This week for the Sixth Form Speaker Programme we had the privilege of welcoming Amelia Hitchcock-Merritt. Amelia is the founder of Bijoux De Mimi, a colourful jewellery brand selling huggie hoops stocked in global stores such as Urban Outfitters and Wolf and Badger USA. At only 20 years old, Amelia’s brand Bijoux De Mimi Jewellery is already worth six figures. It is a well-known brand among FHS girls so we were all extremely excited for this talk.

Amelia firstly discussed the time between her leaving school and starting her business. She explained the process of creating her brand: Bijoux De Mimi was founded during the pandemic with £400 Amelia had saved up from selling her clothes on Depop.  She managed to spot a gap in the market for colourful huggie hoop earrings and due to the free time she encountered during the pandemic, Amelia was able to grow her business. Social media played a huge role in creating her brand and soon after she had started her brand one of her TikToks of the earrings went viral boosting her brands visibility and therefore sales. Bijoux De Mimi went on to become a leading small business and Amelia was nominated for many awards, even being invited to be the youngest person on a London Fashion Week panel!

Although the brand continued to grow, Amelia had her ups and downs discussing with us how she found it difficult to manage a team and the sometimes-overwhelming nature of running her own business. At the end of the talk many of us had questions about various things such as Amelia’s day to day life and advice she would give for any budding entrepreneurs. We were all truly inspired by Amelia’s passion and drive; something we all strive to find in our future careers!

Mary MacGreevy, LVI