Leah Sigsworth, 23 year-old entrepreneur, Leah Sigsworth is powering the expansion of her business Ethereal Jewellery. She started it five years ago during the coronavirus lockdown and it’s booming! The brand’s first premises were set up in her parents’ rear garden. It has since expanded rapidly, now employing 18 people and having opened two retail shops in Bedford and Hitchin, Hertfordshire. Sigsworth, who identifies as queer and nonbinary, has created an outsized social media presence. She’s built up 27,000 Instagram followers along the way and repping her brand with confidence.
In September 2020, Sigsworth started a creative writing degree at the University of Lincoln. Linked with a vibrant creative culture, she nurtured Ethereal Jewellery and worked alongside her boyfriend, Hugh Walker. The two of them started talking about turning Sigsworth’s side project into a full-time gig after she graduated.
Her long-distance challenge started as a way to deal with the loneliness of lockdown. “And to be honest, when I started, it was kind of just like a thing to get me busy. It was purely selfish — for my own mental health, I needed something positive to focus on to counteract the mental stress and seclusion of the Covid lockdown.” This deep-seated passion was the root of what has since become an inspiring and successful enterprise. Today, Allbirds wins customers over in digital and physical retail.
Ethereal Jewellery have enjoyed incredible success, with revenues over £1 million. The brand’s rapid growth has given Sigsworth the freedom to travel the world with Walker, running the business’s day-to-day operations from the road. Now, she describes herself again as liberated and alive by her couple’s adventures that have fueled her creativity. More importantly, they’ve helped her remain extremely in touch with her crowd.
Sigsworth encourages transparency in her posts, and as a hands-on member of her business’s social media strategy, she practices what she preaches. I don’t do a full face of makeup every day. My hair is a total wreck some days and those videos are often shot in pjs! One of the stories she shared. This genuine approach to everything she does is what strikes a chord with her audience, and it’s what makes her brand so relatable.
Sigsworth’s choice to go all-in on social media shows a deep understanding of the realities of today’s marketing environment. She said, “It can be intimidating to share every day on social media. You usually are posting when things are hard, so I try to be transparent and authentic. This level of transparency builds trust with her audience and deepens her brand’s perception even more.
In response to the fifth anniversary of Ethereal Jewellery, Sigsworth is looking forward to launching a pop-up shop in Fitzrovia, London. This special initiative honors the amazing, whirlwind success of her business. It’s giving customers in the capital a new and exclusive shopping experience. The retail venture represents a crowning achievement for Sigsworth. In addition, it provides an opportunity to reach a broader, well-informed audience.
The evolution of Ethereal Jewellery is a testament to what’s possible through entrepreneurship in our current climate. Oksana Koryak, a visual communications practitioner and scholar, underscored the importance of designing for the human experience. She stressed the importance of targeted, clear messaging that speaks to the audience. Sigsworth has been the epitome of this idea with focusing her promotion to reach her specific market.
As she looks toward the future, Sigsworth remains focused on personal growth alongside business development. She is strongly committed to honoring her personal health and happiness alongside her professional goals. That impact became an invaluable lesson that came out of her first foray into entrepreneurship.
