I’ve been making jewelry since I was a young girl. As I got older and experimented with more styles, I discovered what I liked and how to make pieces that looked cute but also lasted a long time. I distinctly remember reading about a girl who paid for college by selling her handmade jewelry on Etsy. Inspired, I begged my mom to let me open my own Etsy shop. She said no. Story of my life.

I got myself my first phone in December of 2017 and I started taking pictures of my jewelry on a foldable table with a faux wood background because I thought it would look nice. Once I figured out how to use Instagram, I posted all of the photos I took, all at once, with no captions, something my friend later told me I shouldn’t have done. I now know to post consistently and at a steady pace to spread my content out over a longer period of time, but was I excited to start sharing what I make.

I continued posting what I made and sold pieces to people in school. I had a lot of custom orders and I did this until I graduated high school at the end of May 2019. By June I had opened my Etsy shop without my mom knowing. I created a few listings and a few months later my old history teacher was my first order.

Deciding to give my long-time hobby an official name, I asked for ideas for business names on my Instagram stories. Someone suggested that I use a name that reflected my actual name and Esenay was born, after my initials, SNA. After messing up my submission for a shop name on Etsy and being unable to use the name Esenay, I settled for EsenayBySiddiqah and everywhere else I promoted my jewelry under Esenay.

In my second semester of college, I began listing my jewelry on Facebook Marketplace so that I could tag them as products in my Instagram posts and gain more attention. I soon stopped that when I realized that Facebook and Instagram are not artists’ friends, but rather a way for big corporations to make money off of people without delivering results. During the pandemic, I wanted to brand my artwork more and have something more than an Instagram profile for people to look at. I had seen many of my favorite YouTubers talk about Squarespace, so I experimented with the website builder and quickly added original content pertaining to my interests. I continued to use Etsy as a platform to sell on, but I bought my domain for my Squarespace website and made a designated space for a shop that I edited manually.

As time progressed and I discovered more small businesses on social media, I started thinking about being a vendor at craft shows so that I could have a more physical setup and be able to interact with people in person. I attended a local event and asked some of the vendors about having my own spot. They were kind enough to guide me into applying for upcoming local events and that’s when I got more involved with my brand’s identity.

By the end of 2023, I was scheduled to take part in the Fall Harvest Festival at Welleby Park. Being my first in-person event, I went all out with getting display pieces and recruiting helpers. I finally had an excuse to order my own business cards and finalize my logo. I took the E from Esenay and turned it into a heart that I use on smaller, branded items, such as my Instagram profile pic and favicon. I think the heart with a hidden E is pretty ingenious. I did well at my first event and decided to take advantage of the holiday shopping season by also participating in the Holiday Arts and Crafts Fair the following December.

At the start of this year, I had three more events lined up, two of which took place in cities I was branching out to. As I explored my in-person events and connected with other small businesses, I learned what type of jewelry people took an interest in and which events did well. I also invested in something I had been wanting for a long time: custom packaging! I had been using scrapbook paper to display my jewelry and hold it during shipping, but I wanted something more iconic. I thought it would be clever to integrate the design of my card backings into their functionality, so I made an illustration of my face and designed the cards so that it looks like I’m wearing the earrings the cards are holding. I also ordered cards with a second design for other jewelry pieces.

Part of my brand identity is creating a space where other people such as myself can be represented. I’ve had many people stop to admire my display and they find it charming to see little faces on the packaging. I try to make some pieces reflective of my culture, such as the gold bracelets I have currently listed, so that other young people such as myself will see that they can wear traditional jewelry while also layering it with pieces that reflect their interests. It’s okay to have many different styles and to mix them because that unique combination of jewelry pieces is what defines your style!

I hope to improve my craft while experimenting with more materials, all while creating a safe space for those who want durable hand-made jewelry. I’d also like to make more artwork and have some fine art pieces for sale alongside my jewelry, but for now, you can explore my shop and website as I prepare for my next show. Happy five years to Esenay!