We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Runyaro a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Runyaro , thanks for joining us today. Can you tell us a bit about who your hero is and the influence they’ve had on you?

My parents are my hero. My parents are priceless. I wouldn’t change them for the world. Their heart is a pot of gold. I’ve learned a lot from them! They taught me to always have respect for myself, and to never let anyone take advantage of me. They taught me to always follow my dreams, and to never give up. They influence my journey by allowing me to be myself. They inspired me to never stop at close doors. My father has taught me to have tough skin! My mother has taught me to stay kind to others regardless of how bad the situation can be.

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 background and context?

My name is Runyaro and I am the founder of Runyaro. Runyaro is a high fashion brand that creates conversation pieces. I was born and raised in Detroit, has a diverse background that is unlike most luxury brands. Before founding my own brand, I was a singer and songwriter. My influence in my designs is directly from my experience, knowledge, and respect towards the music industry.

Runyaro, the brand is a contemporary statement in the luxury world to merge the world of music and fashion with elegance and class. I have a diverse team of designers, and artists based in Milan, Italy. I am a high driven woman that stops at nothing. My goals will always be met. I been an entrepreneur since middle school. My name means “Brilliant” in Swahili. Runyaro. I handcrafted my handbag designs since 2015. I handcrafted my fashion pieces inspired by music, and the power of unity that music could create.

I’ve always been into fashion, and music. Since I was little girl (Elementary to high school) I use to sell rings that I made for my classmates. I also will sing church solos every Sunday. I use to style my jeans all the time, and then made it a fashion trend. All the kids at school wanted me to style their jeans. That feeling was one of the best feelings of my life. Selling something you created is priceless, especially at that age. 4 years ago I created a handbag using hand-sewing techniques that I learned from working as a hairstylist. “My creative fashion music mind lead me to handcraft my authentic cassette tape handbags,” which are known today. Once I started wearing my handbag everyone started asking me where did I buy it from. From that day forth I knew I had something special. When I traveled to New York for the fashion week just to connect with people with no resources at hand (All I had was a dream, and I believed in myself!) a lot of New Yorkers loved my handbag! I didn’t know I would have received such amazing response. That moment I turned my creation/dream into a reality. That New York trip not only motivated me but birthed my brand. I told myself one day my handbags will be in the New York Fashion week. My prototype (handbag) that I had then, is now a mass produced product today. I love creating things that can change people lives in a positive way. I have great impact upon lives positively. Being a business woman is very rewarding in the end. It was hard for me to get where I am today, but I wouldn’t change my experience for the world, because God had a calling on my life to help others through my talents and creations. My business reflects my life. (A strong black woman that will never stop climbing to the top!)

All my handbags are made from scratch. I created an idea, my patterns, handles, and most of all a finish product. My handbags are made out of many different materials such as snakeskin, cow-hide leather, vegan leather, authentic cassette tapes of different music genres incorporated in front of the bag. My handbags can be worn anywhere and will always be a head turner. Because of my handbag being so unique, it is now a utility patent pending on it.

Solving my customer problems are the number one key factors to running my business successfully. The end result is to make them happy. Music connects people on a healing, and positive level. It can solve division among people, and also bring joy into people life. My handbags relate to all generations. Everybody is connected to music. Music is like a heartbeat to most people. When people see cassette tapes they instantly think of their childhood with a smile! Even the younger generation gets fascinated over my creations. It’s like an artifact to them that’s priceless. My brand uniquely meets their needs because I am recreated something that people grew up on. A lot people sweep their childhood memories under the rug, even when their happy memories. My business give them life in all positive ways. My handbags not only impacts a certain race, but it impacts the world! I’ve traveled all around the world, and I’ve gotten the same positive reactions and responses for my handbags.

My brand is a contemporary artisan brand that creates unique fashion statement items in hopes that my customers can freely adorn themselves with self-love expression in representation of my own uniqueness with elegance. The Authentic Cassette Tapes are made from my Musicnaire Collection. What is a Musicnaire? ‘Musicnaire’ is a word created by Runyaro which combines the two words Music + suffix ‘-(n)aire’ from the word denoting a millionaire/billionaire.
My interpretation of luxury is someone who is rich in the art of expressing oneself and to love oneself freely. I believe in denoting the concept of music as an asset, in that I define a ‘Musicnaire’ as someone who is fully immersed in music and who takes ownership in their own interpretation of music. My interpretation of music and its influence is not only a form of artistic expression but also an asset. Being rich and immersed in music means pure luxury. My original design pieces are designed in the spirit of self-expression and self-love. Made with the highest quality genuine leather, inspired by Florentine leather craftsmanship. I believe in elevating the emergence of fashion, music, and conversation pieces to the next level. My brand brings the new meaning to one of kind luxury fashion.

Do you manufacture your product(s)? Tell us the story of how you got started – did you already know how to manufacture the product? Did you have to find a vendor who could manufacture for you and if so, how did you find the right one? What lessons have your learned along the way about manufacturing a product?

My products are mass produced at this time. It took years to find a manufacturing company to produce my handbags. Because of the unique craftsmanship of my handbags, it literally had to be engineered before being made on the commercial machines. My handbag making was not an overnight success. It all started in 2015 when I created my handbags just with my ten fingers. I always knew I wanted to have them mass produced. This dream became a reality in the year of 2021. I did major research on trying to find the right company to produce my handbags. I literally reached out to companies in the states, and then eventually in other countries. This was a major challenge for me. I spent so much money on samples to see the quality of ideas that companies would come up with. Unfortunately, I didn’t retrieve that money back, but that’s how it goes when you are trying to find the right company to make your products, especially if half of the communication is just through phone calls and emails. You must invest in yourself. The COV-19 prevented me from traveling to see, and feel the samples, so I had to take a risk by spending my money to have samples shipped out to me. You must be patient when finding the perfect manufacturing company for your products. Finding the right vendor to make my handbags took years! Some companies wouldn’t even take my project because it was just too complicated to make! Everything happens for a reason and purpose. I knew the right company would come at the right time to create my handbag just the way it was supposed to be. I just had to be patient. Once I found the right manufacturing company it was one of the best feelings I’ve ever had in my life! That was a major accomplishment to me. They were able to not only create my handbag exactly the way I wanted it, but the quality was out of this world. I am big on high quality. Quality of a product can make and break your business. Having high quality was the number one priority in creating my handbags. The lessons I’ve learned along the way about manufacturing a product is to never give up if a company cannot produce your product, and always stay encouraged! Keep researching other companies because one of them will be able to produce exactly what you need! Always get samples before you decide to make a big order! Finally, make sure that the manufacturing company produces a high-quality product!

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I built my audience on social media by marketing my products all day and all night. I remember when Instagram first came out it was just about posting photos. At that time I would post a lot of product shots that I took. I would also shoot a lot of models with my products on. Once I was done shooting them, I would edit the pictures so they would look professional. Once the pictures were edited I would post them on my social media pages. I got a lot of responses from the pictures I would post. I would look at my competition in the fashion world, and see what was trending. I always wanted to do something that no one else done, so I would create products that wasn’t trending. By doing this it kept me ahead of the fashion game. It made my brand stand out even more. Most of my social media audience started sharing my photo and video posts. People sharing your posts can take your business a long way. You will be surprise! You never know who is looking at your products. Little did I know I had celebrities looking at my products online. Social media can change your life. You just have to keep marketing your products or service. You have to literally put it in their face! Don’t sit on your ideas! Let people see your products. Make sure the content you post on your social media stands out! It’s ok to be different! The world needs your ideas. Be free! Be You! There are a lot of free social media platforms that you can market your business on, USE THEM! Never take these platforms for granted. Trust me it changed my life, I know that it will change yours!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.runyaro.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealrunyaro/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Runyaro/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/runyarobrilliant/?trk=public_profile_browsemap
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUSQZ0JF1os
• Yelp: https://www.google.com/search?q=yelp+runyaro&rlz=1C1VDKB_enUS947US947&oq=yelp+runyaro+&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i512l2j0i22i30j0i10i22i30j0i22i30l5.3228j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
• Other: My business Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/runyaro/

Image Credits
Photo Credits: Chiara Marinucci, and Runyaro Brilliant.