FEATURE
‘‘
INSPIRING WOMEN
For women it’s about
being confident, you
can get to the top if
you want to
‘‘
NATALIE PERRY
Natalie Perry, jewellery designer
Harriet Kelsall
Founder and chair of
Harriet Kelsall Jewellery Design
designed and crafted especially for them- we’ve won a significant
number of awards for this model. We’ve also been commended
for the way we approach retail; we don’t employ sales people but
rather qualified designers who can share their in depth knowledge
with every customer. Our contribution to improving ethics within
the industry has also been awarded; we are proud to have been
involved in the launch of Fairtrade gold back in 2011 and we
continue to push at these boundaries.
How do you design your jewellery?
What influenced me the most was probably the fact that I have
always been interested in the individual, so I will always imagine
a particular kind of customer before I start designing. I am quite
inclusive as a designer; for example rather than limiting a piece of
jewellery to a colour or an inspiration, I imagine who would wear
it, how it would enhance them and what would make them love it.
What challenges do women face in the industry?
Some areas of the jewellery business are still very male-dominated,
and it is usually men in senior roles. However, juniors within the
industry are more often women. We would do better to empower
ourselves as women to realise that we are better placed in senior
roles, because if the majority of the junior level is made up of
women, it means we actually understand the industry from the
bottom up.
What advice would you give to women who want to get into
the industry?
I would say that it is a sector in which you need to have a real passion
for what you do. Anybody can come into this industry with a huge
passion and do absolutely brilliantly. That’s all I did and that’s all
most people who got into senior positions did. It’s a great industry,
it’s not scary and it’s actually really welcoming. For women it’s about
being confident, you can get to the top if you want to.
What are your 2018 business goals?
I have got a mixture of goals at the moment. I am going to become
the Chair of the National Association of Jewellers (NAJ) in June,
so some of my goals are going to be focused around that and about
doing the best