Anne Harrill - Owner & Designer at Océanne
In the season of all things shimmery and shiny, one Cleveland jewelry company stands out from the rest with its eclectic collections, one-of-a-kind leadership, and continuously growing audience. Océanne was founded in 2006 by Anne Harrill. Océanne's mission to celebrate life’s moments, big and small, through beautifully crafted jewelry that reflects the uniqueness of each individual, is a true testament to its founder and all she has worked through to get to the overwhelming success she has obtained today.
For many people, starting a business is already a massive leap and takes lots of courage to follow through. For Anne, she added an extra complex layer to her entrepreneurial journey. After moving to Cleveland from the south of France, she desired to make lasting connections with others which eventually led to her idea for Océanne. The language barrier Anne experienced had become yet another obstacle to overcome and really challenged her to bring the human element into every aspect of business. She shared with us, “Moving from one country to another, I felt really stripped away from my confidence and my identity. I always thought ‘I’m lucky this is growing, and I am doing well’.”
Anne has been married for 22 years and has two children, making this a true family business and labor of love. She began making the jewelry pieces in her home, selling them to friends and family, and at her husband's live performance shows. From there, her desire for connection drove her to push through the culture shock, language barriers, and struggles of growing a business and slowly but surely transformed her into the powerful leader and founder she is today.
She recalls starting Océanne at a time when the ‘shop small’ and ‘support local business’ narratives had not begun to catch on yet. She told us, “People weren't as open and familiar. Everything was chain restaurants, and everything was more in that culture. Luckily when I started Océanne, there was this huge movement for handmade and locally grown. I was lucky because this is when I was able to grow Océanne.” This is an even stronger testament to her success and dedication as she not only began business at a time when she was one of very few doing so, but she continued to take advantage of the rising support of local businesses and became a true Cleveland staple.
If you’re someone who loves markets and community events, you may recognize Anne from the Cleveland Flea, or dozens of other maker shows over the years she was getting her start. Sometimes even traveling to Chicago, Pittsburgh, and New York, Anne recalls working hard to do as many events as possible to grow her reach and continue to introduce people to Océanne. Now, with three storefronts, the newest recently opening its doors in Crocker Park, Océanne has found its footing and become larger than life in the Cleveland community.
Anne is no stranger to the power of positive connection and credits her meaningful relationships with others as a driving force behind the success of her business. Beyond the obvious love and support of her own family, Anne experienced endless encouragement and guidance from other Cleveland business owners, especially Phillip and Jackie of Fount. She shared how their business growth helped push her into her own, “That was the point where I moved out of my house and got to share a space with them. When they opened their store, she encouraged me to open a store of my own. She said, ‘Let’s go and visit a space.’ It was so exciting, and I was like ‘maybe I CAN do it’.”
After taking the plunge into her first Gordon Square storefront in 2017, Anne continued to connect with customers face-to-face and build bonds with the community. After her immense success in the first store, the company continued to expand with a pop-up turned storefront in Pinecrest in 2021 and now a third location in Crocker Park just last month.
On top of the obvious success of the business itself, Anne has also seen personal recognition for her achievements. She has been named the Best of CLE Jewelry Designer for the last several years and her business has received similar recognitions for being a staple in the community. She told us how her jewelry journey began, starting with her family ties, “My mom is Italian, I grew up in the South of France, and I was very exposed to lots of languages and culture. It was a very multicultural environment. When I went to college, I studied language for a few years and decided to go to school in the States for the summer.” A mission trip led Anne to meet the man who would become her husband and gave her a connection to America that eventually brought her here permanently.
She told us about the difficulties of moving from one country to another and how it eventually led to Océanne's founding. She said, “I started studying human services. I wanted to be a psychologist. That was such a culture shock, and I wasn’t used to the American system. I was a fish out of the water. I started making jewelry from wanting to find something creative because I was lonely. It was hard to be in a different country.” It is clear that Anne not only has a passion for her work, but a willingness and excitement to learn and continue to develop not only her jewelry skills but her connections and interpersonal skills as well.
Anne shares with us how her journey to Océanne was nothing short of unexpected. Cleveland as a city was one of the major influences in the company and her work, and she credits her move to the city with the entire creation of Océanne itself. The value of grit and hard work in our community played a huge role in Anne’s development of her business. She told us about how the community influenced her growth saying, “If I hadn’t moved to Cleveland, there probably would be no Océanne. The city was just ready for a creative movement. Even though Cleveland is big, it was so supportive. Not only our customers but other vendors, we’ve grown together. The energy that there was between customers and makers was beautiful. That really carried us and pushed us to work hard.”
There is an extra level of special involved in Anne’s work and the overall business and it is the human touch that makes its way into each piece and every interaction. This is not only evident through the model of a small business and its face-to-face opportunities but also in the way that its products are handmade and designed with the thought and care of individual people such as Anne herself. We talked a bit about her design process and favorite elements of some of her products, “The process has changed a lot,” she said, “When I started, it was me making however much I could create. I am now lucky to have a team that will make samples and give feedback.”
People on the outside often view a growing small business that is no longer ‘small’ as an intimidating and difficult-to-manage entity that somewhat gets out of control. They assume that quality and personal touches suffer when a business gets too large and though this is often true of large corporations, a business like Océanne has only been made stronger by its growth.
Apart from lifting the burden of being the sole person running the business inside and out, having additional team members, more stores, and opportunities for wholesale and online shopping allows Anne to grow her own interests as well and focus her energy on doing the things she is passionate about most. She said of her process, “I love anything gold and we work with a lot of brass and gold fill. Brass is such a beautiful material that you can solder and shape and hammer and forge and it looks so rough and the beginning and creates amazing jewelry. It’s such a cool process.”
She also shared with us about how the business keeps up with trends and how what is currently ‘in’ can often bring fun elements to the store that wouldn’t have otherwise come to mind. “Charm bracelets and necklaces are very in right now and layering pieces have been in the past couple years. You kind of design with what sells. Sometimes it is fun and sometimes it's challenging because you’re not as comfortable with the trend. I also design apparel, and I don’t really do collections anymore, it's much more like a few pieces at a time when I get inspired.”
Once again, this thoughtfulness serves as the perfect reminder that small business is first and foremost personal. Anne gets to not only design with elements she enjoys, but can also use her work to fundraise, make a statement, or support others. She cited her latest apparel line, a western-inspired tee reading “protect kids, not guns” as an example of how Océanne is able to support others, such as her husband's non-profit, Refresh Collective, who helps make the shirts themselves and has lost some students to gun violence. Of course, her husband has been her biggest support throughout the journey of Océanne and they continue to collaborate and support each other in their respective non-profits and businesses.
Anne knows the value of collaboration through and through. From accepting support from others to get her to where she is today, to giving that support back to the community through various means, she often finds herself getting even deeper into the community despite growing her reach and customer base.
As a product-selling company and a jewelry business at that, Océanne is no stranger to the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. So much planning and strategy goes into this time of year when people begin searching for the perfect gifts for their loved ones. Preparing for the season is always a struggle and the foresight required to begin planning for the winter when it is still summer, can be a challenge, especially when it comes to designing or curating a collection.
Anne told us that she often feels the pressure of the season when big-name corporate stores begin their holiday promotions before the season truly starts. When the holiday spirit begins in the fall, it forces small businesses to be ahead of the curve and struggle to follow the quick transition times that corporate entities so easily can. With a business like Océanne where every piece is thoughtfully designed and produced, there is a deep human element under all of their actions and that is what truly helps to set them apart from not only the major players in the nation but from any other businesses.
The personality and connection of having a founder and owner who is so involved in the product-making and sales process helps to preserve what makes small businesses so special while also growing to reach more and more people and support the community itself. Anne tells us, “I’m still a maker. We are making for other stores and merchandise our store and make things special for the holiday season. It's such a privilege to be part of people’s holidays. Every year I am blown away to create pieces for people's holidays and milestones.”
Often working in Gordon Square, Anne is used to seeing repeat customers year after year, buying gifts for their loved ones and really connecting with the shop itself. The magical things bout small businesses that will always set them apart from any others are the personal touch and relationships built by a trusted local shop. Whether it be a hidden gem or well well-known spot, like Océanne, shoppers flock to the storefronts year after year to not only find the perfect fit for someone special but to continue supporting local small businesses with one-of-a-kind products that you can’t find anywhere else.
It only made sense to ask for some advice from someone who has been such a pillar of the community for so long so we asked Anne, what advice she would give to women looking to start their own businesses, especially in the creative space. She gave us a wonderful and personal response saying, “In a creative business, it is reflecting who you are so make your values clear. What is your why, what is important to you? Make sure you keep that close to your heart because once you grow, there will be lots of other voices. Especially for us women, there are so many emotions attached to what we create. It's sometimes very overwhelming but if you surround yourself with people who are like-minded, it can be lonely, but it doesn’t have to be.”
Anne very clearly understands her roles as a business owner and community member and continues to serve all those around her. She is mindful and thoughtful to an extremely personal degree and continues to strive not only for uniqueness but meaningful bonds as well. It is such an honor to hear her speak on her passions and interests as well as the growing pains and hard work it takes to run a successful company. She said, “When you’re in it honestly you don’t realize. You still struggle and I am always having to learn new things. It feels like when I first started in a way. It's two worlds competing where we’re growing but there's always the rest too.”
The future of Océanne is truly happening now as the company opened its third storefront in November, completing a long journey of planning and construction. The Crocker Park project has been the largest project Anne has taken on yet and has proven to feel very intimidating and risky. Her biggest move ever has led to lots of the learning and evolution that comes with taking things to the next level.
Back when we spoke in October, she shared with us that she is so excited to be able to serve the west side just in time for the holidays and take a breath after the project is complete. Now, knowing that the location is officially open, we are so glad to see things come full circle and are cheering on Anne and the whole Océanne team in this new adventure.
Anne touched on her excitement for the growth of permanent bracelets in the new store, as well as upcoming collaborations. She shared that the permanent bracelet offering is very special to her since it often comes with people finding a tangible way to show their love and connection. For mothers and daughters, couples doing long-distance, best friends, and many others, Océanne's permanent bracelets symbolize so much togetherness and love, both of which mean so much to Anne. As for upcoming collaborations and projects, Anne is particularly excited about a possible partnership in 2025 with the artisans in Kenya who cast some of Océanne's pieces to grow their relationship and offer more designs. Personally, Anne is looking forward to her daughter beginning high school and lots of family time and much-deserved relaxation as the holidays roll in.
Finally, Anne left us with a very grounding and refreshing reminder that many women, entrepreneurs and corporate employees alike, can take with them into the holiday season saying, “At the end of the day, I am so grateful, and I love our business but what really matters is my family and being able to do the things I love. Having time to connect with people is what brings me joy. In the middle of everything going on in the world, you have to remember what’s important.”
Océanne is a Cleveland phenomenon. From being a part of the small business renaissance in our city to still standing tall almost 20 years later, Océanne is a testament to not only the power of local business but the power of Cleveland's support and determination. Anne is so clearly committed to not only bringing her craftsmanship to everyone but also maintaining its local charm. Every one of her stunning pieces is designed locally and beyond storefronts and online, you can find Anne’s work in boutiques and specialty stores near and far. It is an honor for us as a city to see someone so enamored with the community and so willing to give back to the place where they got their start. As a wife, mother, jewelry designer, and female founder, Anne not only wears many hats but is influenced heavily by the world around her and the connections and relationships she has worked so hard to create and foster. A force, an inspiration, and a friendly face, Anne Harrill has so many beautiful qualities that make her and her business so special and such an honor to have in Cleveland.
Comments