Lina Piedrahita is one of these individuals. The Colombian native, currently enrolled in the Bachelor in Business Administration, has created her own artisan jewelry brand: AMANPOUR. Over the last year, and especially during the quarantine, she has been overcoming the odds to ensure her startup becomes a success.
How did you become interested in entrepreneurship?
Since I can remember, it has been a dream of mine to own a fashion and design company. In fact, this is one of the reasons I decided to study business administration. I believe that creating your own company allows you to make full use of your knowledge and talent. You can look at the market, see what trends are missing, and decide what to produce and how to produce it.
I’ve always had a passion for fashion. I believe it is the perfect way to express yourself and be unique. Dressing according to your mood, location and personal style is extremely important to me. I also love to travel and I find it super interesting to see how each culture and each place is identified by a certain color or style.
My life-long interest in the fashion industry has turned me into something of a fanatic. I’m a creative and adventurous person who loves to travel and who enjoys incorporating the color and vibe of each place I go into my style. I have also collected jewelry for years. For AMANPOUR, I decided to embrace all these passions. My designs are inspired by my travels and the places around the world that intrigue me.
How has the Bachelor in Business Administration helped you in this?
I studied business administration with the goal of establishing my own design company in the future. I consider myself a very creative person and I believe that studying this has helped me to structure and organize my ideas in order to start my business off right.
What role does creativity play?
Creativity is at the core of my startup. It is essential that I create distinct designs that identify my brand, style and enterprise as a whole. My creativity reflects my passion for fashion and esthetics. As a collector, I’m always searching for new accessories that encompass both old and new trends. I enjoy having my own style and following my own fashion instincts.
I have always naturally critiqued accessories based on their texture, color, intensity or simplicity. I then would use my imagination to improve them, and this naturally led to me creating my own handmade accessories, taking into account all these important aspects. I believe originality is a key factor that will make my business stand out in the market.
Where do you see yourself in the future?
I imagine my brand as an icon in the fashion world, expanding far beyond the accessory niche. I would also like to set fashion trends and build a brand that people who value esthetics consider indispensable. I want to appeal to people who share my passion for owning your own style and speaking through it.
In your opinion, what is the key to success?
The key to success is to love, believe in, and feel passion about what you do—and persist to achieve your aims.
How would you describe your brand?
AMANPOUR is designed to fill your life with self-love. This is currently represented solely through jewelry, but there is so much more potential for expression. I want people using AMANPOUR to feel confident in themselves. AMANPOUR is a boho-chic, gypsy-style brand that represents taking risks and having fun. The specific style requires innovation and imagination, and each accessory strikes a balance between fashion, trendiness, elegance and simplicity.
When setting up a company, it’s important to have a clear vision of what you want your brand to be. With AMANPOUR, Lina knows exactly what she wants to achieve every step of the way. Right now, her bold jewelry designs are helping build a solid brand identity that stands out for their originality. But this is just the beginning. By holding onto her vision we are confident that, in the years to come, Lina will turn AMANPOUR into a point of reference across the entire fashion world.