We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Meena Osei-Kuffour. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Meena below.
Meena, appreciate you joining us today. Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?
People say its stressful to be a creative full-time or to be an entrepreneur. I somehow am both. Its been an interesting, frustrating, exciting, heartbreaking, happy, stressful journey. I left my full time job in the Fall of 2019 after finally throwing up the white flag. I said to myself, If I’m going to be stressed and unhappy, I might as well do it on my own terms. And I walked out. At the moment it felt exhilarating and then reality sets in. How will I pay my bills? How will I go to the doctor? Can I afford to only do this? Etc Etc Etc. Long story short, I think I am happier as a creative. I make my own schedule and am essentially the only one determining my fate. I see my family more, I walk my dog more, I enjoy nature more. But I often wonder how it would be to have a regular job again. To earn PTO and have a work/life balance. As an entrepreneur, I’m afraid there’s no balance. As a creative, you have to show an extreme level of restraint. There’s a lot of ups and downs that comes with this and the lows can be really really low. If you are someone who uses social media as a justification of your worthiness or if you’re someone who needs to see a certain dollar amount in the bank, it can get low. It’s really scary at times not knowing if you can afford your own lifestyle. But one thing I’ve realized is that if you keep going, keep creating, keep connecting and inventing; you’ll be fine. And I have been fine. And the times when I need help, I ask for it. I also keep a little PT job in my back pocket for emergencies.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
My name is Meena and I created the company The Vintage Royalty officially in 2019.
As a child, I was always really creative. Whether I was making sculptures, or drawing, or making jewelry; I always wanted more.
I started the brand out of college in 2008, by opening an Etsy shop online. The idea of the brand is to create unique statement earrings inspired by the past. We hope to expand into a lifestyle brand to include vintage, home, books, and more.
2008: I started making paper earrings which put the brand “on the map” as they say while I was living in New York City. I received a lot of feedback in those first years, and tried to connect with as many people as possible. People smarter than me, more savvy. I got several internships while I was there. One, was with the company Opening Ceremony where I was a design assistant. Mostly, I just ran errands. The good thing about this job was I was able to know all the good manufacturing companies in the city. I found the best fabric stores and the most unique vintage shops while working there.
2010-12: One company called Canal Plastics is where I was sent one day. And I walked in and saw a lot of remnants of acrylic in geometric shapes. And a little lightbulb went off in my mind, because I realized these acrylic pieces were the same as the paper creations I was making with the earrings. I learned how to drill and how to order the acrylic pieces, and to make a long story short, the brand was born.
2016: After NYC, I moved back to Chicago and essentially had to start over with brand awareness. I did this by going to different vendor and art markets and giving a lot of jewelry away to influencers and artists in Chicago. I reached out to people that were smarter than me (again), that knew the ins and outs of the Chicago boutiques. And slowly I made connections with these boutique owners to carry my jewelry in their shop. It’s a very humbling experience to have to admit you don’t know what you’re doing. And to reach out to people that do. I’m thankful that I was able to meet so many great people in the city, and I thank them every chance I get for carrying my products in their store. I’m most proud of my resilience. This industry can be brutal and unforgiving. I”m happy I haven’t given up on my dream.
I want fans and future customers to know how much their support means to me. Without them, I don’t know if I would still be doing this. I hope they’re ready to grow with me and experience all the different aspects of my creativity.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
As a kid, I think I wanted to be a famous designer or artist. I always thought about all the different things I could make and sell and all the people I would reach. I think as an adult part of that dream remains. I get so excited when I see people wearing my jewelry or commenting about how the design made them feel. Its been extremely rewarding for me to hear those thoughts from my customers. I think they are the ones driving me to do better and be better. They are the ones that I think about when I’m designing or when I’m conceptualizing a new idea. And I want to grow the company and the concept into an experience & into a lifestyle that all of the customers can see themselves in.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
A lot of people are surprised at how long I’ve been making jewelry. I opened my Etsy shop in October of 2008. I came up with Vintage Royalty over 15 years ago which is absolutely crazy to me. I can’t believe that I’m still doing this, but it shows me that I haven’t given up on this dream. It shows me that I believe in something and am passionate about its growth. In a way, I feel it’s my baby that I’ve seen grow up into a responsible teenager. LOL. I feel that in order to successfully sell your creative works, you kind of have to be obsessed with it in the way a parent is with their first born. You put so much energy and money and love into it, that the one thing you want to see is the success of your efforts.
In 2020, I hired a marketing company that promised me a new website, brand image, and wider customer base. Unfortunately, none of those things happened. Instead, I paid them several thousands of dollars to create a WordPress website that required monthly technical maintenance and my website crashed. I had nothing left after that disaster, and had to send all my customers to Etsy while I rebuilt my website for a 3rd time. It’s something that I still haven’t recovered from, but you have to keep going in order to turn a bad situation into a good one. So I keep going….
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thevintageroyalty.com
- Instagram: @vintageroyalty
- Twitter: @vintageroyalty
- Other: Pinterest: https://pin.it/56ZX9gM
Image Credits
Meagen Shuptar photographer Meena Osei-Kuffour for Vintage Royalty