Samantha Wills

Women With Drive – 29 August 2013

From a Sydney market stall to the streets of New York, Samantha Wills has come a long way in a short time. She’s a prime example that hard work and persistence does pay off.

Fairfax Media’s DailyLife says “Samantha Wills has the height, figure and face of a model and the branding nous of, say, Apple.”

womanwithdrive caught up with Samantha to reflect on her journey so far.

At the tender age of 21 Samantha started her business. She took her hobby of making jewellery to the Bondi Beach markets where the demand was steady. This enabled the business to grow at her pace. After three years of being a one-woman run business, Samantha decided it was time to bring in a partner and expand.

Samantha confesses “I don’t think I am a great business person, what I am good at is surrounding myself with people who excel at what my weaknesses are.” And that she did. With the support of her business partner who took her creative vision and helped with all the back end of the business, the brand boomed in ways she couldn’t dream of.

Now, based in New York and with a celebrity A-list clientele, Samantha’s weekday hobby has turned into a global brand. Samantha moves between Sydney and New York. Her jewellery is stocked in some of the finest boutiques throughout Australia, New Zealand, the USA and Japan. But, like any good story, Samantha admits there have been plenty of challenges along the way. She says “There are too many challenges to list! However, without challenge there is no growth or no demand, so I embrace them all.”

So what is the secret to her success? With the business starting to take off in the American market, Samantha reflects that the highlight so far is the surreal feeling she gets from her wonderful team. Though they may be young, she says that there is so much energy and passion for what they do and every individual is committed to what they are doing.

And of course, hard work and determination is always important. Samantha finally adds “It has been a lot of persistence, but damn, have I learnt a lot!”

Visit: http://www.samanthawills.com/