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The world of glamor and beauty has countless brands that make tons of jewelry each year and earn millions from it. But there is something about handcrafted jewelry that sets it apart from the normal casted jewelry. The modern process of creating jewelry has taken away the essence of fine hand-made jewelry.
Today’s markets are saturated with casted jewelry that is available in every design and shape, with a drawback that it has thousands of similar designs that can be found worldwide. Today, only a few brands and companies still follow the hand-made jewelry practice to produce unique and immaculate designs exclusive to every customer. The jewelry of Jannik Olander ranks high in the shortlist of hand-made jewelry.
In an ideal world, the people who enter the business of jewelry-making usually have inherited the business. There are very few cases in which an outsider is seen entering this business. The story of Jannik Olander is one of the few. He had no experience working in the jewelry industry but used his instincts and combined his knowledge of fashion to make it big in the jewelry industry.
Jannik Olander, born in Klattrup in Denmark, completed his schooling in Vejle. He was inclined towards fashion and creativity from the very beginning. To pursue his dreams and establish himself in the fast-growing fashion industry, Jannik left his homeland and flew to London.
He was nineteen when he got his first job at Harvey Nichols – a luxury department store in London. After gaining experience and working there for a year, he moved to Miami to work as a model. Jannik was a hustler, so he did not settle at one thing. He wanted to keep trying new things until he found his calling.
At the age of twenty-one, Jannik moved to Munich and worked for Polo Ralph Lauren for a year. He then moved to Hamburg, where he was promoted to the position of Store Manager and worked for two years. Jannik was also simultaneously studying at the Copenhagen Business school and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business. But, Jannik did not want to spend his entire life working 9-5 at a firm and live a mediocre life. According to him, every person had a mission in this world, and he was not yet found.
Jannik wanted to utilize his fashion and business knowledge experience and combined both of his talents to open up his very own Ralph Lauren store. He was the youngest person to ever do so, only being 26. Soon Jannik owned a fashion empire in Copenhagen by adding seven more shops, including stores high-end fashion brands like Tommy Hilfiger Men & Women and Tommy Jeans, Polo Kids, Polo Jeans, and Ralph Lauren Women.
At this moment, Jannik was at the peak of his career, but he was still unsatisfied. At the age of thirty-two, he sold his fashion empire and invested in his t-shirt company, called Gorilla. Within a span of three years, Gorilla became one of the biggest printed t-shirts companies in Europe, selling to 2000 plus shops across the continent.
Having a mind full of innovative ideas, he was interested in setting his foot in the most competitive entrepreneurial market. Jannik always felt Copenhagen was too small to fulfill his wonderous ideas. Los Angeles was his dream city, and he had always longed to settle there. So, Jannik decided to sell his t-shirt selling company in 2007 and moved to a LA to begin his new life.
Before moving to the States, Jannik had invested a hefty fortune in real estate in Denmark and Bulgaria in 2007. Unfortunately, it ended up being a wrong decision as the market collapsed in 2008, due to which Jannik faced a tremendous monetary loss and struggled hard to make ends meet in LA.
Devasted and hopeless, Jannik wanted a break from his professional life. He planned a trip to India. There he met someone who changed his life completely. He accidentally met a Shaman who spoke about spiritual healing and guidance. The Shaman gave him a black stone and told him that it would cleanse and heal his aura and would free him from all the negative energies that held him back.
This brief meeting with the Shaman moved Jannik. He felt that he had finally found his calling. Upon returning to the States, Jannik invested his last savings in crafting macrame necklaces and bracelets in his garage on an Ikea table in Hollywood Hills. This was where Jannik’s life took a major turn.
What began as a garage business has today turned into an exclusive and extremely recognizable jewelry brand called ‘Nialaya’ – named after the Shaman Jannik met in India. Currently, the A-listers of Hollywood such as P. Diddy, Paris Hilton, Kardashians, Avicii, Kanye West, Drake, Jay Z, Katy Perry, Jessica Alba, Dolph Lundgren, Sofia Vergara, Mickey Rourke, David Beckham, Justin Bieber, and Snoop Dogg are all obsessed with Nialaya’s intricate hand-made jewelry.
Jannik finally created his dream life by building a hugely successful celebrity brand in the most competitive place in the world. Jannik was voted the ‘Best Jewelry Designer’ in 2019 in LA and was ranked first in the ‘Top 10 Entrepreneurs of 2020’ by Yahoo Finance. 2020 turned around Nialaya revenue generation and increased its growth up to 60% in comparison with 2019.
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Photo provided by the author.