Ajallah Toure decided to start making jewelry out of old thrift store craft beads in spring of their junior year of high school. One day after walking into school Toure’s peers began noticing the chunky and colorful beads around their neck, wrists and in their ears. 

 “I just wore them and my friends were like, ‘Wow, I really like those!’” Toure said. 

As people started noticing their jewelry more and more, Toure launched their handmade jewelry business, Earthy Beads. After the start of their business Toure began incorporating photos and product drops on social media to get other people’s attention. 

“Prior to coming here, every single photo was done by my good friend Kat,” Toure said. “They were working to build up their resume and I also wanted a fun way to push out the product, so we decided to collaborate on both of our art forms.” 

Toure is a freshman fashion design major and Kat Ross is a senior in high school working to pursue a photography major at Kent State next year. 

“Ajallah usually has a vision in mind when we do the Earthy Beads photoshoots,” Ross said. “I take the pictures for them because I’m going into photography and it helps both of us with what we want to do.” 

Ross and Toure have been collaborating since the beginning of Earthy Beads and have worked together to find creative ways to promote the jewelry. 

“My main focus is fashion photography and Ajallah’s business Earthy Beads really helps me promote that,” Ross said. “I like to do photography that is not like what you see everyday and that’s why I like working with Ajallah cause their jewelry is very different from what I usually see out there.” 

Toure is a young Black business owner who takes their uniqueness as an inspiration for their brand and product. 

“I’m a Black creator creating things,” Toure said. “I’m somebody who’s always loved to craft and things like that and it’s part of me. And part of my identity is also the fact that I’m Black. So to kind of put that together in a business, it’s something that truly kind of represents me as a person represents my creative side and the fact that I am a Black creator.” 

Toure’s creative process begins by taking photos of people modeling the jewelry. Toure then edits and adds doodles to each photo of the models wearing the jewelry. They explain this process as another way to embrace their natural creativity. 

“I’ve also done the face paint for most of the shoots because that’s another art form that I really like to do,” Toure said. “The most recent shoot I was able to design each makeup look that each model wore, which was really fun.” 

Toure uses colors and shapes as their main inspiration for each jewelry design. Each piece of jewelry whether it be a bracelet, necklace or earrings, can all be color blocked and matched together. This is a technique Toure uses so their customers can mix and match each piece of jewelry. 

“The idea is maximalism, so being able to kind of wear every single piece that I have all goes together,” Toure said. 

As their business grows Toure hopes to someday make direct profit, but is currently using the majority of their profit for jewelry materials. 

“I’m still in the beginning stages of this business,” Toure said. “Primarily with my drops last year, the products were a lot cheaper because I was selling to people that I knew who went to my school so I kind of made the prices so that they could afford it.” 

As their business and audience expands, Toure works to evolve their prices and profit strategy. 

“I’m still trying to get to that place where I’m like, making a profit,” Toure said. “I am very good on materials because I accumulate so much. But most of the time, the money will go back into the business in some way, shape or form.” 

Toure currently sells all their jewelry on their Instagram @earthybeads. Customers can direct message Toure on their Instagram to purchase jewelry and learn about their business policies. Toure’s goal is to eventually open an Etsy shop and one day a consistent booth at a summer festival. They are planning to do more shoots and collaborate with other creatives as their business grows. 

“I want to discover new designs to add to my brand which will always be a constant goal of mine,” Toure said. 

As Toure balances a college workload and a personal business, they are learning how to transition and adjust to a new environment and audience. 

“Balancing the business and schoolwork hasn’t been too much right now,” Toure said. “The business has taken a bit more of a hiatus. I have been able to put out like, a lot of products, especially for when I did the booth for Modista and I have  a lot of products right now that I’m kind of sitting on that I really want to get kind of into an Etsy store.”

Toure said they want to inspire people to start wearing jewelry and experiment with different styles. 

“Earthy Beads is very colorful, whimsical, and it’s for everybody,” Toure said. “And it’s designed to kind of just bring people joy with jewelry.” 

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Hi! I’m Catie Pusateri, A Magazine’s editor-in-chief. My staff and I are committed to bringing you the most important and entertaining news from the realms of fashion, beauty and culture. We are full-time students and hard-working journalists. While we get support from the student media fee and earned revenue such as advertising, both of those continue to decline. Your generous gift of any amount will help enhance our student experience as we grow into working professionals. Please go here to donate to A Magazine.