StarLight: Fufu’s Sherelle Timothy

Sherelle Timothy, 25, was born and raised right here in lovely Waitukubuli and has lived in Wall House with her family her entire life. She has a son, whom she describes as amazing, funny, a loving little guy and as far as Sherelle is concerned, she could not have asked for a better child. Sherelle has been a born again Christian for a number of years.

She has always been a creative person. When she was a teenager, she would draw and write short stories. Last year, while discussing business ideas with a friend, he encouraged her to pursue something that she would truly enjoy doing. At the time, Sherelle had no idea what that could possibly be but she knew she wanted to do something with her hands, something artistic.

She thought about it for a while and considered different options and, jewellery making was the one that resonated with her the most. She prayed about it before moving forward with this endeavour and when God gave her the peace to go through with it she took a leap of faith, did some research, bought some materials and immediately fell in love with it . 

She got a name for her business, thanks to an uncle who loves nicknames. When she was born he decided to call her Fufu which he told her meant hummingbird. When the time came to decide on what she wanted to call her business, the name Fufu was the first thing that came to mind.

She did some research on the significance of a hummingbird and discovered that it actually brings luck, joy, hope, comfort, love, appreciation, freedom and so many other amazing things. It’s also known for its vigour and persistence which in turn, inspire people to pursue their dreams.

Sherelle said she honestly doesn’t think there could have been anything more suitable than the name Fufu’s for her business. 

When she was very young, while her mother worked at the School for the Hearing Impaired, there were a lot of different training activities in different skills conducted for the students who attended the school and one of the courses covered jewellery making.

Alongside her mother, she followed the course and learned how to make so many beautiful designs, some of them quite similar to what she is doing now. That was the first time she ever experienced jewellery making.

Sherelle is not sure if she can really say that’s where she acquired the skill because it was such a long time ago, but she won’t say that it didn’t help her either. She acknowledges, however, that her mother is a very talented woman and she believes that her creativity comes from her mom. Her mother knows how to sew, bake, decorate cakes and she’s an excellent writer. In addition to the jewellery making course she took with her mother, they both attended an interior decorating course together.

Sherelle says the amount of time she needs to create any item depends on how intricate the design is. There are some that she can complete in an hour, some in half an hour and others could take as long as four hours or more. 

With a full time job, a child, pursuing a degree and her jewellery business, Sherelle says there are a lot of things to keep track of but by God’s grace, she gets it all done.

She’s a night owl, and so, late nights are a usual occurrence for her regardless of whether she’s busy or just relaxing. She creates all jewellery late at night, after her son has gone to bed.

Despite being a working girl, she finds the time to complete her orders on weekends when she’s usually at home.

Sherelle has set two one-year goals for Fufu’s. Firstly, she’s aiming to expand Fufu’s outside of Dominica and secondly, she plans to create a market for herself not just locally but regionally and hopefully, internationally as well.

She plans to introduce some new products to the Fufu’s brand to offer handmade products other than jewellery. She has been doing some research on a few very interesting ventures and there’s one particular product that Sherelle is excited about. She hopes to introduce this to the public in the near future.

Sherelle has faced challenges from the very beginning. Jewellery is an impulse purchase for a lot of people and not having a strategic location to enable her  to capitalize on that has been her biggest challenge thus far. However, her business is still young and she has faith that in the future she will definitely overcome this. 

Fufu’s currently offers handmade beaded jewellery such as earrings, bracelets, necklaces, chokers and anklets for men, women and children. Her current prices range from $5 to $65 based on what one is interested in. Some of the designs are intricate and require more time and materials to create while others, especially the products for children, require fewer materials to produce.

“If you do what you love then you will never work a day in your life,” are the words of advice which Sherelle shares with anyone who is seeking to start a business.

“ I believe Marc Antony [famous Roman politician and general] said that,” Sherelle says, “and I think that this should be the attitude behind starting any business – doing what you’re passionate about.”

She continues, “I would also say to persevere even when it becomes difficult. A lot of times people may step into something with the expectation of smooth sailing and run away in the face of disappointment but you can’t get to the top without climbing the mountain first.” 

Sherelle loves all things creative and interesting, especially when they’re handmade. She says the ability to create something with her hands and having someone excited about it and willing to purchase it, so that they can own something that she made, is just so amazing to her. She enjoys the freedom that comes with the ability to create these designs that she is excited about.

The famous words of historical Roman figure, Marc Antony, have indeed found true meaning in the life of  Sherelle Timothy.

Fufu’s can be found on Facebook @fufustreasures, and on instagram @fufus.treasures, where anyone can view her products and send a message with their order. She can also be contacted via email, [email protected]

Below are pictures of some samples of Fufu’s jewellery.