We were lucky to catch up with Briana Ali recently and have shared our conversation below.
Briana, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
So we all know how Florida is hot as hell, right? So let me paint a picture for you. Picture me as a little sophomore in College (really, I was little & looked like I was 14) sitting in the blazing hot 90 degree August heat set up at my first pop up market show. In that moment I realized how unprepared I was. There I was drenched in sweat, the only booth without a pop-up tent. I remember my friends sitting with me, one even brought an umbrella to create an inkling of shade. This was one of many lessons in self awareness. Preparing & organizing is a weakness of mine, but it didn’t stop me from starting a business at the age of 19. My name is Briana & I’m the founder and owner behind the jewelry brand, Bohindie Stream. I started my business out of my tiny dorm room about 9 years ago. I began by writing a 1 page “business plan” and taking $100 that I saved up to buy my first set of jewelry making materials. I didn’t know the first thing about making jewelry, so I can’t say it was a a hobby of mine that I was wanting to turn into a business. At the time, I was craving something unique to wear & express myself. I have a deep love for fashion and I had this vision of creating the jewelry that I couldn’t find. I’m a self taught artist and find joy in creating art. I carried Bohindie Stream as my side hustle through college and then came the day of graduation. What now? Was I going to dive all in on my small business and see what could come of it? Or take the safe route and get a job with the degree that I just worked so hard to earn? I quickly realized that I had found my passion so why waste anymore time in not pursuing it. I was willing to do everything it took to go full time with my jewelry line. I could feel the spark in my soul whenever I created art & got to chat with people about it. I always wanted my jewelry to be something more than just something cute & pretty. I wanted it to have depth, start conversation, and invoke contemplation. I weave stories within every jewelry piece that I create. There’s stories of lost love, the afterlife, first romance, and so much more written into each jewelry treasure. It brings me pure happiness & gratitude to be able to do what I love & share that with the world.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Briana and I started the online jewelry brand called Bohindie Stream in 2013. Bohindie Stream started when I was 19 years old and a college student and has since expanded into a world of jewelry creation with a strong online community and designs sold in over 200 stores across the world. I’m a self taught jewelry artist & I want to create a brand for people to wear art that expresses their soul’s colors & boosts their self confidence. Bohindie Stream was created for the restless dreamers that see the beauty in the small details that paint our lives. The jewelry is very celestial inspired with magical crystals. I’ve always wanted to create more than just beautiful jewelry ; I want to spark conversation, spread love, and create a feeling of being understood within my brand. Each and every jewelry piece holds deeper meanings/stories intended to relate to & connect with others in a thought provoking way. Bohindie Stream strives to be an imaginative escape within our daily lives.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
There’s the types of accounts that go viral from one posts and then the types that grow slow & steady one post after another. Can you guess what type I am? I’ve taken the more slow & steady route in growing our account organically. It has allowed me the time to really foster a genuine connection with my customers. I would say the key with social media is being transparent & posting consistently. Customers love to see the behind the scenes of the business & the parts that make you more real. I’d say it’s safe to say majority of people are “over” the highlight real aka highly curated social media feeds. As humans we are craving content that we can relate to & that is genuine. If you are now starting off with building your social media presence, I would definitely suggest focusing on video content over photo content. The algorithm is favoring video content and show it to more people which will ultimately help you organically grow. Another tip when it comes to growing on social media would be to collab with other creators, small business, influencers, and just people in your niche in general! Social media is a community where you have to put in the work to grow.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I think a big help to building my reputation in the jewelry space has been acting as a friend to my customers & creating unique designs that you won’t find elsewhere. A step further into creating out of the ordinary jewelry designs, is that I also weave stories into every jewelry piece. Each jewelry treasure turns into a piece of poetry visually & metaphorically.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bohindiestream.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bohindiestream/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BohindieStream/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC61gjsYkSxiTRhw6C6vX9xA
- Other: Tik tok- https://www.tiktok.com/@bohindiestream Pinterest- https://www.pinterest.com/bohindiestream/
Image Credits
Faith Danielle Photography Meraki Photography