We were lucky to catch up with Breyonne Parker recently and have shared our conversation below.

Breyonne, appreciate you joining us today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your business sooner or later

If I could go back I would’ve started the same time, because I needed the maturity I have now. I worked as a freelance designer for other companies but never my own. I got to a point where the amount of hassle wasn’t adding up to what I deserved and I took a break. I actually started B.Nefertiti Accessories as just a design company in 2014. I was at a point where I was using the skills I learned just to turn around and market myself to my classmates who weren’t as skilled. It was so good at a point I decided I just wanted to design for others. It wasn’t until about 5 years into another career I went back to my first love of designing. I started off with just Waistbeads after going through a spiritual journey and connecting to my roots. It wasn’t popular or really known yet outside of Africa. If I started sooner I’d probably be one of the biggest African waistbead retailers in the states . I’d design here and then have my manufacturer in Ghana replicate the design I want. A lot of people saw my beads in pics and would ask about them so much… I thought it’d be best to sell beads as a main product line. I don’t regret the time I started though because my journey is my journey. I learned in business timing is everything despite social media rushing us to believe we are missing out. I believe it was all apart of Gods plan for me. I enjoy making women feel powerful, beautiful and like a Queen. I enjoy adorning the kings too. I wasn’t who I needed to be now to own a company but I’m glad I am where I am

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I Breyonne Nefertiti, the Queen behind the brand B..Nefertiti Accessories. I went to graduated college as an accessory designer. I started B.Nefertiti back in 2014 and rebranded to B.Nefertiti Accessories in 2019. I specialize in authentic African waist-beads and cultural jewelry. I design in the USA and have all waistbeads made in Africa as they have been done there for thousands of years. I believe it is more sacred done this way. I got into waistbeads after going through my own ancestral journey of knowing my roots in the motherland. I wanted to connect women in the diaspora first to a line we’d been cut off from for centuries. I always knew of Waistbeads but it wasn’t until I connected back to Africa what they really meant. It was a connection that could benefit so many women outside of Africa. It’s another cultural entity that’d been stripped from us. I started to researching back in 2018 about benefits and usage of waistbeads in west Africa, I learned so much that I tested on myself with my weightloss journey. I realized how I was able to measure the loss and gain in my waistline In a way women had been doing for centuries. People took notice of the journey and it took off from their. I started helping women just like me connect to a sacred part of us through waistbeads. Not only was I helping women in the diaspora, I was also employing women in a small village in Africa. We continued to grow the connection into more cultural accessories with anklets, earrings and bracelets. All because adornments are important in Africa, it tells who we are, where we’re from and what our intentions are. I want anyone to know who purchase from Bnefertiti.com you’re not getting an item you’re getting a tribe and a piece of the motherland.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

What helped me build my reputation with waistbeads specifically was there wasn’t a lot of information about them. Women didn’t know what they were for or what a color meant or how to even tie them. I set out from the beginning to educate my tribe on the intentions and history of all my products. I don’t believe in doing things without intention which is what a lot of my tribe appreciates.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to learn with selling cultural and spiritual accessories I won’t appeal to everyone. When I started in 2019 I thought it anyone who a crop top would automatically want one but I was wrong. People thought it was just a fashion trend or voodoo. Someone flat out told me that the beads were voodoo because of the resemblance to protection beads. It was then I realized that everyone is not my target audience and that’s ok.

Contact Info:

• Website: Bnefertiti.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/bnefertiti_accessories
• Facebook: Facebook.com/Bnefertitiaccessories