Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Ted Deltour, Founder of Tresors de St Barth, located in Montreal, QC, CA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
My name is Ted, and I own TRESORS DE ST BARTH pearls and leather Jewelry from St. Barth's Island. I work exclusively with Australian & Tahitian fine pearls on leather and gold, treasures, and curiosity I find on my way. No two people love exactly the same thing. I like working in a space where everyone can find a unique piece that matches their taste, their own jewel, their own treasure, and incorporate it into their own personal history.
Tell us about yourself
Born in Paris, I have always felt the need to blend my professional life with an artistic life - theater student, calligraphy lover, and curious traveler. I left Vendome Square and discovered the island of St Barth by chance in 2002. A small and very chic island lost in the Caribbean. Necessity guides our steps, and chance, if given attention, shapes our destiny. I was supposed to spend a few months there and then return home. Here I am, 20 years later, rather surprised myself, working as a creative jeweler with stores and shops on the island. From my travels, I always brought back little treasures gleaned here and there, pieces of things, old fabrics, historical artifacts, amulets, and talismans - each object telling its own story. I was looking for a place where I could gently create what I perceived, hidden behind my own inclination always to tell stories, to collect treasures and rare pearls. I discovered the jewelry production on St. Barthelemy Island, and time has decided to flow more strangely; every day was a new creative one working with amazing leather and pearls materials. I finally discovered what was missing to bind all my passions together, a simple leather strand that, under the gentle trade winds, blends my past with an ever-stretching present. On the heights of Gustavia, I marry pearls and treasures every day in front of the Caribbean Sea, where I installed my workshop.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Living on a tiny island is a challenge for designing jewelry. I had to develop a particular skill to build my brand of St Barth Pearls and leather jewelry. On top of all, find and create a worldwide network to import the island all the materials and resources I needed for Tresors de St Barth for my company to prosper and be healthy.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
Everything is handmade by me in St Barthelemy island. If you send a message, I will respond. If you order a piece of jewelry, I will text you back on forth until we are on the same page, wrapping it up and shipping it out. Wearing all the hats is a lot of work and rewarding. It means that every element of the operation is an expression of who I am. As an artist, I consider it all connected - the expression of my inner vision, finding interesting materials to work with, designing the pieces, taking all the pictures designing this website, my business card, the images I post on social media, and of course the work itself are all part of the same creative output.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
Confidence, patience, and consistency. Having high-quality requirements for oneself and one's production.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://tresorsdestbarth.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tresorsdestbarth
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tresorsdestbarth/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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