We recently connected with Mareike Wehner and have shared our conversation below.
Mareike, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
As with probably most businesses, the start was not that I suddenly woke up one day and said ‘I’ve got it!’. It’s a little hazier than that, and I think many people especially int he creative field can relate to this. For me, silversmithing started with an evening course, where I made three simple stacking rings. My teacher Kim praised me, and as a people-pleaser, I not only enjoyed my results, but also that I obviosuly did well. Wanting more of this, i signed up to a 10-week course and I thoroughly enjoyed learning little snippets of techniques and the opportunity to let my creativity loose in a safe environment. However, after the 9th sessions, the first COVID lockdown was announced in the UK. In a moment of sheer desperation (what was I goign to do at home for the next, ahem, 3-4 weeks??!), and knowing that the postal services were going to slow down imminently, I ordered everything I needed, material and tools, to get started with silversmithing at home.
It was a bit of a leap from the class environment being all by myself, figuring out health and safety in my own home, but I soon became more confident. As lockdown went on, my jewellery collection grew and I started to feel I really wanted to shift it. It seemed like many things came together: previous experience trading online and at markets with a printing busienss that never took off, experience from a previous life that now came in handy for product photography, a need for distraction thanks to the world being on fire, and a want to connect with people over art that has always been there. And so I created a social media presence for byMaraca and listed my first items on Etsy.
Fast forward four years, today my brand is stocked by 5 shops, among them the Tate Liverpool which is a well known gallery in the UK, I am a regular trader at established markets in the region, I have my own website that hosts my online shop, and my profits get funnelled back into my business to develop more techniques and unique pieces of jewellery.
I still have a 4-day office job ‘on the side’ but the temptation to go full time with byMaraca in undeniably there. It’s not that I don’t want it, or don’t believe in it, but I enjoy having less pressure on my business and being able to learn while I still have a steady paycheck. Hopefully one day int he not too distant future, though, I will make the leap. I know I will never know everything, and there will always be reasons not to dare it, but the idea of being my own boss, and relying solely on what I love, is a voice that gets harder and harder to shut down… So stay tuned!
Mareike, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My business byMaraca offers traditionally silversmithed jewellery for not-so-traditional people. Mainly made from brass, recycled silver and bronze, all my jewellery is unique and sustainibly handmade for, well, me. By this I mean, I wouldn’t make anything that I didn’t want to wear myself. I might be inspired by trends, vintage items, the world around me, but I make all designs ‘me’. And by doing this, I hope the authenticity of each and every handmade piece shines through, and becomes a piece for ‘you’, too.
‘Me’ is Mareike, a 30-something living on the Wirral in the UK. I moved to the UK in 2016, having spent the first 26 years of my life in Germany. I’ve always been creative and studied art history, practical art, museology, fashion and English in Dortmund, Germany, before I set off to work in the publishing sector in Bristol, UK. Today, I have a 4-day job in Higher Education, but my weekends, Mondays and evenings are my own time, and much of it is spent on byMaraca. The actual making is maybe 30% of my time, the rest is ordering stock, social media, website work, planning, researching, markets, tax returns etc. Running a one-person business is hard work, but I wouldn’t have it any other way, and I’m incredibly proud of how far I’ve come in such a short space of time. One of my proudest achievemnts is surely that my jewellery is stocked in 5 beautiful, design-led shops up and down the country, with the Tate Liverpool, a very famous gallery, being the star in the lineup. I’m so happy to see that influencial shops recognise the want for sustainably made jewellery that is handmade from the first snip of the pliers to the last finishing polish, with minimal packaging to help the planet. But more than anything, I’m so happy to be part of the maker community, of the small biz world that is so supporting.
So just know, when you hear that small businesses do a happy dance with each order – we do! And by supporting small, you support real people, you help pay for the grocery shop, you inspire and give confidence for creativity. And you walk away with beautiful jewellery at the end of the day. If that’s not a win-win, I don’t know what is!
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
A lesson I had to unlearn was being cagey. Being concerned people would copy what I do. Seeing competition in everyone. I used to have a small busienss that sold prints, and (probbaly due to massive imposter syndrome) I felt that I had to keep everything close to my chest (so that no one found out I didn’t know what I was doing, how dare I charge for what I sell etc).
Turns out, this view is incredibly harmful, and mostly to yourself. I made myself feel alone, when really, there is a whole community of makers and traders that probably feel the same but are there to help and support you. Be vulnerable, show your face, connect with people, ask questions. You’d be surprised how being welcoming changes not only other people’s attitude to you, but also your own towards whatever venture you’re doing.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
A lot of businesses need a big investment to start off, I get that. However, sometimes you need less than you think.
Take silversmithing. By now, I have many tools, materials like silver and gold have shot up in price in the last 10 years, and there’s always more you could have.
To start out, I invested no more than £200 in a 10-week course and ca £250 in tools and materials. If you go at something creatively, someone’s trash can be your next tool. I didn’t want to ivnest in a £50 tool, so I looked around at what I already had and realised a cookie dough roller did the job perfectly. Yes, there are excellent pliers you can buy specifically for jewellery making, but the thrift store had a used pair for a fraction of the price, and it comes with history. I think not being precious about how someone says something ‘should’ be done is very important. Keeping an open mind or even setting yourself challenges can be very successful. And as the business grows, reinvesting and making those leaps will bring you forward.
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Image Credits
All taken by Mareike Wehner, 2021-2024