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Honduran Sisters Start Inspiring Jewelry Business in Fredericton

Hanna Bustos , ,

Fredericton, NB – Valeria and Monica Boquin, two St. Thomas University students, started Vam Vam Jewelry last year in the middle of the pandemic. The twin sisters have been living in Fredericton for the past three years and wanted to showcase some of their culture through jewelry. They started as an entrepreneur business selling earrings and now, they have expanded their products to rings, necklaces, and hairpins.

Originally from Honduras, the sisters were inspired by their family’s entrepreneurial spirit and strong female leadership. Valeria, who designs and makes the products by hand says that in her family “the females are very empowering, very strong. They have their own businesses; they are leaders and they all inspired me to come home, and you know to bring something that I am passionate about with also meaning.”

 

Valeria and Monica started selling earrings to close friends, and now they have expanded their business to rings, necklaces and even custom orders.                  (Hanna Bustos/STU Journalism)

 

Monica and Valeria use social media as a key resource to promote their products and reach new customers. They try to follow and emulate current trends online to attract new clients and keep their social media pages relevant in the fast-paced business world.

Social media has become a crucial tool for small entrepreneurs, and businesses in Fredericton are part of this trend to reach wider audiences. It was through social media that Diana Chavez, a loyal Vam Vam customer, discovered the store. She loves the sisters’ business because it is student-led and because they also give some of its profit back to the community. For Diana supporting local business is crucial as a customer as she explains that “supporting local is so important in Fredericton because it just goes back to the community, and it contributes to local growth which I’m a really big fan supporter of.”

 

For Diana, buying from businesses like Vam Vam is important because it helps to support small entrepreneurship in the Frederiction community.                       (Hanna Bustos/STU Journalism)

 

Valeria explains that aside from being a business, they want to incorporate a social justice component that empowers people. She says they strongly believe in giving back to the community, not only here in Fredericton but back in her home country as well. For that reason, they partnered with three different organizations, RAICES (Refugee & Immigrant Center for Education & Legal Services), Honduras Agape Foundation and Venezuela 180. These organizations, which support their respective communities with social development initiatives, receive a percentage of every Vam Vam product sold worldwide.

Aside from empowering the community, this business also is working towards becoming environmentally friendly. When creating her designs, Valeria aims to use recycled material from Honduras as they aspire to “become a source that connects the environment with its people”.

When creating their product, the Boquin sisters use environmentally friendly materials as well as designs that showcase their Honduran roots. (Vam Vam Instagram)

 

The sisters see their business growing every day and are excited to see what happens in the future. Valeria says that they want the store to “become a business that educates people, has social activism but also helps others feel empowered with our jewellery pieces.”

By sharing their story and entrepreneurship online, they hope to inspire other international students like them to open their own businesses. They advise that while it can be hard, students should not be afraid to follow their dreams.