Business Women We Love: Inna and Anyuta of Inaya Jewelry

There are times when you meet people and the conversation just flows easily, there are no awkward pauses, and you feel like there’s no way that you’ve just met. I’d say that pretty much sums up my conversation with sisters Inna and Anyuta of Inaya Jewelry—and yes the store name is a mashup of their names. We were informally introduced by a mutual friend via social media, and began following each other’s brands. I remember at some point thinking—why are these legit business women following me? Like, they have not one, but two brick and mortar stores in New York City. One in Grand Central Station, the other in my favorite neighborhood, the West Village. Yet slowly but surely our communication grew. We began sharing likeminded thoughts, and having interest in the same things. I paid more attention to the intentionality behind their brand, and noticing that they were putting out far more than just jewelry into the world.

Inna and Anyuta are women of the world. They’re immigrants and refugees. They understand our culture landscape, and the shifts taking place regarding conversations on race and gender. They understand the importance of lifting up women—both young and mature, because in doing so, we not only re-write the narrative that women over a certain age are expendable, but that life experience is far greater a virtue than youth . The perspectives of these sisters, as Mothers and seasoned business owners contributed to a rich conversation, but it was the conviction of their passion that did it for me. Every business owner will be in business for a different reason. Some to make money. Others for fame. And a smaller more authentic few are in it because their business is simply an extension of their personhood. As for the Inna and Anyuta, it’s the latter for them. And it’s their passion and energy for what they do that made this conversation so fruitful.

The following interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Firstly, talk me through your story.

Anyuta: This Christmas is going to be our 20th year. It’s so special and we have such gratitude for it. The idea of this was that I went to India when I was 20 years old on a spiritual quest, and I was going to get enlightened. Well the enlightenment didn’t happen, but in the middle of the process I would get visions of different designs. So I would sketch everything I saw, and I would create the designs based on the sketches. And when I came back to New York City wearing them, women would stalk me, like—-where did you get them?

Inna: Anyuta came back that first year with 40 or 50 pieces. When she came back, it was just something my older sister was doing, and then she was like, “hey kid, you wanna start a business together?” And I was like why not! If nothing else, I’ll be in business with my best friend. At that point I wasn’t a designer by any means, I was a junior in college studying psychology.

What was it like in the early days, and how did you educate yourself on being a business owner?

Anyuta: Lucky for us I have a business background because I went to business school. But what I was taught in school actually has nothing to do with real life. We learned by experience.

Inna: We are immigrants, we know what it’s like to see our family struggle, and start something new. So the groundwork was already there. The hustle was there. That first season we set up at a street fair, and there were all these different people, and we would ask them questions and they would help us. We learned that first season. It was sink or swim. We didn’t sink, but it was a very difficult swim.

Was there anyone who mentored you on your journey?

Inna: I can’t say mentored, but we would see the same people at street fairs and stuff and people were open to help us. And we learned really quickly. It was a collective community of street fair vendors who were looking out for each other.

Anyuta: In the beginning we asked really good questions, and you have to ask really good questions.

Most women business owners say they can’t do it alone. Would you say that was true for you?

Inna: Without each other, no. I see people who do this alone, and my hats off to them because I couldn’t do this alone. This whole journey of Inaya, it really is the story of my sister and I. So by ourselves it couldn’t have happened.

Is there anything you wish you would’ve known about business before jumping into things?

Anyuta: So many things, but none of it is really relevant because we learned from everything. I guess the attitude we have, no matter how difficult or what happens is-—-what did we learn from it? And if we learn something from it, we let it go.

Inna: Yeah I think there are no regrets. I guess if I could give my younger self any advice, I think I would say to take the help. Don’t do it all by yourself, ask for help, hire someone if you can. Don’t do it all by yourself there is no need.

How, if at all, has your business been impacted by the pandemic?

Anyuta: I’m not going to tell you that we didn’t panic, cause we had a moment. And then we decided that we were going to get through this. We didn’t know how, but we knew we would get through this. And it was very reminiscent of the beginning because we lost our staff, we had no one, and it was the two women show. Plus we both have little children now. Then we looked at every possible option, every grant, every application and it was so challenging. The system is so complicated and if you’re not patient enough and you cannot persevere I can see how people would give up. Once we made that decision that we were going to get through it, it was just divine intervention that we were able to keep the first store. We actually called our landlord to tell him that we were going to close the store but he said no you’re going to stay open. The Grand Central location was much more complicated, it was the biggest thing we’ve been a part of, but we were able to save it to.

Inna: Granted, we’re still pretty down [in sales], but we’re comparing it to pre-pandemic sales. What happened is that our most lucrative source of income is our Grand Central store, and our customers are the people who take the Metro North through Grand Central. Really it’s the people who commute back and forth and pass our store, that’s our customer base, and being there for 11 years, we had a pretty healthy following. Now considering that people weren’t going to work anymore. It was very difficult. But, then we found our footing. Us making the decision that we aren’t going down, once we knew that everything else fell into place. We just put one foot in front of the other. Now it’s still not easy, but right now we’re ok. We don’t think any small business is out of the woods, everything is still changing.

I’m curious to know your perspective of owning a business now that you’re 20 years in.

Inna: Well I think one thing that is a constant, from day one till now, is that we love what we do. I have dreams about designs. When Anyuta and I are together we still talk shop, and it’s not because we can’t disconnect, it’s because we love what we do. As a business owner, I see a lot of people jumping into different things, but do you love it? Because if you don’t love it, and if you don’t 100% believe in it, and if it’s not an extension of you, I don’t believe it can be a fruitful business. It can be a good harvest for maybe a season or two, but if you want longevity you better be all in. And that means accepting the difficult, the dirty, the disappointment, and the losses.

Anyuta: And with that, failure is not an option. That has been our motto from day one. When we started our business we were single. There was no one supporting us. I was never going back to Corporate America, so it had to work. And we very rarely talk about money. When we make a design, we very rarely talk about how much we can charge for it. That is never part of our conversation. First we make a piece, and after its done we look at our notes and we put a price on it. I think financial energy is a chain reaction of everything that happens before that. We sell a $95 pair of earrings the same way we sell a $5K pair of earrings. Our conversation is always about what we can give to people, and that adds to the longevity of the business.

What does it mean to you being a woman in business?

Inna: It’s an advantage. I feel like on many levels, we are certainly in touch with, and part of a divinity, that I think only those who can give life, or can appreciate the birth of life can understand. It means that you look at everything with a different perspective. Do it with love, and lead with heart. And we very much rise to that. So being a woman is a responsibility, and it’s apart of Godliness, we must be true to ourselves and spread the femininity and love. And sisterhood, that to us is everything.

Anyuta: We’re a woman led company, and we also mostly hire women. We lead by example, and we pass it forward. And we create for women, so we feel like everyday we are teaching women to love themselves and to appreciate themselves. In this history of humanity, we are living as the first generation of women in one of the very few countries where it’s good to be a woman. Most of the countries in the world, it is still not good to be a woman, so don’t squander this opportunity, Live your best life.