Meet Eniola Salu, MD OF Styles By Saennys, A Unique Gemstone Company

10 years ago,from a humble beginning, Eniola Salu Akintunde floated a gemstone company, Styles by Saennys which she never thought could be her biggest dream that will come to reality and accomplishment. 

She started with what she termed as a passion for making ladies look good. Now her clientele has sky rocketed to the next level and every weekend she churns out different designs of jewelries and gemstones for mostly society ladies which they rock to parties.

Eniola a native of Etsako West Edo State, read Industrial Relations and Personnel Management from the University of Lagos, did her O’ level at Our Lady Of Apostle Sec, School Yaba. 

She is a member of board of trustees and current Vice- President Beaded Jewellery Designers Association of Nigeria ( BJDAN), also a member of fashion Designers Association of Nigeria (FADAN) and in this interview with City People Society Editor, Tayo Fajorin, Eniola talked about how she started the journey of 10 years.

How has it been in the last 10years?

So far so good, Styles by Saennys has come a long way, it hasn’t been easy, but l bless God who has sustained us. Starting off was not rosy ,which is normal for every young entrepreneur, definitely we are not where we were when we started 10 years ago,

What has been the secret success of Styles by Saennys since when you started

From the onset l wanted to be different from other bead designers, l carved a niche for myself by designing and working with gemstones mixed with precious metal, goldfilled, and gold plated, using beads to make flowers ,hair pieces and bridal fan.

The sector is a competitive one, how have you been able to cope?

Yes highly competitive, that’s why Styles by Saennys designs are different distinctive,timeless and not common to what you see around, though we have our challenges. But we still find a way out.

Can you tell us the journey of Styles by Saennys?

Styles by Saennys started officially in 2005, l learnt the art of bead making in 2004 during my service year, l was posted to Sokoto State for my NYSC and l was sick all through because of the harsh weather. 

My state co- ordinator then, asked me to leave sokoto state as they lost few corpers because of the weather, so l came back to Lagos on medical grounds, I was in my Aunty ‘s house in Festac Town, there l met this lady who taught me the basics of bead stringing within 3 days.

However, what I am doing today is different from what she taught me. After my service year there was no job as usual, and even the few jobs interview l attended I was disqualified because of age because l was already close to 30 yrs.

I just made up my mind not to look for any job again, and decided to make a living from bead making. Initially some people , even close relatives looked at me as someone who was not serious, because they didn’t understand how a graduate from University of Lagos will go into bead designing.

But l believed in myself and l put my trust in God, my beloved mother gave me the seed money l started with and the rest is history. My late husband was a bit skeptical but when he saw the burning passion and zeal l had ,he gave me all the support and encouragement that I needed, he was my cheer leader, my number one fan, my critic, Gbolahan Peter Akintunde of blessed memory.

I have taken part in various exhibitions and runway shows in Nigeria and abroad and was the first Nigerian to make a Christmas tree and wedding bouquet out of beads. I got my first awards in 2007 in a national competition I took part in, organized by Mrs Seyi Abdullahi the MD Crafties Hobby Ltd ,co-sponsored by Swarovski crystals an Australian company with repute in crystals where l won in 2 categories “Best designer in Pendant and Earrings and 2nd position in Necklace categories respectively.

I also have the current honor and award as the “Best Accessories Designer in Nigeria by City People Media Group. All the recognitions and awards make me to strive more and work harder.

How come you decided to go into Gemstones Designing?

I was doing research on beads generally and l stumbled into Gemstone, for me it was amazing and very interesting, I appreciate God the more as our God is awesome and beautiful, he made everything beautiful.

All the colors on earth we have them in rocks and mineral, which is refined into gemstones. It passes through different stages ,mined from the sea, mountain and under the ground, it’s a gradual process before it become beads and gemstones.l use high grade polished gemstones to make exquisite designs.

How do you source for material for your job?

Mainly l source for my gemstones and materials from different countries abroad and we get few things locally.

How lucrative is gemstone designing and how widely accepted has it been?

I am not going to tell you it’s not lucrative, not everybody can afford to wear high grade well polish precious or semi precious stones,even the common coral and pearl we see around,has grade, it doesn’t come cheap at all, Gemstones has been around for ages , It’s in the Bible from the book of Exodus 28:13-20, Rev21:18-21, it’s not new, gemstones is widely known,but because there so many imitation out there,I need to do more explanation and show clients the difference between each grade and imitation. Sometimes you will need a device to test stones, merely looking at it may not give you the desired result.

What is the difference between the type of gemstones that we have?

We have different precious stones and semi-precious gemstones, the precious stones are rare and also very expensive like Diamond, Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, spinel, Tourmaline,Opal,AquaMarine, Amethyst , Peridot, Turquoise ,Tanzanite,Amber,Citrine, Zircon,crystal Qaurtz.etc.

We also have the semi-precious stones like Lapi lazuli,Agate, Aventurine,Pearl,Coral,Unakite,Howlite,RoseQuartz,Onyx,Sodalite, Hematite,Jasper.etc.they are not as expensive as the precious stones, they all come with their uniqueness and in different colors and shades.

Do you have a particular level of clients that patronise your kind of business?

Well we have some top clients and we also design for the middle class too,who want to be different

What has been the up and low of your business ?

Of course finance,we are trying our best to get the business running,another challenge is sourcing for the gemstones ,Nigeria is blessed with some of this gemstone, we have tourmaline, amethyst ,orange garnet ,Topaz etc.but I still have to travel abroad to get my polished gemstones.

How did you come about the name Styles By Saennys?

I was into corporate gifts,branding and printing the company’s name is Saennys Concepts, before l started designing gemstones, Saennys was coined out from Salu Eniola, a friend’s wife added “ styles by “ that is how l came about “Styles by Saennys”

Can you enumerate the clients that have patronized you ?

We have some top government officials, high profile lndividuals and some celebrities as clients, l would not like to mention our clients names, they know the value of gemstones and they wear solid rocks,we appreciate all our clients.

Do you have any preference to gemstones instead of beads?

I work mainly with gemstones,but sometimes we have clients who request for ordinary beads,we do it. The only order l don’t take is plastic beads, l don’t work with plastic beads.

Do you organise Trainings?

Yes We do our personal training,and l have also worked with the Ministry for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation (WAPA) on their empowerment program, training people on beads,bridal fan and hair accessories, across various local govt. in Lagos State.

How affordable is Styles By Saennys ?

We have something for every lndividual that wants to wear our Jewellery pieces,we are affordable.

What makes Styles by Saennys different from other brands?

Styles by Saennys is very different from others,we create timeless, hand crafted jewellery pieces in distinctive design that can compete with world class designs using well polished high grade gemstones and material.

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