GOOSE CREEK, S.C.–Miya Dionne, 14, isn’t like most teenagers her age. She is busy building her own fashion empire.
Dionne, who lives in Goose Creek with her father, is a designer and CEO of Twine Designs, a jewelry company that designs TicTocRings, a line of tween girl’s fashion watch rings.
Miya, who comes from humble beginnings, says she became inspired to become an entrepreneur after she and her family suffered substantial misfortune in early 2014 when she was only 13 years old.
Miya’s mother, a single mother of two, lost her job as an administrative assistant. Because her mother’s unemployed status conflicted with public housing agreements and stipulations, Miya and her family had to soon vacate their apartment and lost their only means of transportation thereafter.
She and her family then moved into a hotel and lived there for a short time using her mother’s limited savings. Shortly after, Miya and her family moved in with a member of their church after her mother’s savings became depleted.
TicTocRings were born after Miya, decided she was going to change she and her families, predicament. She decided to start a fashion jewelry business with her aunt who was thinking of either watches or rings.
Miya, however, quickly realizing that the market was flooded with these product types, then came up with the brilliant idea of combining both the watch and ring, which would breathe life to a new jewelry piece that combined both novelty and fashion.
“I wanted to create a piece of jewelry for tweens that I could add my own artistry to,” Miya explained. After her aunt had 3 prototypes made, Miya choose the ring that would allow her to incorporate her original art designs. It was her goal to appeal to every girl’s unique personality and sense of style, with designed themes ranging from Hearts, Butterflies, Peace Signs and Initials.
Miya’s says her dedication and willingness to learn the promotion and marketing aspects of her business helped to get her product into the market place fairly quickly. The TicTocRings jewelry line catapulted into the lime light after Miya made her first email sales pitch to a manufacturing representative called Toy Travelers in North Carolina.
The company’s reps requested samples of the watch rings after seeing pics of them via email. The teens say they were elated by how novel the rings were and decided to represent the line.
Miya has since acquired several other manufacturing reps using her unique style of sales pitching via email. She says she is working to build a strong and financially sound business so that one day in the near future she will be able to offer her jewelry line to major retailers like Walmart and Target.
Miya, a Christian who believes in sharing her blessings, says she is a firm believer in the “Pay It Forward” concept and does not hesitate to donate a percentage of her profits to local charities.
Recent Comments