and prospering on the grounds of experience and success. All future options included.

[April 2015]