We were lucky to catch up with Mitaali Nanda Vohra recently and have shared our conversation below.
Mitaali, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?
I truly believe creativity is born through stillness alongside the courage to err, make mistakes and learn as we go. Being a jewelry designer, entrepreneur and creative director at a jewelry house means having to express myself creatively all the time. Be it helping clients make their selections, working on new collections and constantly innovating – I keep my creativity alive through an ongoing conversation of beautiful gems that are designed to become wearable art. I also am open to experimenting and creatively express myself through modeling my own pieces.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
An alumni of GIA and Sotheby’s Institute of Art, I am the second-generation of a renowned jewelry house in India, that has dedicated 25 years to reviving beautiful Indian artifacts seen as far as the era of the ‘Maharaja’ (Royalty) dynasties. One of the driving factors in finding my feet in the business, was to come up with affordable, every day fashion that celebrated rich Indian heritage with a contemporary modern-world aesthetic. It was also imperative for me to keep service and direct-to-consumer retail at the core of the brand’s value – something more magnanimous than myself, motivating me to grow the business. I believe personal touch goes a long way as far as luxury is concerned. A lot of this business is based on trust and a feeling of belonging. I recognized that there are a lot of places one could go to procure a beautiful piece of jewelry, but how one feels while buying it is what makes the purchase extremely special. This is when I thought of starting a luxury concierge service for designer jewels using my flair for fashion and understanding of jewelry. The concierge service, is a vertical integration of the mother brand, and lends itself to – knowing your client and their requirements, customizations, helping them style the products and delivering a satisfying retail experience till the very end. I strive to maintain a creative balance while developing personal relationships with each client, breaking the distant, commercialized bubble most sought after designers have propagated. The brand has always kept CSR at the core of its activities, from supporting NGO’s and their causes to bringing awareness to the workmanship behind each design. An average of 17 to 20 trunk shows in India and worldwide, along with designer meet and greets, ensure that we are able to reach a diverse population while keeping community at the heart of the business ethos. We are very excited to be bringing yet another round of our fall shows to cities all over the US.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
After being in the industry for over 10 years, I do believe knowledge is power and have benefited greatly by my education. From gaining all the technical know-how about diamonds and gemstones at Gemological Institute of Art to finding myself fascinated by the world of art and learning all about the business of Art through my masters at Sotheby’s – I have only stood to gain in my career journey.
I have also benefited from reading. I enjoy reading about the many greats of American jewelry from Cartier to Van Cleef as well as following the auction world very closely.
Lastly I do feel the ability to sell a product is the only skill you truly need to be a successful entrepreneur and for me this has been everything in my journey.
How would you describe your ideal client?
We have a huge product range and our ideal client is any one with an evolved taste, especially patrons of art that are well versed with the concept of wearable art!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.shopthebohemian.com
- Instagram: Mitaalinandavohra
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