Samantha Wills has been in the spotlight as one of Australia’s most dynamic speakers and creative personalities since launching her self-titled jewellery brand at Australian Fashion Week in 2004, at just 21 years of age.

Samantha quickly gained a high profile, drawing the attention of Forbes, The Huffington Post, The New York Post, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian. She was tipped early on to be “Australia’s biggest export since Vegemite.” Having her jewellery featured in Sex and The City thrust Samantha onto the international stage, and she was shortly after declared a ‘Break Out Star’ By the New York Times.

With an enviable A-List celebrity client list and having offices in Sydney, New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris and Tokyo, Wills – who hails from small town Port Macquarie, NSW – made history as the first Australian jewellery designer to appear on juggernaut American cable shopping channel QVC.

After 15 years, and stating that she felt the SAMANTHA WILLS jewellery brand had achieved all it had set out to do, Wills announced that she was closing the jewellery business in January 2019.

Wills has many awards and accolades to her name, including being inducted in to the Business Women’s Hall of Fame for HER Business and being awarded the Women of Influence Entrepreneur of the year in 2017. Samantha was nominated for Australian of the Year in 2016 for her work in empowering women. She was also Cosmopolitan Fashion Designer of the Year in 2015 and Prix de Marie Claire People’s Choice Accessories Brand of the Year in 2013.

With a cult following equally for her enviable bohemian-luxe personal and interiors style as well as her down to earth voice, Wills has become bankable business for brands including American Express, Optus, Treasury Wine Estate, Westpac and General Motors engaging her as a speaker and/or brand
ambassador.

A regular keynote speaker at conferences globally that focus on women in business, Wills also often shares her inspiring story with young women, with the message; ‘Young girls with big dreams, become women with vision.’ Passionate about supporting women in business, Wills continues her work with the SamanthaWillsFoundation.org, and is an advocate for gender equality and conscious kindness. Samantha resides in Sydney where she has recently published her first book while travelling the world as a creative ambassador and keynote speaker.

Congratulations on your recent release of ‘Of Gold & Dust’ – it’s brave, honest and raw, and also contains invaluable information for entrepreneurs and business people. What’s the greatest lesson people starting out can take away from the book?

Thank you! I am very excited that it is out in the world!
I hope that the message conveyed is the parallel of what goes into building a business. The professional and the personal. I hope that by sharing my journey—especially the human side to it, that it makes others feel less isolated on their journey.

If you started out Samantha Wills jewellery today, what would you do differently, if anything?

I would definitely have engaged a bookkeeper from the get go. Bookkeepers are gods gift to creatives! As creative founders we throw ourselves in the brand side so deeply, the business side becomes a chore… but to have a commercial success creative venture, the stronger the business structure, the more you are able to do creatively. Having a good bookkeeper provides you transparency on the financials which allows you to then creative even bigger.

Tell us about the ‘why’ behind your book and what made you want to start writing?

Because so often all we see is the milestones and success of a brand and while that is great to celebrate, it’s not the whole story. I’ve long spoken about the highlight reel and also the hurdles, but what I wanted to do with Of Gold And Dust was show the human element that joins those two things together. It’s humans doing business and I think sometimes we forget that part of it.

You’ve had a number of influential people wear and showcase your jewellery pieces and they are world renowned – is the Bohemian ring your personal favourite and do you have a favourite stone that you prefer personally?

I have to say yes because she (the bohemian bardot) was such a signature for us!! But truth be told I don’t really have a favourite. If I’m being REALLY honest, jewellery was never my one true love. Creativity and storytelling were. It just so happened I was able to do that through the vehicle of jewellery.

When P!NK wore Samantha Wills Jewellery that was really impactful to me, and as I share in the book, she purchased the entire collection. When her assistant emailed us telling us she wanted to purchase the whole collection I truly could not believe it.

I am also a big Taylor Swift fan so to have her wear our pieces over the years is incredibly special. The only celebrity I wished we had of dressed is Michelle Obama. She is my dream!

Where’s your happy place or your favourite place to hang out?

In creative spaces. I recently did a workshop with Sarah Andrews for her program the Hosting Masterclass and she ran it from an old Butter Factory near Daylesford in Victoria. I love spaces with patina and history and stories within their walls.

And what’s next for Samantha Wills…. what’s next on the agenda?

On SamanthaWills.com we are releasing a branding masterclass in June which is handing over of absolutely everything that I know!! It’s been a huge project to produce but I am excited to offer this information to people and I hope it helps them navigate their own creative paths.

What book are you reading now?

I Give My Marriage A Year by Holly Wainwright

Coast or City?

Coast, City and Country! I’m a Sagittarius. We go mad if we stay in the one place too long.

You travel a lot for work – where is the best place you have visited and why?

I think I am romanticising everywhere right now because Covid has us all grounded! Living in New York for ten years was pretty magical, I truly love the UK and the history in the streets and buildings.

To find out more about Samantha head to:

Webpage
https://samanthawills.com/
https://www.samanthawillsfoundation.org/

Facebook
@OfficialSW