Dionne Ellison is the founder and creator of Vuliwear®, a unique line of luxury eyewear inspired by nature. Vuliwear® eyewear is unisex, polarized, has UV protection built-in the lenses, and made in Italy. Dionne’s extraordinary lenses are what set her eyewear apart from other eyewear brands. The lenses are the first thing a person sees, and Dionne designed them to attract her customers and make a style statement simultaneously.
Dionne Ellison is a Philly/Jersey girl passionate about fashion and who always thinks outside the box. She comes from a family of creative and fashionable influencers before “influencer” became a thing. Her mother was a self-taught seamstress who could whip up an outfit in 30 minutes without using a pattern. Dionne’s sister, Stephanie Ellison-Lewis, is a fabulous evening wear designer (IG: @stef8788) and artist. She is also the Vuliwear illustrator who helps bring Vuli’s lens designs to life. It’s a family affair, and Dionne has been surrounded by fashion all of her life.
As a single mom, work-life balance can sometimes be challenging. Dionne is a huge believer in balance and everything in moderation. When she feels stressed, she takes a break, watches a movie (horror/suspense are her favorite), or gets a massage. Creating generational wealth is a top priority for Dionne. Her son, Noah Ellison, is 23 years old and in grad school, earning his MBA. He’s intelligent, creative, and helping her keep her social media content young and cool. Working together and bouncing ideas off of him has been an excellent experience for both Dionne and Noah.
She was inspired to create a unique sunglass line when she discovered some macrophotography of insects while surfing the internet. The eyes on these insects are compound, hexagon (honeycomb) shaped eyes, consisting of thousands of mini eyes combined to create excellent colors that Dionne thought were amazing. She is not a bug person, but she appreciates God’s hidden beauty that’s unseen with the naked eye. True to her curious nature, Dionne started to Google how to create your own sunglasses, and Vuliwear® was born. Dionne found her design muses not in people but instead in the creepy crawly.
Dionne desires to help others look good and feel great. Harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun can cause severe eye damage, and promoting good eye health practices like wearing shades regularly is paramount. Dionne wants Vuli’s to be an EDC (every day carry) just like your keys and cell phone.
Vuliwear® is proud to give a portion of its proceeds to NothingbutNets.net, a UN Foundation initiative to help families who are threatened every evening and at risk of mosquitoes carrying Malaria by sending insecticide-treated nets.
Dionne often wishes she had started her business at a much younger age, but at 54, she has the patience, endurance, and wisdom that she didn’t have in her twenties. It’s never too late. Being an entrepreneur is a wild roller coaster ride with ups, downs, and many twists and turns. Dionne recognizes that everyone isn’t built for entrepreneurship, but she believes that if you find out that you are, it can be very rewarding if you stay focused on your vision and don’t give up.
The eyewear industry is very competitive, and there are only a few black-owned independent brands, especially woman-owned. Quality and being unique are Dionne’s drivers. Dionne knew she wanted to design her lenses and frames herself. She was deliberate in choosing a name that had meaning and sounded fabulous. Vuli means “shade” in Swahili. Dionne was very fortunate to connect with an Italian frame manufacturer (Castellani, SRL) who was willing to teach her the eyewear business and has become a friend and mentor. Relationships are vital to Dionne, and she believes they can make a big difference in changing your life and business trajectory.
Dionne believes that peace comes from within when you know you’ve done your best and gone the extra mile to achieve your goals. Belief systems like “would,” “coulda,” and “shoulda” don’t work for her. She’s more of an “I tried it” kind of person, and the sky’s the limit. Dionne’s formula for success is when the fruits of a person’s labor are produced for you and others to enjoy.
For Dionne, people need to know that she continuously tries to exercise all of the God-given talents that God has blessed her with within this lifetime.
