A Touch of Tikkhu

Jewelry from Tikkhu Jewelry | Photography by Alicia Johnson Photography | Modeled by @zanaoheart, @mirandajulin & @caraachow | Set by Rohit Communities (@rohitcommunities) | Published by @the_issuemagazine

With jewelry that tells stories and enables its wearers to express their personal beauty, Tikkhu Jewelry is an Edmonton-based brand that offers delicate gold-plated and gold-filled jewelry, as well as eco-friendly hair accessories. Tikkhu has sold at several pop-ups, joined United by TMK in Kingsway Mall - a collective of small businesses under one roof, as well as collaborated with many other brands. Run by an extremely small but mighty team, the brand offers beautiful and quality products, all while supporting community initiatives that are meaningful to them.

“The power of community has lifted Tikkhu to where we are today, and we will always have a place to give back to our community in bigger and better ways as we continue to grow.”

As Tikkhu continues growing while increasing their positive impact on the community, brand-founder Titi Fueston discusses her journey navigating her brand, challenges, and goals.

Tikkhu’s Origins

Tikkhu was founded by Titi, a well-travelled globetrotter and Registered Nurse, during the pandemic in November 2020 as a creative outlet. The name Tikkhu is a combination of Titi and “Khumbu”, a region nestled in the Himalayas, where the inspiration for the concept of Tikkhu was born. On Titi’s journey to Mount Everest Base Camp in 2013, she was captivated by the beauty of the mountains and the warm Nepalese culture. She described even the rocks as being magical, shimmering with what appeared to be tiny facets of quartz. Titi brought back many of these rocks, to wrap them in wire and create jewelry pieces. Wanting to keep these memories alive for years to come, the concept of Tikkhu was born.

The brand then originated as an eclectic collection of wire wrapped stones, gemstones, shark teeth, and seashells accented with brass, gunmetal and gold findings, all accumulated from Titi’s travels to over forty countries! Prior to the official creation of Tikkhu as a brand, Titi created jewelry in spurts, selling to friends and family. Her personal style changed as time passed but she has always followed the same premise of using inspiration drawn from nature’s elements. When TIkkhu came to fruition in November 2020, the created jewelry was  more delicate and utilized natural and synthetic gemstones with dainty gold chains and findings.

While Tikkhu had been a part of Titi’s life for many years, it wasn’t until the pandemic created a shift in her nursing path, giving her the time and space to really delve into it. Titi also attributes much of her motivation to start to her husband, her biggest supporter who kept her accountable for transforming her dreams into reality.

Overcoming the Obstacles

“Imposter syndrome was a huge challenge I faced and it wasn’t until after our first year that I felt true confidence in the brand, despite the positive feedback and unwavering support. I couldn’t explain the self-doubt and why it persisted for so long, but perhaps coming from a healthcare background with no business experience made it feel like I was reaching for something unattainable.”

Time and product exposure helped Titi overcome her limiting beliefs. As the business’ reach grew to larger audiences, Titi was affirmed that the brand was moving in the right direction. With time, she overcame the self-doubts limiting herself and blossomed into the brand identity with confidence.

Along with the rapid growth of the brand came another challenge that Titi needed to overcome. As a one-woman show, it was hard for Titi to hire someone and delegate tasks. When she took the leap and hired help in production and photography, it allowed her to shift her focus onto future business plans, optimizing the brand further. Although it has been challenging to learn how to be a “boss,” Titi highlights what an important milestone it has been and how proud she is of the amazing team that works alongside her.

As a small business owner, work-life balance has always been, and sometimes still is a challenge for Titi. It was easy to get lost in an endless list of tasks, while also nurturing her relationships and personal health. Starting out of her home, it was initially hard to physically distance work and personal life. Running Tikkhu out of a separate studio rather than from home was an important part of separating work and life effectively.

“We were intentional and productive when we went to work, and could focus on our “life” when we came home.”

Operating The Business

“The best way to describe our designing process is that there is no process at all - free-flow.”

When it comes to the process, Titi describes how sometimes materials sit for months or even years before she incorporates them into designs. She is in a constant state of developing new concepts or reworking existing designs. Titi is often inspired late at night, which is when many of the pieces were conceptualized – so much so that she used to wake up in the middle of the night with an idea and run to put it together! The brand embraces the idea that creativity comes in ebbs and flows and focuses on embracing the creation process as it comes rather than creating season collection releases, like tends to happen in the fashion industry. This is just one way Tikkhu has stood out when reaching new people.

Social media has been a driving force for Tikkhu to reach their audience and expand their reach. They focus on posting consistently and representing their true selves through their posts. Doing this was difficult during their early days, often overthinking what to post and captions to utilize.

“As we got more comfortable in our brand presence, we started to embrace and share our quirky personality through our posts which made things a lot easier and ultimately facilitated a stronger connection to our audience.”

Standing out in physical pop-ups has also been an important part of growing as a brand. Tikkhu constantly evolves the visual merchandising to create an inviting space for everyone. In the past 2022 holiday season, they invested in a popup display with large displays and signage, contributing to an enhanced brand presence and experience. Upon reflecting on their past popups, the team at Tikkhu enjoys seeing transformations and improvements with every event.

Titi shares that their bestselling pieces have always been the ones that people can attach sentimental meaning to - butterflies, bumblebees, plants, and astrology to name a few. From their original launch in 2020 to now, Tikkhu fan-favourites have been the same to this day - the Babygurl Huggies, with colorful and cute acrylic butterfly charms, and their Archetype Zodiac Necklace, a signature gold coin pendant featuring each astrological zodiac sign on a silky snake chain. 

Collaborations and Community

Collaborations are an important part of Tikkhu - whether that’s working with the community, or giving back to it.  Besides offering beautiful and quality products, Tikkhu offers warm intentions with a  goal to support community initiatives that are meaningful to the team. Since their conception, they’ve donated over $3000 to local initiatives including Hope Mission, the Bissell Centre, The Bent Arrow Healing Society and the Indian Residential School Survivors Society.

 Recently, Tikkhu Jewelry collaborated with House of Curves Canada to create a size-inclusive jewelry line. Titi met Marie Hutchinson at House of Curves Canada in April 2022, connecting immediately as small-business friends. Soon after, the two acknowledged the lack of options in size-inclusive necklaces available to the plus-size community.

“I would often meet customers at markets inquiring about customizing longer pieces; it was clear that this was something the industry was lacking.”

The teams worked together to create 5 necklaces with extended lengths, ranging from 20 to 24 inches. The collaboration was a huge success and had an incredible impact on the community. Tikkhu plans to continue offering extended length chains in future collections, and is open to more collaborations on the horizon. Some of Tikkhu Jewelry’s other past collaborations have been with Weekly Hair Salon, Zana Ohe Ceramics and Heartwick Candles to name a few, and in the future, they hope to collaborate with artists and graphic designers to create some iconic brand merchandise.

Reflection, Future Outlook and Advice

Titi recommends that people starting out with a small business take every opportunity that comes up. While 2022 was very busy for their team , they were able to reach  many different audiences. Rather than viewing success in terms of sales made, she recommends success be viewed in terms of connections and relationships made on your journey. What started as a creative outlet for Titi has turned into so much more. Tikkhu Jewelry was not only able to open up a community of supporters but has also introduced her to entrepreneurs and like-minded individuals.

“My most cherishable takeaway in this journey thus far is finding out that I’ve inspired others - I’ve inspired other entrepreneurs to take the leap of faith as I did, to persevere, and trust the process. How cool is that?”

As the brand grows, Tikkhu aims to grow their impact on community initiatives. They always strive to improve their products and work with new materials that are more sustainable and longer lasting. 

To support Tikkhu Jewelry, you can find their items in stock at Brew and Bloom Cafe, Felice Cafe, Shop Chop, Wrinkled Boutique and Unite by TMK (Kingsway Mall) in Edmonton. You’ll also be able to spot Tikkhu’s collections at some local upcoming markets, including:

Hello Pretty Market (March 11-12, 2023)

Tikkhu Studio Popups (Dates TBA)

To keep up with Titi and her journey with Tikkhu Jewelry, you can visit their website at www.tikkhu.com, or follow along with them on Instagram at @tikkhujewelry.