WORDS: AMY SESSIONS
The Power Ear
Maria Tash is globally renowned for her intricate yet bold ear adornment. We spoke to the fine jeweller about making a powerful impact, in stealth mode What do your first 30 mins of the day look like, your morning routine? I usually wake up automatically around 7:30-8am unless I have been up very late the night before. I have a large, king size canopy bed with silk chiffon drapes and satin pillowcases so I treasure my time in bed and don’t get out of it quickly! Once I do get out and into the shower, I think of what I am grateful for because I think it gives me a calm demeanor in the midst of stressful meetings and decisions later in the day. If I have been proactive and planned what I wear the night before, then I have time to do a 12-minute arm workout video on YouTube before I get dressed, put on my makeup, and start getting into calls. How did you know it was the right time to launch your own brand and what were the stepping-stones to that point? In 1993 I opened my first store, Venus Modern Body Arts, in the East Village of Manhattan. In the 1990s there were no studios in New York that offered a combination of unusual piercing locations paired with beautiful jewellery designs so I knew there was an opportunity in the market. It took many years working in that experimental 1990s era and on thousands of people where I developed my piercing style and recognisable jewellery aesthetic and mechanisms. After ten years there, I knew I wanted to move into a more prominent retail location. I developed credibility with the banks and landlord in the original store location, so then I could finally get a new lease and afford the rent in a more ex-
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major aspect of my brain. As the company has grown, I have hired and deeply appreciated my colleagues who are specialists in their departments. I spend a lot of my time in meetings with these leaders throughout the week. Hiring a head of HR was critical for hiring talented people and developing necessary structures and policies. Hiring a head of finance with global experience who loves to travel is another critically important person with whom I spend much of my time. Other leads are head of creative, head of visual design, head of business development, head of marketing, head of inventory, head of ecommerce, and head of IT. A few years ago, just 4-5 people including myself would juggle these roles the best we could. But developing these departments is necessary to expand in the way we have and to give me some freedom and more time to design. Design is my favourite part of what I do, and a natural part of how I think and look at the world. I feel a compulsion to make jewellery concepts in my head a reality. I now have a small team, that helps immensely and allows me to have more time and freedom to focus on creating. It’s a euphoric feeling to create something new that no one has seen before and embed it into the body in a manner not seen before. I love the fun, pensive and prestigious neighbourhood. joy, and empowerment that emanates from Eventually, I wanted more obvious recogniclients after being styled or pierced with the tion for the work I had done, so I got up the jewellery and curated concepts. I am humbled nerve to put my name on the door. and honoured to be surrounded by people In 2016, my brand began expanding inwho have fun working on the brand vision. ternationally with a store location at Liberty London and once that concession did well, You have clients the globe over – do you see we got offers to open all around the world. any buying patterns based on regions or We have since opened permanent stores in countries and have you seen any changes this Rome, Dublin, Harrods London and Dubai year as a result of COVID- 19? I am frequently with plans to continue expanding globally. asked which areas of the world purchase different types of jewellery. I used to be able Do you feel more drawn to the creative or the to say the Middle East liked larger stones business side of the brand and how have you and the UK loved gold spiked jewellery. But grown the team to support this? I am drawn now, buying patterns and style choices are to both, but I feel I have more talent in the no longer regionalized thanks to our digital creative side and wish I spent more time in community. Social media is a great equalizer it. The business side, especially the aspect and curated jewellery and piercing styles put of sitting with spreadsheets analysing the out on Instagram disseminate very quickly retail data, as well as setting the pace on all around the world, where they are received store expansion plans appeals to the science
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