How to create an online business?

Goda Narijauskaite [Go:da Narijauskaite:] owns an online handmade sunglasses brand called SUPERNORMAL. Her office is in an old theatre building in the heart of Vilnius. She greets us with a cup of sugarfree quince tea made with her grandma’s jam. Owning a business isn’t easy, building a brand and creating yet another excel file to record sales isn’t fun - so much of doing your own stuff is damn difficult. Goda started six years ago, and even today it’s not all perfect. Yet, it’s the decision of taking control of your own life that counts. Here’s what she’s learned so far.

WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO GO INTO THE SUNGLASSES BUSINESS?

I’ve been working in fashion for the past six years. Even before my own first attempts, I was curious about the current trends, so naturally this world always seemed quite exciting. Eventually, after building my own brand and starting to sell at various fairs and pop-ups or just to clients in my own studio, an abrupt realization came to mind of how fault-finding my clientele saw themselves - they criticized the shape of their face, the color or the size of their eyes, double chins, scars, moles and so on.

For quite a while I would criticize myself too, but after seeing the damage from afar, it was noticeable that this valiant self-criticism and meek self-appreciation is a widespread tendency. I thought to myself - all of these facial and body features, all of our ubiquitous differences is what creates the human character, a piece out of their history. How can all that be unlovely? Supernormal carries the message that there is no objective explanation for beauty, so there shouldn’t be an objective beauty standard.

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED THROUGHOUT THE YEARS OF BUILDING YOUR OWN BUSINESS?

Oh, I guess that it doesn’t have to be all perfect immediately. I started out…

You can read the full article in -What do people do? magazine, order at our online shop.

WORDS: RASA JUSIONYTĖ

PHOTOS: UGNĖ HENRIKO