Story Behind Fayola - Startup of Two Friends
Fayola is a newly created startup, reflecting African culture and connecting it with the authentic Georgian characteristic. CBW had an interview with its founders, Nutsa Otkhvani and Tika Mgeladze.
"Fayola is a Georgian concept, behind which is hidden African culture with its diversity and bright colors. Most of all, we wanted to connect African culture with Georgian and offer very interesting new products. People often give up on their dreams and new challenges because of a crazy routine, life seems to put more demands on them, and in this chaos, desires are lost. The most important aspect for us while creating "Fayola" was self-expression, as bringing our own childhood ideas to fruition."
Where, when, and how was the initial idea born and how did you transform the idea into the reality of what Fayola represents today?
We are childhood friends and always wanted to have some business in common. But it took us quite a long time to come up with this idea. A few years ago we discovered that there was not a wide range of sandals in Georgia. Since we are lovers of sandals, we decided to create them with our own design. The main inspiration is Nutsa’s trip to Morocco. She found African culture very interesting and magical, so we decided to name our startup Fayola - an African woman’s name, which means luck. Fayola is a colorful, interesting, and young woman, who faces new experiences as we do. So, this has symbolic meaning for us.
How have your personal experiences helped shape the startup?
We have totally different professions, we study at the law school. But, to be honest, since childhood we have been doing many different activities together. So we thought we could overcome a new challenge. We read a lot of important information, gained some experience, and made Fayola. But the main clue is that we are doing it with love and care - As if we are only doing it only for ourselves.
What have been the biggest challenges for you so far while working in this field?
Fayola was created during a pandemic when everything was suspended. Therefore, it was quite difficult and risky to start a new business in these conditions. Quite a lot of resources were invested in working on quality, to get exactly the quality we wanted. In addition, we aimed to prove to ourselves that despite the busy schedule of a lawyer, we could handle a new challenge and start our own business.
What does the collection of Fayola currently involve?
Currently, we have different models of sandals. Our main requirement was quality, we worked very hard to come up with this quality, so, each sandal is made with natural leather and is very comfortable.
What is the working process like?
In our case, the working process is never exhausting, instead, it’s very enjoyable, friendly, and full of new experiences. Since we have quite a lot of experience in dealing with each other, we come to a common decision very easily.
What are your expectations for the future of Fayola and do you have any new projects/plans coming up?
Sandals are only the first step of our big plan. We are already working on new products, Which will soon appear on our Instagram/Facebook page. But we will tell you one secret, all of them will be made in a colorful and African line.