Like every other sixteen-year-old, Bella Weems wanted her parents to get her a car. Her parents said she had to make the money herself, so she started babysitting and thinking of some new business plans. Bella came up with the idea of creating customizable lockets for jewelry. In 2010, Origami Owl was founded with her parents as business partners.
Initially, Bella filled vintage glass lockets with gems, and other objects. She sold her products to friends and family, and then eventually moved into a mall kiosk. After a year and a half, Bella shifted Origami Owl into a direct-sales business. A direct-sales business allows independent designers to use the tools and products that Origami Owl had and create their own jewelry that could be sold. Bella’s mom was technically the CEO, which gave Bella the freedom to float between departments and learn about all aspects of the business she created. Bella has been featured in Forbes and Teen Vogue while also making an appearance on Good Morning America.
Check out Origami Owl Jewelry: https://thinkgoodness.com/pages/origami-owl?partner_site=fancythat&msclkid=75ff777fbd421417d09610615421c454
Not only did Bella have an incredibly successful jewelry company, but she also started a YouTube channel in 2011. Her channel is called Della Vlogs. Bella runs it with her husband Dallin, and it features vlogs and music. Right now, their channel has 3.7 million subscribers. Their vlogs currently are family oriented, and the music featured is original music by Bella herself.
Click here to see their channel: https://www.youtube.com/@DELLAVLOGS
Bella found success at a young age with her Jewelry business, and it has allowed her the freedom to create media content today. This all started with another sixteen-year-old wanting a brand-new car and has turned into an extremely successful Jewelry company and very popular social media content. She is a great example of someone who made the best of the situation she was in; she wanted a car and ended up making a business to get what she wanted!
It is fascinating to see how her idea for creating Origami Owl came from wanting a car but her parents telling her that she had to pay for it herself. To now see her popularity boom on YouTube and other platforms is awesome and exciting to see, as it should give hope to other young entrepreneurs who are trying to pursue their dreams. Good Work!
It’s very interesting how Bella created the customizable lockets to differentiate her products from other jewelry brands. That is a great idea to make necklaces and bracelets more personal and unique. Her story is very inspiring.
This is a very inspirational story. I like that the parents made her buy her own car. Imagine if they gave her one and she never got inspired to start this business, that would be tragic. I think an important part of this story is how Bella constantly learned throughout the process and pivoted to different things like starting a YouTube channel. Entrepreneurs should always look for new things to do or different angles to take instead of getting comfortable with what is working.