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The Marac Jewellery Journey
96 Plays1 year ago
In this episode, we dive into the captivating world of jewellery design and craftmanship . I sit down with Marian Aggrey, CEO , Marac Jewellery to explore her creative processes, inspiration and the artistry behind her stunning creations.
Get ready to uncover the brilliance that goes into every piece as we embark on a glittering journey through the world of fine jewellery.
Enjoy this episode and don't forget to like and subscribe.
Cheers !
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
General advisors, live life, go for what you love, treat everybody as you would want to be treated, and make the world a better place than you came to admit it. Welcome to the Entrepreneur Speaks podcast, where I sit down with successful entrepreneurs and hear their stories, from their biggest failures to their greatest successes.
00:00:24
Speaker
you'll get a behind the scenes look at what it really takes to make it as an entrepreneur. So come along for the ride and let's explore the entrepreneurial journey together. In today's
Guest Introduction: Marian Agri
00:00:36
Speaker
episode, we are diving into the captivating world of jewelry design and craftsmanship. Join us as we sit down with the distinguished jeweler Marian Agri
00:00:46
Speaker
to explore her creative process, inspiration, and the artistry behind her stunning creations. Get ready to uncover the brilliance that goes into every piece as you embark on a glittering journey through the world of fine jewelry. Stay tuned for an insightful and dazzling conversation ahead. Welcome to my show, Marian. Thank you, Guffey. Let's
Marian's Background and Journey
00:01:08
Speaker
kick off our conversation by you telling us a bit more about yourself and your childhood. Okay, thank you so much.
00:01:14
Speaker
As you already know, my name is Marianne Agree. I'm the CEO of Maratuary. What I can say about myself is, I was born in Secundita Carti. If you're in Kanta Hospital, to be precise, I schooled my primary school was in
00:01:33
Speaker
and Navwest Primary and later on went to Nevada Beach, Chiesis and then my secondary school was in Pichai secondary. From there I went to Can you see that squamming who my embassy of technology. Yes, I think
00:01:50
Speaker
That's a little bit about my child. All right. So can you tell us a bit more about your journey as a jeweler and how did you get started in this profession? Thank you. Thank you so much. My journey as a jeweler has been very interesting. Let me start with what got me on this journey.
00:02:10
Speaker
I'm somebody, I love art and I love to create things with my heart and my mind, yeah. And then I love jewelry, I love shiny things. So growing up, I've always loved art. And I would say I grew eight students from primary through to SS. I was always on top in class. So most of my teachers thought I was going to do science.
00:02:41
Speaker
but they didn't know my love was for art. And my parents knew that, so they didn't sway me from doing art. And I pursued it into the university. Luckily for me, when I got there, I realized that there was a department in industrial arts at the College of Art, a department for metal product design. I was so excited to be there.
00:03:08
Speaker
So I got there and I learned the jewelry. I learned everything about jewelry. And I was always excited to wait for the lecture to come in and teach us something. We were, I think, five girls in a class of 28. And most of the girls would give their works to the boys to do it. But because of my interests, I never allowed any guy to do my work. I would rather
00:03:36
Speaker
once the guy who knew how to do it, to teach me, so that I would do it myself. And when I finished the university, I was called on to be a TA. That's a teaching assistant for my service. After my service, I came down to Taccati to set up my business and kick off doing what I'm doing. And I would say I've not regretted it. It hasn't been easy, but it has been very interesting.
00:04:05
Speaker
and we are still learning, making progress. Okay, so thank you for giving us the background and how you got into this and also for sharing how focus you really well on this particular career path. So now let's go into a bit more details. Let's talk about some details. So what really inspires your designs?
00:04:30
Speaker
I
Cultural Inspiration and Design Style
00:04:31
Speaker
would say Ghanaian designs. What inspires me is being a Ghanaian, being an African. I love to bring our designs that pertain to our culture as Ghanaians.
00:04:49
Speaker
Yeah, I would say that and also the interest of my customers because I always love for my customers to be part of the designing process, especially when I'm doing it for a customer. But if I'm just producing something out of the blue,
00:05:04
Speaker
mostly I'm inspired by the Ghanaian designs. Okay so still talking about your designs and your creations and how would you describe your unique style or signature touch in your jewelry creation? For mine I would say the finishing. I try to bring out a very good and lustrous finish
00:05:28
Speaker
And also for my design, I started from the scratch sometimes with the computer or with a pencil and a book. So I would say that it comes straight from within me. That makes it unique because you wouldn't see it anyway. It's from me. And even if I have to copy a design and produce it, I make sure that I put in a little of me into that copy.
00:05:58
Speaker
All right, now let's talk about the processes. Can you walk us through your creative process? So how do you go from, let's say, an idea to a finished piece of jewelry? Can you walk us through that process? Okay. First of all, I have to start with the designing. Let's say I have a customer who wants a jewelry piece. I talk with a customer, know exactly what they want.
00:06:22
Speaker
Then I take my sketchbook or my laptop, I make the designs. Then I go for the appropriate material, whether gold or silver. I get the raw material. If it's gold, then I have to alloy it. I alloy it to the appropriate alloy we have. For my end, I work with
00:06:44
Speaker
20 cards, 18 cards, 14 cards, and 12 cards. So depending on what the customer wants, I will allow it to go to the appropriate cards, then melt it down. If I have to form a wire to make the design, I would melt it, go to the mail.
00:07:04
Speaker
melt it down to the size I need. If it has to be in sheets too, I do the same after melting. I go to the mill, melt it down to the sheets, to the thickness of the sheets I need. Then come, print out the design. If I sketched it, I will just outline it well, cut it out, paste it. If it's a sheets design,
00:07:28
Speaker
I'll paste it on the sheets and then we call something in jewelry making, piercing. That is sewing in carpentry. We use piercing, we pierce the designs out. So I will pierce it out. After piercing, I would file it to a very neat work. And then if there is any soldering parts that is putting other parts to reach to form the whole design,
00:07:57
Speaker
I will solder it and then file it down, polish. That is some paper before I send it to the polishing machine. I polish it to a very good finish, giving it that shiny, lustrous finish. And then I send it to the ultrasonic machine, wash it or clean it and then wipe it off and the work is done. Wow.
00:08:24
Speaker
So looking at the process you've described, roughly how much time does it take from start to finish?
Creating Jewelry: Process and Time
00:08:31
Speaker
It depends on the design. If it's a design I have produced before, it takes less time and also it depends on the kind of products I'm producing.
00:08:43
Speaker
If it's a simple ring, it takes about 30 minutes to an hour. But if it's a complicated ring, it can take as long as a week to produce it. Okay. All right then. So now let's talk about the jewelry you work on. So can you give us examples of jewelry you produce? Is it just rings? Can you give us an idea of what you work on?
00:09:08
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. I produce rings, rings for any occasion. That is fancy rings, engagement rings, wedding rings, any type of rings. Chief, fancy rings. Yeah, I do that. And then when it comes to necklaces too,
00:09:26
Speaker
I produce necklaces, bangles, bracelets, anklets, I mean everything jewelry, even crowns, tiaras, everything. Wow, that's an extensive kind of production. So in your opinion, what sets your jewelry apart from others in the industry?
00:09:47
Speaker
I would say affordability and good finishing. And the fact that it's durable, you can use it for a very long time. Actually, most of my works are done on referrals. Customers who have used it for years, recommend it to other friends or family and then they come. So I would say that durability, good finishing,
00:10:16
Speaker
and then the quality. Okay durability, good finishing and the quality. So those are the things that sets your jewelry apart from others in the industry. All right thank you for sharing this with us. So my guest once again is Marian Agri who is into the production of jewelry. She's given us a background on how she got started and how the process is going. She just shared a
00:10:41
Speaker
with us, what sets head jewelry apart from others in the industry. Marion, so tell us, you've been on this journey for quite some time, and like any other entrepreneur journey, there are challenges.
Entrepreneurial Challenges
00:10:55
Speaker
Can you share some of the challenges you've faced in business so far with us? Wow, that's a very interesting question. The challenges are many. The first challenge is getting raw materials to work
00:11:11
Speaker
That has been a challenge. For us in Ghana, we have gold in abundance, but it's not really easy to get gold or silver to buy in Ghana. So that's one challenge. And then the other challenge, my first challenge I faced when I started was
00:11:33
Speaker
Trust from customers because the industry was kind of dying so getting customers to trust you on what you are producing was a bit of a challenge but then over the years we have overcome that.
00:11:53
Speaker
I wouldn't, for financial aspects, I mean, every entrepreneur faces that. But with training and learning, we've been able to come far on that subject. Okay, so thank you. Thank you for sharing this with us. So just as I said, you've been on this journey
00:12:15
Speaker
There's been challenges, but I also believe there's been a lot of lessons you've picked up.
Lessons and Advice for Jewelers
00:12:22
Speaker
Can you share some of the lessons you've picked up with us? Thank you very much, Puffy. Well, the lessons I have learned is a determination. If you are determined in whatever you set your heart to do and no waiver, you will definitely come through it.
00:12:43
Speaker
I've also learned to be patient with customers because some customers come with their own notions or their own understanding. So having patients to explain things to them, make them know exactly what the work entails. And also I have learned to not be afraid of competition. That competition is good. Competition helps you to improve. Competition helps you to be better than you were.
00:13:13
Speaker
before, yeah. Okay. And also I've learned to share what I know with others, especially the young ones. Okay, thank you. We're just about wrapping up our conversation for today, but I believe there might be someone out there who listened to us who has this desire of working in your steps. When I say that, I mean somebody who has this desire to also build a career
00:13:42
Speaker
in jewelry production. What would be your advice to such a person? Well, my advice to the person is to first learn about the markets, you know, where you are, how people perceive jewelry, then know what type of jewelry to produce and
00:14:05
Speaker
Kofi, I would want to talk to the ladies more, because in our part of the world, there are some jobs that are kind of slated for men, in court, like men dominated jobs, and jewelry is part of it.
00:14:23
Speaker
I will tell any lady who wants to go into jewelry making not to be afraid not to look at the intimidation they're going to get but know what they want to give out and then be bold enough to stand for it and do it and I tell you when people get to know that you are not there to compete with the men
00:14:46
Speaker
but to help improve the industry, they will support you because when I started, the guys didn't understand me, but now they do understand me and they even are proud to show me off when we go for meetings or go to other places. So I will tell the ladies that if you want to come in, you are welcome to do so and be bold.
00:15:11
Speaker
Okay, be bold to stand for what you believe in. So these are the words of our guest, Marian Agri. Marian,
Closing Thoughts and Life Advice
00:15:19
Speaker
before we wrap up, what would be your general advice to my listeners? Thank you. My general advice is live life, go for what you love, treat everybody as you would want to be treated, and make the world a better place than you came to be. Alright, make the world a better place than
00:15:40
Speaker
what you came to meet. So these are the parting words from my guest Marian Agri who shared her journey in this, as she puts it, male dominated industry. Thank you very much Marian for sharing your rich experience with us. Thank you so much Kofi for having me here. So this has been another exciting episode of The Entrepreneur.
00:16:05
Speaker
Speaks podcast. We'll come your way next time with another interesting and inspiring episode. I'm Daniel Hoskofi, and you may do. As always, do take good care of yourself and let's continue to keep up our life. Cheers. Please be sure to subscribe to the Entrepreneur Speaks podcast on all your favorite podcast channels. And if you have any questions or feedback, feel free to reach out to us on social media or in the comments section below.