Women are different creatures. Their sense of beauty and aesthetics is keen. Because of this they are often caught at the collision of technology and style. The perfect outfit can be ruined by the functional style of technology. One black women has recognized that style and technology do not have to clash. Aniyia L. Williams is the founder and CEO of Tinsel. Williams creates technology enabled jewelry for women that blends the two. Tinsel products are designed to ensure that women can enjoy technology with style.
Williams is an alumna of Code2040 a program who’s stated goal is to promote African-Americans and Latinos as true technology innovators and entrepreneurs by the year 2040. The leaders of this program believe that “the nation as a whole will be stronger when the contributions of communities of color are sought out and included within the innovation economy. As result, in 2040, we envision a nation as a whole that is more equitable, innovative, and prosperous.”
Williams is a remarkable women who is proud of her multiple talents. Her personal website lists them as not only the founder of Tinsel but also marketer, musician, hair magician. techie, foodie and mother.
In addition to Tinsel Williams serves as Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) with her alma mater CODE2040, she works with Google for Entrepreneurs, and is a board member of the non-profit audio engineering group Women’s Audio Mission.
Aniyia Williams decided that style and function can work together with technology in the mix. Williams’ Tinsel design company is the product of a common dilemma that is headphones that lack feminine style and are a problem to keep track of and store. There had to be an answer.
Williams answer to the problem was to put great-sounding earbuds inside a fashionable necklace that kept them ready use, out of sight and still looking great with any outfit. A great idea but Williams had never started a business before nor created discreet, miniaturized audio equipment. This was her challenge.
Williams went to work on her dream even while hiding her pregnancy from her employees and investors. But that is another exciting story.
Williams startup was bare bones but her target goal was to get a prototype ready. She was dedicated to creating a quality product and studied audio engineering so her product would deliver quality sound while still looking great. Williams made maximum use of her connections like her former boss at Vox CEO Tom Katis.
The results of one black women following her dream has resulted in a company that pioneers the converging region of style and technology. Williams worked with co-founder Monia Santinello to push Tinsel to the front as a fashion/tech brand.
Another remarkable fact of the Tinsel brand is that it is almost all women who have built it. “A man just doesn’t come from a place of knowing what happens when you wake up in the morning and decide to put on a piece of jewelry,” Williams said. “It’s not just about having the technical chops, it’s about deeply understanding the use case and the demographic.”
Tinsel’s first product named the Dipper launched an Indiegogo campaign to generate much needed capital and to prove to potential investors that Williams had truly found a market worth backing. The campaign was a success bringing in more than $50,000 in pre-orders.
With this success Tinsel is now up and flying as a fashion/tech company. Check out the company website to see its products.
Now you know.
