"I could not even afford a car, so I had to transport my little booth in trains."

small-shops: What were your motives for creating your own brand?

Hendrike Roers: After studying design, I was fulfilled by the things I have done in University and convinced that my patterns, objects, products and art would find their place in the free market. I wanted to do more research and develop my discoveries.

Moreover, I couldn’t imagine that my specific know-how could be of help for some company and I wasn’t even sure if I wanted that, because I heard unpleasant things from friends, that made their first working experiences at agencies.

I wanted to create my own world of work, my little microcosm with my own values for me and everyone who work with me.

And even though everyone told me that I should first gain some experience in established companies, I became self-employed. The beginning was very tough, but I never gave up. Now I am happy to have my own store, selling well-designed jewellery for everybody.

small-shops: Can you tell us about how you founded Kosae?

Hendrike Roers: I started selling art on Christmas markets. Later I participated in exhibitions and I managed to sell pieces for 1000 Euro, but it was not on a regular bases so it was hard to predict a monthly income. To compensate for those fluctuations, I did additional part time jobs pushing me to the limit.

Finally, I had the idea to combine my passion for patterns with my previously gained goldsmith skills and this is how Kosae was born.

small-shops: One of the biggest inspirations for you was a trip to Andalusia. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

Hendrike Roers: I went to this beautiful area of the world, solely because I wanted to have a great, relaxing holiday. But the culture and islamic art over there blew my mind and had such a lasting impact on me that I started to create Andalusian Stile patterns myself. The biggest challenge was to transform those 2d Patterns into 3D objects, paperworks and jewellery.

small-shops: Can you tell us more about some problems you faced in the founding time of Kosae?

Hendrike Roers: The shortage of money was definitely one of the biggest barriers in the beginning. Luckily my cousin was able to give me a small loan, I could use, to start selling art on Christmas markets. It was very tough because I had to cut back on almost all expenses. I could not even afford a car, so I had to transport my little booth in trains. Many times, I thought about quitting, but with a strong will and a slowly increasing income I managed to grow.

small-shops: How long did it take for you to have your own store?

Hendrike Roers: I started sharing a store with two other people. Later one dropped out, but it was always a little difficult because we constantly had to find common ground. Since march 2020 I finally have the store all for myself.

small-shops: Wow. So, in the middle of the corona crises, you opened your own shop. Would you say you profited out of this very special times?

Hendrike Roers: Immediately after I got my own store, I had to close it again. I used this time to paint walls and reorganize the shop. But I did suffer severe sales losses compared to the year before.

small-shops: Do you have goals for the new year?

Hendrike Roers: In 2021 I want to grow my online presence: Facebook, Instagram, Google. It is important to be less dependent from the markets and my physical store.

small-shops: What kind of benefits do you hope to get by being part of our newly found community?

Hendrike Roers: Hopefully people can read about small independent shops like mine and find exciting products. This would be a great advertisement. Maybe some of your visitors will find their way to my website and buy some of my art and jewellery.