Designers / Industry

How I Got Here: Rekha Brar on Crunching the Numbers on a New Life in Jewelry

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Jewelry can be a subtle touch, like a dainty pair of earrings or simple pendant. For Rekha Brar, jewelry is about making a statement and making sure everyone in the room sees what you are wearing for all of the right reasons.

What makes Brar’s approach to jewelry so surprising is that her first career was as an accountant—something stereotypically thought of as a profession that hides in the background and is concerned only with the end result.

Brar has lived the opposite way since she founded Blossom Box Jewelry in September 2011. While she started in accounting, jewelry was the ultimate destination, and she’s never going to take that path from numbers to jewelry for granted.

“Jewelry is a representation of who you are,” Brar says. “Wearing a statement piece of jewelry should make one feel beautiful, it should tell a story about who you are. Standing out in a crowd and being bold and not being afraid is what the brand embodies.”

Blossom Box choker and earrings
Rekha Brar says she wants her jewelry to help women make a statement, including bold colors and dramatic shapes like this choker and earrings that are part of the Gaurika necklace set ($150).

Brar grew up in Canada, where her parents emigrated from India, but she says some of her favorite memories were visiting family in India as a child. She recalls the country’s commitment to color, sparkling jewels, and the pursuit of artistic and creative perfection.

“From a young age, my parents would take me and my siblings to India frequently. It was the rich, vibrant culture of India that captured my heart,” Brar says. “Walking through the rows and rows of sparkling bazaars and watching craftsmen make fabrics and jewelry by hand was so inspiring. I wanted to bring these rich Eastern-inspired elements into the Western world.”

She attended Baruch College’s Zicklin School of Business in New York, where she majored in management and minored in entrepreneurship. Brar also a has a graduate degree in business from New York University.

“I took a general accounting course in my undergrad and enjoyed working with numbers. I realized at that point I wanted to pursue my studies in the numbers world, but after working in a cubicle crunching numbers for a few years I realized it wasn’t my calling,” Brar says. “I was always creative at heart and went back to my roots to figure out what I was really passionate about before transitioning into jewelry.”

Blossom Box necklace and earrings
This lightweight Omaja necklace set in baby pink ($165) is ideal to wear for summer events, says Brar.

Her first job was working for a luxury real estate company as an accountant; she was living in Canada, and it wasn’t just the cold that was getting to her. Those earliest lessons about jewelry and expressing yourself through a creative calling came roaring back.

Brar started selling jewelry on social media sites such as Facebook, boosting her work through advertising and community building. Soon, she was doing pop-up shops and gaining face-to-face traction in addition to her website.

“Working as an accountant taught me how to analyze numbers and gather insights,” Brar says. “I was able to use this skill set in my e-commerce company and focus on growing the brand based on this data as opposed to guessing.”

Brar says her initial efforts selling jewelry as a hobby just weren’t enough—and it didn’t take years of number crunching to see that. An important trade show moment was just the momentum Blossom Box needed, Brar says.

Blossom Box earrings
These earrings are definitely statement pieces, says Brar. They are part of the Ahalya necklace set ($185).

“I quickly realized Blossom Box had the potential of becoming a full-time endeavor. It was at our first trade show when we were spotted by our first major retailer: Neiman Marcus. Soon after, other retailers carried Blossom Box,” Brar says. “This momentum of supplying to stores throughout the USA led me to transition into jewelry.”

That sale led to others, and today Blossom Box is found in Nordstrom, Free People, and Anthropologie, as well as in stores across the United Kingdom and Dubai. Some of the brand’s most popular pieces are its Mini Gatsby earrings, Amaya earrings, Adh hoops, and Evie studs.

Part of her journey today is bringing other women, specifically those in India, along with her as Blossom Box grows.

“Blossom Box Jewelry supports women to be bold, be daring, and be different, but the brand also supports women artisans in India,” Brar says. “Our workshop consists mainly of women making each and every Blossom Box piece by hand. Designed in New York, made with love by our artisans in India.”

Top: Rekha Brar studied to be an accountant, and she says that background helps her throughout her jewelry business, especially when it comes to data for her website and online sales for Blossom Box Jewelry (photos courtesy of Blossom Box Jewelry). 

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Karen Dybis

By: Karen Dybis

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