Hannah Martin
JewellerWhat have you been up to since leaving University of the Arts London?
On leaving St Martins I started up my own label – luxury jewellery for men. Soon after starting up I took part in the NESTA Creative Pioneer Programme which is an intensive business training programme. NESTA also invested in my business and provided some start-up capital allowing me to develop my first two collections with a manufacturer.
Since my official launch last year I have gradually been building up sales and press and developing new products. I have also been building up my private client-base for commission work. I have worked on a couple of collaborations with fashion designers (Jean-Pierre Braganza, Aimee McWillimas) and also CoCo de Mer (exclusive collection for the stores).
I have been taking part in London and Paris fashion weeks for the last three seasons and working with a sales agent and PR company.
I am currently at the stage in my business where I am beginning to look for outside investment to enable me to push forward onto the next level.
You mentioned that you have been building up sales, press and a private client-base for commission work. How do you go about making these contacts and making these sales?
It’s a mixture of all sorts really. I do have a PR company who I have worked with for nearly two years now and they take care of a lot of the press. However, when I first started, I literally went into Borders and wrote down all the contacts from all the magazines I wanted to be in and just sent them lookbooks and emails until some of them replied! Press is quite a snowball effect to be honest – once you start getting some, more seems to come from it.
Sales and private commissions come either from me researching stores/buyers etc and again just sending them info, or generally just talking to as many people as I can – either at parties, events or others I meet along the way. It’s amazing how many people are keen to help when they know what you’re doing. Press is also quite useful for sales as all the buyers read all the main fashion mags and get in touch if they like what they see.
I have started working with a sales agent now, so they also have a lot of buyer contacts and we do showrooms during London and Paris fashion weeks.
Do you work with anybody else or are you mainly on your own?
I don’t actually employ anyone, so I do have to do a lot of multi-tasking. Running your own business means you have to be an accountant, bookkeeper, marketing manager, PR, general dogsbody as well as a designer! However, I do have a lot of people I work with – such as the PR and sales agencies, a manufacturer in Germany who produces the mainline collections and craftsmen in Hatton Garden that I work with. I have recently taken on a CSM graduate on a work placement as my assistant which has been really helpful. I also have a number of mentors from different industry sectors who I can turn to for advice.
I must stress though that design/creative time does get seriously limited, which is really frustrating. Hopefully this will improve as time goes on!
What has the transition from your studies into your current life been like? What expectations, if any, did you have?
The transition from studying to running a business has been the most enormous learning curve! I jumped into developing a business absolutely blind and have had to learn everything along the way. I’m not sure I had any expectations as I actually had no idea what I was doing!
I have had all sorts of support from many individuals and organisations that has eased the transition slightly, but I think I’d still describe it as one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.
I left college thinking I could take on the world, completely naïve and actually knowing very little! I was extremely idealistic (I probably still am) and have had to learn about the reality of what I’m doing as it happens. It can be quite a harsh lesson to learn.
Did you feel prepared when you graduated? If not, was there anything else you wish you’d done, any opportunities you wish you’d seized?
At the time I felt I was prepared, looking back I know I was nowhere near! However I do believe I seized every opportunity I could to help me become more prepared and learn. The opportunity to take part on the NESTA programme was a massive turning point for me as it filled in so many gaps and bridged many difficulties between my creativity and big ideas to a serious commercial opportunity.
Were there any really difficult periods that you can remember and if there were, how did you resolve them?
There are countless difficult periods! I think there’s at least one a day. It really is a continuous uphill struggle. It’s hard to specify one in particular. I always deal with problems by trying to not to be defeatist about them, and believing there must always be a solution. I think tenacity is the key to surviving starting out on your own. If something I’ve planned doesn’t go as I think it will, I try not to let it hold me up, and just think of another way round.
What would you say your strongest skills are that have made you as successful as you are now?
Well, as I’ve already said, tenacity is an essential. I also think that being personable/polite/friendly is really really useful! So much of starting a business is getting people on your side and willing to help and support you. I’m not shy of hard work either which is also very important. You need to accept you’re not going to have much of a life for a while!
If there’s one thing you would tell a current student to do right now that would help them when they leave the University, what would it be?
Don’t panic! I think there is an enormous amount of pressure on the run up to leaving college to know what you want to do and do it, whether that be getting a job, starting up alone etc. Make the most of the time you have in college as it’s probably the most amount of creative freedom you will ever have. Whilst being aware of what may happen when you graduate, don’t let this dominate your thinking. The process for me was extremely organic, it almost happened without me thinking about it.
Its important to know what the many options are for you after graduation but don’t put an enormous pressure on yourself and your creativity by panicking that everything has to be in place immediately you leave.
Finally, I would say that it is vital to grab every opportunity you possibly can. I have always taken advantage of everything I can find available to me and it has opened so many doors that otherwise may not have been there.
