Meet My Fab New Friend Prerna!
Hey Fabs!
I made a new friend, and she lives half a world away. Her name is Prerna Gupta (@ivvankacreations on Instagram), and she is the founder and creator of the jewelry line Ivanka by Prerna Gupta (which you can see by visiting the link to her Etsy shop in her Insta bio), and she is in Uttar Pradesh, India. That’s a long way from Jersey, right? So here’s how we connected; we are both fans of each other’s creative content on Instagram. I felt like her jewelry was absolutely gorgeous, but it was also different. I kept going to her page and looking at her pieces, and it suddenly hit me; this jewelry has a story. So I reached out to see if I could find out a little bit more about her process. My hunch was right; Prerna had a story to tell.
Right off the bat, I discovered that, yes, her work IS different. First off, every single piece she sells is one of a kind. There are no two pieces of anything. If you’re looking for the same thing everybody else is rocking, you aren’t her girl. She is designing pieces for the person who is looking for the fun, the fancy, the modern, and the unique. You will not find anything like her work anywhere else either, because each piece is designed by her personally. She sources all of the raw materials herself and employs a host of skilled craftsmen in Delhi to manufacture them individually. Her one of a kind creations are not a gimmick or a cost cutting technique; she made the choice to focus on delivering a one of a kind collection after getting frustrated by seeing people with the same pieces over and over (ladies raise your hand if you can relate!🙋🏽♀️). As a result, she created a brand that leaves you more beautiful in a way that is totally specific to you (and also surprisingly affordable).
She is also very honest about the difficulties of the business. Marketing and retail representation has at times been challenging. And she’s honest about the lumps she’s taken while learning the ins and outs of jewelry design without anyone to guide her through. But with those lumps have come beautiful perspective. “I had to fall on every step and then learn something from every mistake, which definitely makes everything worthwhile”, she says. And that sticks with me. Because we all want instant success, but the success is only the reward that we earn through the hard work; translation - stop trying to avoid the lumps! Lumps equal lessons learned, which ultimately leads to success. She was so frank about entrepreneurship, noting that it has taught her “endless lessons”, especially being a woman in India who wants to be an entrepreneur. But she told me these beautiful words, words that will resonate with you no matter what your interests are. She said “I have learned to never give up; when the time is right things will work out for you.” And she points out the value in supporting others, even our supposed competitors, reminding us to “never get demoralized by seeing other’s work or what is trending. Don’t get upset by someone you feel is doing really well in comparison; in fact, start following them like you’re their number 1 fan!” She reminds us that we are our own best competition, we are our own motivators, and we have the power, even in spite of set backs and hard times, to accomplish what we want.
So like I said, Prerna’s jewelry line is gorgeous and you should definitely check it out. But more beautiful even than her jewelry, is the spirit of creativity, strength, and perservernce that you instantly connect to when you talk with her. She’s not just someone you should shop from; she’s someone you should know. Here’s hoping that you are as inspired by her words as I have been.
Stay Fabulous, lovelies! 💋
xoxO! Iman