Caroline Hennessy | Founder of ENNOMERATO

For some, entrepreneurship is a choice made later in life; for Caroline Hennessy, it has been a lifelong calling. From selling paper cutouts as a young girl to crafting handmade jewelry in her teenage years, Caroline’s passion for design and self-expression has always defined her path.

After spending a decade building a successful career in Europe’s finance sector, Caroline made a bold leap to honor her creative core. She channeled her financial expertise, resilience, and artistic passion into founding ENNOMERATO, a brand celebrated for its bold, statement craftsmanship and high-end jewelry design.

Building a brand entirely from the ground up without external financial safety nets or inherited networks, Caroline navigated intense milestones—including launching her business while caring for a newborn and balancing international partnerships. Today, her story stands as a powerful testament to grit, creative authenticity, and the power of building a meaningful venture on your own terms.

What inspired you to take the leap into founding or building your own brand?

Since my teenage time I always knew I wanted to do something of my own, use my creativity to a certain degree or best case scenario to the extension possible. I wanted to study arts, but I knew coming from a working class family this is not always the first career option. I moved to Europe at eighteen, decided to do business management and worked in finance for a decade. In between I kept educating myself doing arts on the side as my main hobby, I did my own exhibitions and participated in groups exhibitions, art courses in Berlin and London at Christie’s academy, immersing myself completely into my craft daily after work.

Since I wear mostly black, statement jewellery has been always my main accessory, my way to express myself, and I knew I was very passionate about it since I was ten to twelve years old. I used to cut jewelleries from models of the Avon catalogs and sell them to my friends, sticking them with saliva, till one of my friends parents complained to my parents I was selling paper while in my head it was a real deal. I was forbidden to sell my first jewelleries, and there was my first business failure.

I did my first jewellery course at fourteen, then sold my own handmade pieces at the beach and to friends in Brazil after school hours and did it again custom jewellery and bikinis with jewellery during my university time in Portugal, selling to friends. The love for craft, art and entrepreneurship was always there engrained in me. I was never ashamed to show my products, no matter how beginner I was, at least I was a doer doing something. In my head all I thought was first I start and create, then I finesse later, otherwise I would have never started anything if I waited for the right moment, perfection, opportunity, network or referral.

Finance was just my way to finance my life, art courses, enjoy the art world and save funds to invest in my business. I’m very grateful for everyone who opened the door to a creative in a habitat completely outside my true nature. I learned a lot, but I always knew that was just a bridge to actually create what I really wanted. I felt quite lost in finance, but I never felt truly lost in life because I knew what I wanted, what was my passion, what made my soul vibrate. It was very clear to me, and if anyone is still asking or looking for their purpose in life, I would always suggest looking at what they most liked to do and spend time on as a child. That’s your true calling as an adult, no matter if we are in denial for a while, or try to make a living with another profession if you didn’t have the luxury and privilege to do right away what you wanted.

In my case it was arts, crafts, drawing and painting, dressing myself with very stated and bold jewelleries, to a point that some people called me superficial. It wasn’t, it was simply my way of expressing myself, and nowadays I make revenue from exactly what they called superficial.

What has been your most defining milestone or breakthrough moment so far?

There are many, from getting the Luxembourg City pop up temporarily, to achieving my first sales target after two weeks of sales. However, the most important and meaningful to me, because of my personal background, was to have the courage to start this business and brand, have the courage to leave a well paid stable job which I fought for years to get to, and then start something totally new as a complete beginner. To face the fear, the embarrassment, the challenge of starting a business in a country I chose to be my home over the past almost twelve years without any social capital in the business and entrepreneurial industry.

Breaking my own personal fears and all paradigms I built around building a business for the first time, removing the paycheck addiction, the revenue is a big milestone, but the biggest is what happens inside. The changes we have to do on our own to have the resilience to start and also continue through the adversities that will happen in between to make us want to give up a thousand times, but we don’t.

The reason I say that is because many people who own businesses already come from wealth and privilege to a certain degree. They grew up watching their families doing business, their friends too, they have the social capital which is a big asset, they have the funds to start a business and a financial backup to keep trying to make their business work for one, two, three or more years till their dream comes true without the rush to make income for personal bills. Yet if at the end it doesn’t work, they have options and the psychological setup that they can create anything without fear.

In my case and personal background I didn’t have all that. I started literally from zero, no rich parents, no network, no capital, no rich friends, no security and the mind belief that a nine to five office work was already an amazing life milestone. I had to build everything from nothing and overcome the mental belief that comes from it. It’s almost like building a new identity to make something work long term. Don’t get me wrong, the nine to five job was amazing to help me gain experience and know that if everything goes wrong I can always go back, even though I try not to count on that.

I still have a lot to learn and apply to my business growth nationally and internationally, but I believe that behind my lack of advantages, I have the advantage of having built a very thick skin to face the hardships that come with entrepreneurship, the creativity to really do something impactful, and the urgency to make it work. If I didn’t have my background, I probably would have folded and settled.

What is one major challenge you faced along the way, and how did you navigate it?

Business is constant challenge, pressure, problem solving, and trying to keep a cool head to not burn out. But the biggest challenge was to build a business during my very difficult pregnancy while I was extremely sick and constantly in hospitals, then continuing during my postpartum. I took a one month break and started working again on ENNOMERATO when my baby Oslo was two months old. I had no maternity leave since I was building my business and had already quit my finance job.

To meet my own deadlines for the brand, I had to work from the second month while I was still recovering from an emergency C section, breastfeeding, dealing with a newborn and all the sleepless nights, then doing it all over again the next day. It was literally my baby on one arm and the computer and paperwork in another hand. All this while we had no help, as we don’t have family relatives in Luxembourg. It was my husband, my baby Oslo, our cat Napoleon and I, healing, raising and building.

I launched the brand when my baby was only eight months old. I worked full time with him in the previous pop ups, from attending customers to events we had our baby with us, since he just started crèche at one year old as I wanted to stay with him as long as possible. I did it, but I’m not sure if I would suggest this to anyone. Nowadays I look back and ask myself how I managed to do it.

I’m very proud to have created this, but I know it has also cost me a lot, a military discipline, resilience, belief in the project, persistence, thick skin to continue when you have no reward at all or recognition from anyone. It’s just you and maybe your partner clapping. I don’t think I am the same person I was a year ago.

What’s the biggest misconception about starting a separate career pathway or rebuilding a business from scratch?

The biggest misconception is that building a business makes you free, or at least free from the nine to five. If you start from zero with very little resources to hire employees at the beginning and have to do mostly everything on your own, then you will work between twelve to sixteen hours a day, weekends and public holidays if necessary. If you start a business without financial pressure at home and extra capital, then you work normal hours or less maybe, and it’s going to be a ride in the park.

I would say for the first two to three years you basically pay back the business and everyone else first, reinvesting back into the business, then you eventually start making better revenues and profits. If you are not ready to work that many hours at the beginning without any reward and financial pay, then it’s better not to venture into entrepreneurship, because it will crash your ego and you will give up early, losing time and money.

It’s important to recognize our own inner forces and weaknesses. Not everyone is made for entrepreneurial life and not everyone is made for a nine to five either. Many people want to be a founder, be featured in an article, a magazine or Forbes, but they don’t want to face the real work behind the scenes that got them there, which sometimes is extreme tiredness, overwork, less time with family and friends, and sometimes even losing friends who don’t have the patience to be your friend while you are in a busy phase of your life with a baby, house, growing business and a husband.

It can be lonely. While everyone is going on holidays, having fun, and planning dinner, you have your work and family schedule booked. Building while raising a baby means many things will take much longer because we function on baby schedules and naps. We work when he sleeps, because not all business tasks are baby friendly.

Recently I was in Germany with my baby for a meeting until around eight in the evening with my business partners for solid gold and lab grown diamonds jewellery. I picked up my baby early to go to the meeting as I knew it would take longer than the crèche closing hours. Luckily my business partners around the world are very understanding and helpful, plus they love to play and make my baby laugh. Sometimes when a deal is sensitive and we need to go through inventory and contracts, someone in the room fully takes my baby to play and give full attention in the same room so I can concentrate to read the contract.

I’m grateful I have the freedom to bring my baby with me if needed to my workspace or meetings, or if my baby is sick, I simply close the store or put a person to replace me, and I stay with my baby. That’s the real luxury you get at the beginning. Even though if you don’t work, you don’t get paid, to me at this stage, having a profession where I can include my baby without asking a manager permission, or arriving a bit late at work because I needed more time in the morning to play with my baby rush free for thirty minutes, is my priority.

Behind the public milestones, what quiet personal or operational sacrifice are you most proud of navigating?

Being a mother and working full time outside home running on a schedule is already a big thing and sacrifice, but building a business additionally to it is another level of commitment and management. I’m proud I managed and am still managing this. I had every reason not to do that, not only financially, but also physically being constantly tired.

At the same time, doing this brings me so much satisfaction. I like what I do, and I know I need a huge amount of energy. Not everyday am I at my full potential since my baby still drinks milk five to six times in the night. I never really get a full night sleep and still have to be fit for him the day after and to run the business, not only the paperwork side but also the operations side.

What piece of advice would you give to another woman who is hesitant to start building her own venture or career path?

Just do it! Don’t wait for the perfect time, opportunity and conditions. If your business idea is at least fifty percent realistic business wise and fifty percent delusional, go for it. If it is one hundred percent realistic, you might have a big margin for success.

If it is something that includes creativity and hand craft, do it, but bring your brain together as well. You need a realistic strategy because in business numbers don’t lie, and it will wreck you if you neglect that and just want to be soft and magical about your business. If you are a creative, you have to learn how to monetize your craft and maintain the business side. At the beginning the creative part might only be thirty percent, while the rest is business strategy and paperwork. Hopefully as the business grows and major tasks are delegated, you will have more room for craft and creativity eventually.

Last but not least, be persistent, resilient and have a deep reason why you are doing this, whether it is passion, wanting a different lifestyle, your kids, or following your childhood dream. You will need that why for the days you feel demotivated and exhausted, and you will, but you will wake up the very next day and do it all over again to accomplish your goal.

Why We Are Featuring Caroline Hennessy

Caroline’s journey embodies the unwavering drive, resilience, and vision that the FemFounders Initiative exists to celebrate. Coming from a working class background with zero social capital or financial safety net in a new country, she dismantled every barrier in her path to turn a lifelong creative passion into a thriving brand.

She speaks candidly about the grit behind entrepreneurship—from balancing postpartum recovery and early motherhood to making tough operational sacrifices—without losing sight of the craft and business strategy required to succeed. Her story is a powerful reminder that you don't need a privileged head start or permission from anyone to build a bold, meaningful venture on your own terms.

Connect with Caroline & ENNOMERATO

Website: www.ennomerato.com

Instagram: @ennomerato

Direct Email: caroline@ennomerato.com