Wilglory Tanjong: From Grief to Beyoncé in 1,000 Days

You don't know her name. But Beyoncé carries her bags.

The irony is deliberate. Wilglory Tanjong built Anima Iris precisely because luxury fashion spent centuries pretending Africa didn't exist—except as inspiration to steal, never as origin to credit.

Now her geometric leather handbags sell at Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Bloomingdale's. Her company generates over $100,000 monthly. And when Beyoncé's stylist wants something bold, something that doesn't apologize for its vibrancy, she reaches for bags handstitched in Dakar by artisans Wilglory pays twice the industry average.

This is the story of how a 24-year-old turned grief into a business model, six months of wandering into a supply chain, and a single Instagram post into a blueprint for what luxury looks like when Africa isn't just inspiration—it's ownership.

Chapter 1: The Princeton Grief

Princeton University, New Jersey, 2018

Wilglory Chiamoh Tanjong maintained a high grade-point average throughout all four years at Princeton University. Full scholarship. African American Studies major with a focus on African Development. Member of the Black Justice League, fighting to remove Woodrow Wilson's name from campus buildings. Co-founder of DoroBucci, an African dance group. Author of #Admitted, a college admissions guide that became United Negro College Fund's "Youth of the Year" recognition at age 19.

Everything was going according to plan.

Then her mother died. Senior year.

Wilglory was born in Yaoundé, Cameroon. When she was two, her family moved to Maryland. When she was eight, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. When she was 14, her parents divorced. She watched her family struggle financially, living on food stamps for periods, learning early that security wasn't guaranteed—it was fought for, saved for, protected.

"I'll never forget the day when my mom told us that we were finally approved for food stamps," Tanjong told CNBC Make It. "Having those kinds of experiences really pushed me to be financially independent as quickly as I could be."

Her mother worked as a nurse and ran a small cosmetology studio out of the back of their home. Her father worked in real estate and construction, flipping houses. Wilglory and her sisters helped flip houses in summers—work she hated at the time but that taught her what hustle looked like when survival wasn't abstract.

At Princeton, Wilglory had gotten a financial advisor her freshman year after spending an entire refund check at J. Crew and looking in the mirror wondering where the money went. She reached out to Maxine Clark, founder of Build-A-Bear Workshop and her mentor, who connected her with a financial advisor. From then on, she saved 30% of every paycheck, every Princeton refund.

She worked on campus. She interned at Facebook. She studied abroad. She wrote a book. She organized fashion shows and academic conferences.

When her mother died during senior year, Wilglory kept going. In June 2018, she became a first-generation college graduate.

Three weeks later, she moved to Atlanta, Georgia, to start her new role as an operational manager at a manufacturing and supply company.

Her bank account was reaping the rewards—$86,000 annual salary, plus about $22,000 saved from campus jobs and summer internships, plus approximately $50,000 inherited from her mother.

Financial security. Professional achievement. Everything she'd worked for since watching her mother struggle.

But Wilglory Tanjong was "the unhappiest she had ever been."

Chapter 2: The Six-Month Question

Africa, 2019

She couldn't explain why the $86,000 job felt like failure. On paper, everything made sense. In practice, she was waking up miserable.

"You don't really know what's next, you're a little uncertain, but in doing so I just felt like what I'm doing currently is not for me and I need to figure out what is for me," Tanjong said.

She left the company. Bought a one-way ticket to Africa. Six months. No plan. Just questions.

She called it "African Hustle"—a video series where she traveled the continent meeting entrepreneurs, living in different countries, trying to understand something she'd only glimpsed growing up as a second-generation African in America.

"Wilglory grew up like most second-generation Africans, with curiosity as she only saw glimpses into an elaborate culture which spanned an entire continent," the Anima Iris origin story explains. "However, following her post-graduate years where she'd earned a degree in African Development from Princeton University, Wilglory spent months exploring the continent for herself, living and breathing in an array of cultures."

Ghana. Kenya. Cameroon.

And then Senegal.

In Dakar, everything changed.

She walked into a leather goods shop and watched an artisan's hands create beauty she'd never seen in Western luxury stores. The craftsmanship. The colors—vibrant, unapologetic, refusing to be muted. The geometric patterns that felt both ancient and contemporary.

"All these materials come together, and they can make jewelry and can make my handbags and it was just so amazing to me," she told The Daily Princetonian.

One question crystallized: Why isn't African luxury everywhere?

Not African-inspired luxury made in Italy. Not African prints reinterpreted by European design houses. Actual African luxury—designed, manufactured, and owned by Africans.

"I realized that there was a significant gap in the market," Tanjong said. "Women of color, and specifically Black women, have always been excluded from the luxury narrative. Building a brand that centers these women while also bringing forth African culture into the global landscape was like a bingo moment for me."

The artisans she met in Dakar made 50 handbags. She brought them back to the United States, returned to her corporate job for a few months, and started doing the math.

Chapter 3: The $5K Gamble

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, February 2020

Wilglory transferred $5,000 from her savings. The money funded travel, materials, and labor to make 50 bags.

After a soft launch in November 2019, she narrowed her focus from jewelry and accessories to handbags exclusively. In February 2020, she officially launched Anima Iris—named after her childhood best friend "Anima" and her mother "Iris."

The timing was spectacular. One month before the world shut down.

In March 2020, Wilglory formally quit her full-time job and moved to Philadelphia. She'd been accepted to Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania to pursue an MBA—applying with only four days left before the deadline because she'd been too busy building to plan properly.

So now she was: Full-time MBA student. Full-time CEO. Living with her Princeton roommate Philomina Kane (also an entrepreneur) to save money. Packing orders between classes. Every dollar went back into bags.

"[Anima Iris] was a therapeutic project that was just making me happy," Tanjong told CNBC Make It. "I've always been a very fashionable person. People always ask me, 'Where'd you get this? Where'd you get that?' And then I realized, 'Hey, maybe people will just buy products from me.'"

But this wasn't just therapy. This was rebuilding the luxury narrative.

"As a child, I always remember being really into fashion," said Tanjong in an interview with BLACK ENTERPRISE. "I always loved dressing up and just looking very nice. I think that was something that was just part of my culture as well. We always had to look nice."

She'd spent her childhood flipping through Vogue, never seeing people who looked like her. Now she was building the brand she'd needed to see.

The challenge: convincing the world that luxury could come from Dakar, not just Paris or Milan.

Chapter 4: The First Viral Moment

June 2020

The pandemic was crushing businesses globally. Anima Iris was three months old, bootstrapped with $5,000, run by a full-time MBA student who'd never worked in fashion.

Then Vogue featured Anima Iris in an article promoting Black-owned beauty and fashion brands.

Shortly after, a blogger tweeted photos of Tanjong's purses with links to the company's webpage and social media accounts.

The orders started coming.

This wasn't Beyoncé-level virality yet. This was the slow build—people discovering something that felt different, looked different, meant something different. Bags that didn't hide their Africanness. Bags that were loudly, defiantly, joyfully from Dakar.

"Seeing how women, especially Black women, react to a handbag that's luxurious...and that is also made with them in mind I think creates a special kind of emotional reaction for me and makes me feel like our world really needs this," Tanjong said.

The emotional reaction was real. These weren't just bags. They were statements: We exist. We create. We deserve luxury that looks like us.

Chapter 5: The Beyoncé Calculation

August 2021

Wilglory Tanjong won a three-month free marketing gift package from Simmons PR, a Black-owned company.

Part of the package: "Send me a list of who you would love to have your bag on."

Obviously, Beyoncé was on the list.

Simmons PR contacted Zerina Akers—Beyoncé's stylist, the Emmy-winning costume designer behind Black Is King, founder of Black Owned Everything marketplace.

Zerina said yes. Send bags.

They shipped multiple bags to Beyoncé's team. One bag—the Raspberry Zaza—actually had to be custom-made because they didn't have it ready. The artisan in Dakar, a man named Chef, worked to finish it.

"I told Chef, 'This bag is for Beyoncé,'" Wilglory recounted. "He was like, 'Are you for real? Girl? Are you serious?' I was like, 'Beyoncé. I'm so serious.' He was like, 'Oh my god.'"

Then: silence.

August 2021. Wilglory opened Instagram.

Beyoncé was holding the Raspberry Zaza bag.

Her phone exploded.

"The greatest moment of Anima Iris success came in August 2021 when the brand became 'Beyoncé approved,'" according to CNBC. "Tanjong serendipitously opened Instagram and spotted the mega star sporting a Raspberry Zaza bag."

The numbers came fast:

• Over $23,000 in sales within 48 hours

• Instagram verification

• Surpassed projected earnings for all of 2021

• Media coverage globally

"ANIMA IRIS IS OFFICIALLY @beyonce APPROVED!!!!!!! WOWWWWWW THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS SUPPORTED US. WE TAKING AFRICA TO THE WORLD. Promise," Anima Iris posted on Instagram.

From Wharton student packing orders between Zoom classes to Beyoncé's Instagram to verified luxury brand in 48 hours.

That day, Tanjong knew it was time to expand beyond doing everything herself.

Chapter 6: The Scaling Challenge

2021-2022

The Beyoncé moment created a problem: demand was now exceeding her ability to fulfill orders while attending business school full-time.

Wilglory hired help. She formalized operations. She built a team.

Most importantly, she made a decision that defined Anima Iris's mission: she would pay Dakar artisans twice the average industry wage.

By 2022, Anima Iris had:

• Seven artisans handmaking bags in its Senegal facility

• A commitment to paying 2x local industry average

• Zero-waste manufacturing practices

• Every bag handcrafted, not mass-produced

"For so long, Black people have really defined the culture in America, but I've never actually gotten to reap the benefits of it," Tanjong said. "It's so wonderful to see so many Black creators finally being able to actually build their businesses, grow their businesses and for people to have other options outside of the options we've typically had that actually have excluded us."

The revenue grew:

• $603,819 in sales in 2021 alone

• Over $700,000 in lifetime sales by end of 2021

• $100,000+ in monthly revenue by 2022

• Black Friday 2021: over $62,000 in single-day sales

Chapter 7: The Retail Revolution

2022-2024

Then came the partnerships that matter in luxury: major retail.

Anima Iris secured placement in:

• Nordstrom flagship stores (Los Angeles, New York City, Houston, Miami)

• Nordstrom.com

• Saks Fifth Avenue

• Saks Atlanta

• Bloomingdale's

• Amazon Luxury Stores

• Revolve

For context: these are the retailers that define American luxury. Getting shelf space isn't about sending samples—it's about proving you can deliver quality, volume, and brand story consistently.

"Wilglory directly oversaw the expansion of Anima Iris beyond its e-commerce website," according to Fashion Trust U.S., which recognized her as a 2024 finalist in accessories.

The bags also appeared on HBO's Insecure, furthering cultural visibility.

But retail partnerships came with pressure: minimum order quantities, delivery schedules, quality standards, returns policies. This wasn't selling bags from Instagram anymore. This was competing with Gucci, Chanel, and Louis Vuitton on their home turf.

And Wilglory was still a full-time MBA student at Wharton.

Chapter 8: The Mission Statement

What Anima Iris Actually Means

"We can change the way people see Africa through luxury retail, provide jobs, and take money from people buying these bags and recycle that back into these families," Tanjong explained. "That could change so much."

"I had this vision of building the next big Gucci, Chanel, etc.—but coming out of Africa," she continued.

This wasn't metaphor. This was business model:

1. Employment at living wages: Seven artisans in Dakar earning 2x industry average

2. Cultural representation: Bags that don't hide their origin, that celebrate geometric African patterns

3. Sustainable manufacturing: Zero-waste practices, handcrafted production

4. Economic circulation: Money flows back to Senegalese families, not European conglomerates

"Named after a Cameroonian national and second generation Ghanaian, we are a marriage of the things that have been and still are yet to be," the Anima Iris story explains, "an ever-evolving, evocative and elaborate brand that has never shied away from displaying the vibrancy of our collective backgrounds."

"In a world of muted leathers and prescribed social norms, Anima Iris pushes the confines. It is unafraid, emboldened, outspoken, and emblematic of the women who carry it."

Chapter 9: The Numbers That Matter

The Anima Iris Timeline

2018: Princeton graduation, moved to Atlanta
2019: Six-month Africa trip, discovered Dakar artisans
November 2019: Soft launch
February 2020: Official launch with $5K investment
March 2020: Quit job, moved to Philadelphia, started Wharton MBA
June 2020: First viral moment (Vogue feature)
August 2021: Beyoncé moment
2021 Revenue: $603,819
Lifetime sales by 2021: Over $700,000
2022+ Monthly revenue: $100,000+
Single-day record: $62,000+ (Black Friday 2021)

Current Operations:

• 7 artisans in Dakar facility

• Payment: 2x local industry average

• Manufacturing: Zero-waste, handcrafted

• Retail presence: Nordstrom, Saks, Bloomingdale's, Amazon Luxury

• Media: HBO's Insecure, Beyoncé approved (twice), Fashion Trust U.S. finalist

• Team: Wilglory still involved daily while completing Wharton MBA

Chapter 10: The Cultural Builder Pattern

What Captain Startup Observes

Wilglory Tanjong's story follows a pattern The Ledger of Grit has documented repeatedly: founders who don't escape their heritage—they encode it.

The Second-Generation Advantage:
Growing up between cultures—Cameroonian-born, Maryland-raised, Princeton-educated—gave Wilglory a unique lens. She understood American luxury consumption patterns and African artisan capabilities. That intersection was the business model.

Grief as Catalyst:
Her mother's death senior year forced questions about meaning, purpose, what work actually means. The $86,000 Atlanta job provided security but not purpose. Africa provided purpose.

Patient Building Despite Viral Moments:
The Beyoncé post created explosive awareness, but Anima Iris succeeded because of the two years before—learning artisan relationships, building quality standards, understanding luxury customer expectations. Virality amplified preparation, it didn't replace it.

Staying Connected to Production:
Wilglory didn't scale by outsourcing to factories. She stayed connected to Dakar, to the artisans, to the hands creating each bag. That intimacy with production became brand authenticity.

Economic Model as Impact:
Paying artisans 2x industry average wasn't charity—it was business strategy. Higher wages meant better retention, higher quality, deeper artisan investment in brand success. The impact was embedded in the economics, not added as afterthought.

Chapter 11: The Broader Context

Why Anima Iris Matters Now

Wilglory launched Anima Iris at a specific moment in fashion history:

Post-2020 Reckoning:
George Floyd's murder and Black Lives Matter resurgence forced luxury fashion to confront its exclusion of Black creators, Black ownership, Black narratives. Suddenly, brands scrambled to feature Black models, hire Black executives, partner with Black-owned businesses.

But Wilglory had been building before the reckoning—she didn't pivot to meet moment, she was already positioned.

Direct-to-Consumer Maturation:
E-commerce infrastructure, Instagram shopping, influencer marketing—all reached maturity exactly when Wilglory needed them. A luxury handbag brand launched in 2010 would have needed millions in capital for retail presence. In 2020, she launched with $5K and Instagram.

Authenticity as Currency:
Consumers—especially young, diverse, digitally-native consumers—increasingly value authentic origin stories over heritage brand names. A bag handmade by Chef in Dakar resonates differently than a bag made in an Italian factory owned by a French conglomerate.

Africa's Rising Creative Economy:
Wilglory was part of a broader wave: African creators claiming space in global fashion, music, art, technology. Anima Iris benefited from and contributed to that momentum.

Epilogue: What Luxury Looks Like When Africa Owns It

There's a powerful moment in Wilglory's story that gets overlooked.

When Beyoncé posted the bag, media coverage focused on the celebrity endorsement—the validation from mainstream luxury culture.

But the real validation happened in Dakar, when Chef finished that Raspberry Zaza bag knowing exactly who would carry it.

That moment—a Senegalese artisan creating for the world's biggest artist, getting paid twice industry average, employed by a Cameroonian-American Princeton graduate who refused to let African luxury be anything other than African-owned—that's what the story actually means.

"I had this vision of building the next big Gucci, Chanel, etc.—but coming out of Africa," Wilglory said.

Not African-inspired. Coming OUT of Africa.

The distinction matters. For centuries, luxury fashion extracted inspiration from Africa—the prints, the patterns, the aesthetics—while excluding African creators from ownership, from creative control, from economic benefit.

Anima Iris reversed the extraction.

Now when someone carries an Anima Iris bag on Fifth Avenue, money flows to Dakar. When Nordstrom stocks Anima Iris in flagship stores, they're stocking bags where African artisans control production. When Beyoncé posts an Anima Iris bag, she's amplifying African ownership, not just African inspiration.

"In a world of muted leathers and prescribed social norms, Anima Iris pushes the confines," the brand explains. "It is unafraid, emboldened, outspoken, and emblematic of the women who carry it."

The bags aren't quiet. They don't apologize. They don't hide their origin to make Western consumers comfortable.

And that's exactly the point.

Wilglory built a company where the louder the bag, the more successful the brand. Where vibrant geometric patterns aren't "ethnic" or "exotic"—they're luxury. Where handcrafted in Dakar carries the same prestige as handcrafted in Florence.

She didn't ask permission to redefine luxury. She built the proof.

From $5,000 to $100,000 monthly. From pandemic launch to Beyoncé's approval. From one woman with a question in Dakar to seven artisans with sustainable employment building a global brand.

Age when she launched: 24.
Current status: Wharton MBA, million-dollar entrepreneur, redefining African luxury globally.

The grief is still there—you don't lose your mother senior year and move on. But Wilglory transformed it into something her mother would recognize: hustle with purpose, style with substance, and a business model where success means other families don't struggle the way hers did.

Captain Startup writes: "I've documented founders who disrupted industries worth billions. But Wilglory Tanjong accomplished something more profound: she proved that exclusion from luxury narratives wasn't about capability—it was about gatekeeping. And gates can be broken when you're determined enough to build your own door. The next generation of luxury founders won't ask for permission. They'll study how Wilglory built Anima Iris and realize: if she could do it with $5K and grief, what's possible with preparation and time?"

Build with intent. ⚓

Read more Cultural Builder stories at chaiandcode.shop

A Chai & Code Production

Sources:

• CNBC Make It: "This 25-year-old entrepreneur turned her side hustle into a 'Beyoncé-approved' luxury brand" (January 2022)

• Side Hustle Pro Podcast: "How Wilglory Tanjong Got Her Luxury Bags From Senegal To Beyoncé" (Episodes 325 & 394)

• The Daily Princetonian: "Wilglory Tanjong '18, founder of Anima Iris, shares story behind her 'Afro-centric' brand at PASA event" (November 2022)

• BLACK ENTERPRISE: "Meet The Black Designer Behind One of The Trendiest Handbags On Social Media" (November 2020)

• AfroTech: "This Founder's On Track To Hit $1.2M In Revenue This Year All While Working Toward Her MBA"

• Face2Face Africa: "'Officially Beyonce-approved', says Cameroonian whose brand is making waves in the luxury world" (January 2022)

• Fashion Trust U.S.: Anima Iris Awards Profile (2024)

• Princeton University Department of African American Studies: Wilglory Tanjong profile

• Anima Iris official website (animairis.com)

• Wikipedia: Wilglory Tanjong

• MyComEUp Magazine: "The Handbag Sensation - Wilglory Tanjong" (May 2022)

• AOL: "Wilglory Tanjong's Luxury Handbags Have Made Her A Millionaire While She Completes Her MBA" (January 2022)

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