KAYLEIGH Bolger has always had a unique and edgy sense of style but struggled with finding jewellery she felt fit her aesthetic. After receiving complements on the chunky style jewellery she had sourced for herself, the Limerick woman noticed a gap in the market.
Instead of returning to her retail job after the pandemic, Kayleigh, who has lived on the Ballysimon Road her entire life, decided the time had come to set up her own jewellery business. And so Red Rogue Accessories was born.
Kayleigh opened up to The Ensemble about the journey to Red Rogue Accessories.
“I was in retail management before I started my own business and I, kind of like everyone else when lockdown happened, realised that I actually wasn’t happy going back to toxic work environments.
“I started Red Rogue in May of 2021, mainly because my style has always been kind of edgy, kind of street style, so I always found it hard to find comfy jewellery that wasn’t overly expensive but also wouldn’t tarnish after a few wears.”
The Limerick woman says she started sourcing items direct from manufacturers globally and admirers began to ask about her rare finds. That’s when she realised she had found her gap in the market.
“So that’s what I did, I went out, I sourced all the pieces – stuff that wouldn’t break the bank but also wouldn’t tarnish. All of our pieces are stainless steel, so you’re going to have something that doesn’t break the bank but it will also last you for years.”
Reflecting on the initial setting up of Red Rogue, Kayleigh admits she was lucky to have a fiancé who owns a digital marketing business, so she was able to establish a strong brand from the get-go.
The brand drops four jewellery collections each year that go through a rigorous testing process before going on sale. They are also size inclusive, ranging up to size 9 with adjustable rings also stocked.
Speaking about her quality control process, Limerick woman says: “I have people that sample pieces for me months and months and months before they go up online to make sure they’re put through the test or put through whatever perfumes and waters are around them to make sure that they’re not going to tarnish.”
Kayleigh had almost instant success with her brand and says the main struggle starting out was keeping up with demand. This is partly thanks to social media influencer Keilidh Cashell, who shone a light on the brand early on.
“I know we should always hope things are busy, but we had started in May of 2021 and those first six months were busier than we could ever have expected,” she shared.
“Even coming around to the first Black Friday and the first Christmas, one of the challenges is that we really had understocked ourselves. We really didn’t expect it.”
Kayleigh, who runs Red Rogue full time, advised anyone thinking of starting their own business to go for it, saying: “Take the chance on yourself. Jump in headfirst and take a fence in yourself.”
