Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Daria Dana. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Daria, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

After I had the idea for Zigleys, I took off running. With my family’s support and encouragement, I moved quickly and launched one year later. I had the concept in my head of a high-end, luxurious line of gold hair jewelry. I imagined it being like black Tiffany’s, whose branding I admire. First up was coming up with a name. I initially wanted to name the company Crown Jewel because the black community often refers to our hair as our “crown,” and I’d be making jewels for hair. It felt perfect!! But, there was a trademark conflict, and after honestly about a few weeks, I decided on the name Zigley. My dad has been calling me Zigley for years and always loved my natural hair- plus, the name was memorable and unique. It felt right.

In the process of coming up with the name, I was meeting with multiple different contractors and manufacturers. I was never a jewelry or fashion designer. I was just a woman with a vision. So, I did a ton of research about the industry and a ton of consultations to decide who to work with. I knew that I wanted my company to have a sparkling reputation and that I wanted to be known for our amazing quality and amazing client service, so the most important part of that is choosing the correct people and businesses to work with. I took my time with this, and I’m happy with where I landed.

I love our packaging manufacturers, videographer, and our actual goldsmiths who make the jewelry that I design and bring in to them, and I maintain close relationships with them so that I always know what’s going on and can keep an eye on the quality.

I worked a lot for the next year to fund the business and gradually kept putting the pieces together. Packaging, the website, the pieces, the content and brand identity, everything. I met with lawyers, accountants, and business experts to make sure that we were doing everything we were supposed to, that we were protected, and that we were going to be able to serve our future customers with integrity. As the year went on, the once blurry vision became clearer.

Now that I look back and reflect, I’m really proud of myself. It was a lot of non-stop work for the year, and I sacrificed quite a bit to make this vision a reality. I’m so proud of Zigelys and the growth it’s seeing, and I have big dreams for its future.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Zigleys makes fine jewelry for wear in locs, braids, and twists. My name is Daria, and I started Zigleys after putting in a piece of fake hair jewelry and wondering why it was the only piece of jewelry on my body that wasn’t real, despite my hair being the most important part of my body.

Fine jewelry uses precious metals and stones like gold and diamonds. Black people have been wearing jewelry in their hair for centuries, beginning with our ancestors in Africa. The large majority of hair jewelry on the market now is not fine jewelry. In fact, prior to creating Zigleys, I’d never heard of a fine hair jewelry brand. Most of what people are wearing today is disposable jewelry that looks good for a few weeks but then begins to tarnish and warp until you eventually throw it away.

That’s what makes Zigleys unique. The fashion world lacked a mainstream, luxury hair jewelry brand for wear in traditionally black hairstyles like locs, and we filled that space. We have a line of 10 pieces, all made using recycled 18-karat gold, and some of those pieces are embedded with diamonds.

People will no longer need to worry about their pieces diminishing in one month because fine jewelry can last you a lifetime and even be passed down through generations. Black hair is culturally significant in our community. For example, growing locs is a deeply spiritual journey for many people. For many black people, our hair is not “just hair,”; it goes much deeper than that. With Zigleys, people have jewelry that is worthy of the hair that we love and honor so much.

I’m incredibly proud of the impact we’ve had so far and the conversations we’re increasingly becoming a part of about black hair and its significance. I’m proud to introduce another luxury brand into the black space and have so many black professionals, creatives, and celebrities supporting it. Mostly, I’m proud that Zigleys plays a role in beautifying our already beautiful hair and is changing perceptions about our hair.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

After working on the business, my baby, for one year, it was finally time to show the world by opening the website and beginning to establish ourselves on social media. I was nervous for people to see it because it is, admittedly, a very niche product with a high price point that people were not used to. It was a little rough in the beginning reading some of the less supportive comments, to put it nicely. But I very quickly adjusted, kept pressing forward, and am no longer negatively affected by it. Instead, we’re focused on best serving Zigleys many supporters and our growing list of buyers.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Social media is so powerful. During our one-month social media pre-launch phase, we hosted a contest where we had people tag three friends under a post for a chance to win a diamond-embedded Zigleys piece. People were really excited for the chance to win this product that was new to most of them, and that contest created traction much more quickly than if we’d tried to do it organically. I know this because engagement decreased significantly when the contest ended.

It was great to see so many people interested in our product and sharing it. Furthermore, seeing someone you trust refer you to something creates trust in the brand. That’s part of why our best source for new clients has been word-of-mouth and user-generated content. Real people using real products is what pushes brand trust forward!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.zigleys.com
• Instagram: zigleys.co
• Facebook: zigleys.co
• Linkedin: zigleys
• Twitter: zigleys
• Youtube: zigleys.

Image Credits
Zigleys