Spalding sisters launch jewellery business
Two sisters with a passion for jewellery have created a business together.
After the pandemic proved that life is too short not to follow your dreams, Laura Dighton and Alex Barwell, both originally from Spalding, have created Olive&Wallis.
Inspired by their love of jewellery and old coins, the sisters took the plunge last year to set up their dream company, creating exquisite items.
Laura, who now lives in Moulton Chapel, said: “We both have young children and we had both taken a step back from work – Alex worked as a PA at the House of Commons and I worked in marketing – when we both had our second children.
“We had talked about doing something together at some point and my sister decided to start making jewellery during lockdown and raced ahead.”
The sisters had originally planned to set up a business once Laura’s youngest child had started school this year, but a lockdwon realisation pushed them further.
Laura said: “You’ve got to start somewhere and after Alex started making jewellery and with lockdown we just thought what’s the point in waiting?
“Lockdown made us appreciate life and made us realise that you’ve got to grab the opportunities while they’re there.”
Once their creative juices had begun to flow, the duo started to create beautiful pieces of jewellery, from necklaces to bracelets.
All of the pieces have their own special and significant name, such as ‘The Gemma’ and ‘The Finnegan’
“We have been naming the pieces as a bit of a nod to the woman of the world who work really hard and those who mean a lot to us,” Laura explained.
“We’re busy mum’s starting a busy, juggling a hundred things at the same time and there are so many others like us out there.
“We wanted to give a shout out to people who we know who we think do a brilliant job.
“There is one necklace called ‘The Finnegan’ which we had made for a friend of mine’s 40th birthday present.
“I sent it to her and she was really touched – we are so lucky to be able to start this business and to spread the love too.”
The sisters have been selling their creations on Instagram since September 2020, but have now launched their very own website as interest has reached new levels.
Laura said: “We’ve been really lucky with Instagram. An influencer with a million followers who featured us in a ‘small business Saturday’ video and brought in an influx of followers.
“We’ve grown really organically and I do wonder where a lot of small businesses would be without social media as it’s great for spreading the word.”
Laura and Alex, who lives in Northamptonshire, have bigs hopes for the future as they grow their business.
Alex said: “It would be nice to maybe open a shop one day but I think at first it would be nice to find an outlet in a clothes shop or another store first. We love coins and incorporating them in our pieces, so it would be great to be able to take coins from people and create bespoke pieces for them too. We definitely want to grow but we will wait and see what direction we go in.”
For more information, visit www.oliveandwallis.com