Founder story
Born in Ivory Coast and shaped by Akan symbols, founder Johanna Yesso created Ohema by Eba to celebrate women of African descent through jewelry made to be worn every day.
Each piece carries a little piece of home: goldweights, Adinkra symbols, family memories, and the quiet power of culture kept close to the skin.
Through Ohema by Eba I want to promote the beauty of West African culture through jewelry.
Born and raised in the Ivory Coast, I grew up around Akan* goldweights (poids Baoulé in the Ivory Coast), gold plated goodies, pearls, beads and all sorts of ornaments.
I’ve always loved jewelry and as a teenager I was always wearing multiple bracelets and necklaces, mix-matching and layering them. As a matter of fact you could hear me coming from a distance from the clicking noise my jewelries would make.
When I was a kid, my sister and I would make bracelets from hair threads and recycled materials that we would sell to family and friends for 100 fcfa (25 cents). For Christmas I would ask Santa (my parents…) for jewelry making kits so I can make my own jewelry.
In 2016 after going back to the Ivory Coast and spending most of the year in Africa, I rediscovered the beauty in our jewelry and realized how powerful our symbols are. I felt the urge to share it with the world and started making jewelry again. That's when Ohema by Eba was born.
Jewelry is part of my identity just like my culture is, so it’s only natural that I start a jewelry brand that would showcase my culture in the most vibrant way.
With Ohema by Eba, I want women of African descent to proudly wear their symbols everyday in a way that is elegant and sophisticated.
*The Akan are a meta-ethnicity living in Ghana and Ivory Coast. Akan art is wide-ranging and renowned, especially for the tradition of crafting bronze gold weights, using the lost-wax casting method. The Akan culture reached South America, the Caribbean, and North America.
