Joosep Seitam – Icecartel

At 19 years old, Joosep Seitam became the co-founder of Icecartel– an e-commerce shopping platform that caters to men’s jewelry. Born in Tallinn, Estonia, he worked his way up from mowing lawns, cleaning up gardens, and trimming hedges, to raking in money after building a brand name in a world of jewelry showcases. He worked his way up by gleaning valuable lessons and recycling them into a valuable product. He used his gardening business to learn responsibility, pricing, client service, scheduling- he took what he knew and used it to reinvent his way of thinking.

When he saw the limitations of his model, he shifted gears and began selling seasonal products like inflatable Christmas decorations online. This helped him develop skills in e-commerce and digital marketing, which is what ultimately let him build a name for himself and his brand.

In his early 20s, Joosep had built several digital businesses. He had been in the jewelry industry since 2019- the year he started the brand Icecartel from scratch, which blossomed into a six-figure company by catering to men’s luxury jewelry. He built Icecartel from the ground up- literally- using nothing but his hard-earned skills, sharp mind, and digital grit. He leaned into his marketing skills, building his brand name before expanding his store. He started where he could succeed in the moment, and used each new chapter teach him something new, using those valuable experiences and turning them into diamonds. He didn’t burn money on experimentation, instead he used what he knew would work: his CEO experience clean branding, and a demand he knew was there. He didn’t guess his market- he built for it.

The most valuable thing one can pull from Joosep’s experience is that a product may get you a sale- but a brand gets you a business. Learning about Joosep’s experience showed me personally how important it is to not get ahead of yourself. It taught me that it’s good to aim high, but even better to build up to it slowly so that you can realize your dream.