History of Yu-Yulino
Beginning (2010)
My brand is about how important it is to listen to your heart.
I was born in Ukraine🇺🇦, in the city of Kryvyi Rih. My name is Julia.
Before creating jewelry, I had no idea what I wanted to do in life. I had no plans for the future, no interesting professions to pursue, no goals. Everything felt ordinary — school, university, parties. I thought that’s how life was supposed to be. Everyone goes to university, so I should too. I enrolled in the university in my city — I’m actually a geography teacher). In post-Soviet countries, higher education is considered absolutely essential. I studied as I could; I don’t have an “honor student syndrome” or a perfectionist inside me. Studying was fun, though — new people, new acquaintances, interesting teachers. But it all stayed on the level of “just interesting.”
2011
During that period, my boyfriend moved to another city to study, and we had a complicated long-distance relationship. He was very jealous and tried in every possible way to make me stay home instead of going out. I spent a lot of time at home, and I wanted to do something. I tried all kinds of handicrafts: sewing, embroidery, even making beaded rings — I liked it. I loved the very process of creating something beautiful out of simple things. You just sit at home and make something, and in that simplicity, there is peace and joy.
Then I started looking for different tutorials on YouTube — for example, “how to make earrings from findings and beads.” I realized I didn’t have any materials at home, so I went to the store, bought beads and pliers — and made myself a pair of earrings.
First Buyers (2011)
I found a tutorial about working with polymer clay, ordered the materials online, and got deeply immersed in it.
I made a lot of pieces — just for myself. The process of molding gave me a quiet joy at home. Of course, I wore them to university.
After about six months, I had my first customers — first my classmates, then other students at the university. I didn’t even set prices, maybe just covered the cost of materials. It was simply a pleasure to see people find something that suited them. It’s a very special feeling when a person finds something that is truly “theirs” — they suddenly turn into a child who doesn’t think, but just knows deep inside that this is for them. That moment always inspires me.
First Market (2012)
For a long time, I didn’t dare to participate in markets — I watched for almost two years. Then I finally decided to go for it. It was the first handmade market in my hometown, Kryvyi Rih. It was both exciting and terrifying — to show my jewelry to so many artisans and customers. I made so many pieces that I couldn’t even fit them all on one table. Everything went perfectly — I heard a lot of kind words and even earned some money. There were also people who found pieces that suited them exactly. For example, a ring that seemed plain and boring to me suddenly came alive on a person’s hand — and the person changed, too.
But my favorite work didn’t become a business (2012)
I switched to distance learning because I wanted to move to my boyfriend in Kharkiv. We started living together. My parents insisted I find a job, so I did — handing out flyers and working as a clothing store salesperson. In the evenings, I would come home and work with polymer clay. It was both hard and easy at the same time; in a way, it was how I rested.
But then my boyfriend said: “Why work as a salesperson for 30 hryvnias a day if you can earn 50 from one piece you make?” It was hard for me to see it as “real work,” but I was so bored with the shop job that I decided to try. I created a VK group (a Russian version of Facebook), and I started getting orders from other cities. In Kharkiv, I was even offered my first collaboration — a handmade shop accepted my pieces on consignment, and I earned a bit every month. I didn’t see it as a business yet and continued working at my uninteresting job.
Moving to Moscow (2013)
My boyfriend moved to Moscow to pursue his dream, and a bit later I joined him.
At that time, I was already making jewelry from epoxy resin — sealing flowers and soldering frames. Orders were increasing. Before moving, I made a lot of jewelry and signed up for a handmade market. Participation was expensive for us then — my boyfriend spent his last money to pay the fee. He even built a very heavy and inconvenient display stand for me.
And it worked! When there’s a big audience, it means you can sell a lot. We earned a decent average salary that day — it felt like a fortune for us.
First silver pieces
I went to many markets and met lots of people. Next to me, there was a woman named Anya who sold tea, and she persistently asked me to make wedding rings for her and her husband. I refused several times because I didn’t work with silver, but she insisted — so I had to try. I already knew how to solder because I made metal frames for my resin pieces, so I made her rings from silver wire.
And you know what — Anya loved them. She even paid more than I expected because it was silver. And the rings really suited her. Now I love when people choose my jewelry for such important occasions — but I still don’t make wedding rings. Maybe in the future…
Silver slowly took over my life. When I discovered wax modeling, I realized that the feeling I started with — that “quiet joy” — became clearer and stronger. I still love working with wax. It’s not routine — it’s something I truly want to do.
My favorite work became a business (2015–2016)
I always worked from home, until my market friend Margo offered to rent a workshop together. My home studio already occupied most of our small apartment, and our cat loved sharp tools. I was afraid to rent a space — I kept thinking I wouldn’t be able to pay the rent — but luckily, everything turned out fine. Having a separate studio gave me more time for my craft.
Everything stayed stable — until COVID.
COVID (2020)
During the pandemic, we moved the tools back home again, markets were gone, and we had to create a website. I struggled with it — I don’t like that kind of work. But my boyfriend had lost his job too, and he decided to help me. He got drawn into it — built the website, learned digital marketing, connected the payment system, handled all the legal setup — and we started selling online.
After that, my business became our business, and it began to grow. After the first few ad campaigns, sales went up. After COVID, people started coming to markets specifically for my brand because they saw the ads.
Business growth (2021)
We began earning more than the average income from our craft. Later, we jokingly appointed our cat as “Chief Financial Officer.” Our income stabilized, and we decided to buy a house. After some calculations, it seemed possible. But I started overworking — silver requires many steps of processing, and I was constantly exhausted. My boyfriend kept saying we needed an assistant to handle polishing so I could focus on new designs. I resisted for a long time — afraid someone would ruin things — but it turned out great. We found two wonderful girls, Nika and Alla — we love you with all our hearts and thank you for being with us. After setting up the process, I could return to creating again. We worked like that for about a year and a half, started looking for land, paid the first deposit for a house with big windows and then…
February 24, 2022 — War
We woke up to a call from my mother in Ukraine: “The war has started.” Russia invaded Ukraine.
We couldn’t live in a country that attacked our homeland. We realized we couldn’t keep running a business there — we had always worked honestly and paid taxes. January had been a very profitable month, and we were supposed to pay a large amount in taxes — but now those taxes were turning into missiles flying toward our loved ones and our country.
We packed what we could, dismantled the workshop in one day, and decided to leave.
We went to Georgia.
Georgia🇬🇪
We arrived in Georgia feeling like our business was lost, income cut off, and we were planning to go further into Europe — maybe apply for asylum or just find any job.
But Georgia turned out to be a magical country.
We received so much human warmth and understanding there. This country welcomed us so kindly, with love — and it’s incredibly delicious, too. We decided to stay longer and catch our breath. We had enough savings for 7–10 months of living.
Our old big Instagram account, where we had invested so much, was blocked — along with the ad account — and it was impossible to restore them from another country.
I couldn’t do anything for a while because of the war — I just lay on the couch all day, in pain and fear. My boyfriend decided we could at least rebuild the website and start a new Instagram. He did it all in two weeks. It turned out that many of my old customers had also moved to Georgia. We managed to restart small sales in Tbilisi (by the way, one of the best cities in the world). We decided to stay — and are still waiting for our financial director, Albus the cat, to join us.
And we didn’t choose wrong. Georgia gave us many new opportunities — and, as we now know, new markets too. We are happy to pay taxes to Georgia — a beautiful country with wonderful people. We are endlessly grateful to Georgia and Georgians. We love you ❤️
Why Yu-Yulino
Since my name and surname begin with "Yu", I did not invent anything, and at first my group in VK was called "Ю.Ю", then "Ю-Юлино", and in the end, for greater seriousness, it was overgrown with Latin letters and became "Yu-Yulino".
Yu-Yulino - with love from Ukraine 🇺🇦
We opened a store in Tbilisi! “GARAGE” (2022)
I never thought I’d have to move, let alone open a store in another country.
But that’s how life turned out.
At an exhibition in Yerevan, we met Gleb, who sold amazing handmade candles. He invited us to hold an exhibition in his bar. We agreed — and it was wonderful, our first show in Tbilisi.
Later, the idea came to turn the bar into a store when Gleb moved to a larger space around the corner. During that process, we met Veronika — another co-founder of the shop. She made very stylish beaded and pearl jewelry and later founded her own silver brand.
Also, in Yerevan, our financial director finally arrived — we hadn’t seen him for six months. And thanks to his calculations, we somehow managed to open the store — with our last money. But “store” is a loud word — it’s really just a garage with a glass window, full of handmade creations.
Procces
The decision was made — and we acted. Everything in our store was built by hand, and we’re very proud of that. It carries a lot of effort and inspiration.
The process was wonderful. We’re endlessly grateful to Gleb — without your energy and drive, we wouldn’t have dared. You jumped first, and we followed. Thank you for leading us and inspiring us.
We also thank Veronika for her refined taste and her understanding of mine, and for her ability to bring brands together — because of you, our Garage became more than just us 🙂
Special thanks to Georgia and its small-business laws, which opened such possibilities for us. It’s truly easy here to start and run your own business.
The result was a cozy and stylish store — we invite everyone to visit. We gathered many brands here: from jewelry and silver to ceramics.
And, of course, you can see all my pieces here — touch them, try them on, and find the one that’s yours.
We opened another store-studio (2023)
Sales in our store went very well; we managed to restore our previous income. I needed a workshop where I could hammer, buzz, and make noise. We found an old art studio, rented it, and now it’s our shared workspace with Veronika — and a small shop, too.
We also have girls in our studio who help me process my pieces, because I can’t keep up alone. People often say you can set up a business so you don’t have to work yourself. I can’t — and maybe I don’t even want to yet.
Entering new markets (2023)
My husband (then boyfriend) always dreamed of making my brand international when online sales began. I didn’t really support that idea at first, but it inspired him. It turned out he had found something he truly enjoyed — solving business problems and exploring new markets. The old marketing methods didn’t work in Europe, so he had to find new ones — and slowly he did.
Now we have sales in Europe as well. Thank you for buying!))) I hope my jewelry transforms on you the same way I love seeing it transform on others. Sometimes we get very warm messages from customers — and I hope that magic happens somewhere out there, between you and my creations. I hope that some of my clients’ eyes change — to the eyes they had as children when they open the box and put on their chosen piece. By the way, there’s a little cat at the bottom of the box that looks just like our financial director.
A new member of the team (2024)
Georgia is a very family-oriented country — people love children here. That spirit touched us too, and we wanted a child. And it happened. I was very scared about what would happen to the business — I worked until the very end of my pregnancy, doing so many things besides creating jewelry. When our son Mark was born, for a long time I couldn’t do anything, and I really missed my workshop — sitting for hours with wax, creating new pieces.
We haven’t decided yet what position to give him — for now, he’s our “catalyst.” He makes us expand and optimize everything because there’s so little time now. He’s pushing our brand to grow even more — so maybe he’s the CEO, because now we have to rethink all our strategies and see things completely differently.
Our girls (2025)
During my pregnancy, we started looking for girls to help with production. And we found one — wonderful Sasha. She’s a very skilled master and a professional jeweler. I was embarrassed to give her my simple, childish pieces, but she gladly agreed to help. Thanks to our shop and website, there was plenty of work — and she needed something stable. With her professionalism, she improved many processes in our workshop and introduced me to new tools I didn’t even know existed.
Sasha, thank you so much for the warmth and precision you brought to my pieces. Because of you, I was calm during the time I needed it most — when Mark was born.
Sasha later left, and Dasha joined us. She’s wonderful — she brought a new atmosphere to our studio, and her professionalism amazes me. She optimized the production process and introduced new techniques. Before that, she worked for a big brand in Belgium and told us how everything was structured there — and she inspired my husband to think about moving the business to Europe. But that’s not certain yet.
You might think from this text that everything went easily and naturally with my brand — but it didn’t. There were many difficulties and problems.
I think when you choose your path with your heart, it guides you, and you can go through hardships a little easier — almost with joy.
If everyone could do what they truly love, the world would be completely different.
I wish everyone to find their own work — something that helps you stay human and face difficulties with dignity. It’s truly gold for the soul.