Today we’d like to introduce you to Irma Medina Mazon.
Irma, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
As just a four year old little girl, moving from Mexico to Tucson with a very large family; we had a very full house with a lot of birthdays. From an early age, I loved creating decorations and custom pieces for each party, anything to use my creativity and my hands.
Fast forward and taking the safe route; I went to college, became a corporate aircraft technician, got married, had kids and devoted myself to my career and my two boys. Years later, I went through a divorce. It was then when I realized I had played it safe and never challenged myself to fulfill my passions.
Sometime later, my niece asked me to make the decorations for her quinceñera( sweet 15). I enjoyed it so much, it had been years since I did anything of that nature, and missed the fire it gave me to do something I loved. The event went so well that the owner of the event center had such high praise for the decor she asked to buy it from me. It was at that moment I knew I had something I needed to pursue.
The months that followed, I opened up my own Etsy store where I sold my decorations. It was exciting, rewarding and it was for me! It, of course, came with its challenges with its ups and downs: where even at times, I wanted to give up and shut down the store. With the support of my family to fan my flame and the inner drive, I have to never give up; I battled on and continued to feed my passion.
I have since now put my focus and vision into creating custom merchandise where I am truly rewarded by turning client’s ideas into a reality. I have been blessed by the continuous support of the many relationships I’ve made throughout this journey that continues to fuel the passion that I put my heart and soul into.
Has it been a smooth road?
While still working a full time job, putting my all into my own business and being a single mother of two; time management is the one thing that challenges me the most. Waking up at 3 AM to work on my clients’ orders for a few hours before my boys wake up so we can get ready for school and I go to my “daytime” job. A full shift of aircraft maintenance later, I pick up my boys and then it’s off the baseball, t-ball and guitar lessons. Somedays we may not get home until 8 o’clock which is still followed by homework, dinner and a bedtime story. Now I can get back to Antonella Handcrafts. The days are long and the stress is more than I can bear at times, but I know that with perseverance and all of this hard work, that one day I will be able to focus solely on my passion and continue to grow my business.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Antonella Handcrafts story. Tell us more about the business.
I design so many different things I always find it hard to title what I do. The creation process starts with the client; so as wild as the imagination gets, is the extent of what we end up creating. Custom merchandise is what I feel fits the mold the best. I design and create all types of personalized clothing, team uniforms, decals, tumblers, mugs, award plaques, hats, iron-on patches, the list goes on and on. I use heat transfer vinyl and a process called sublimation. A process that allows you to take literally ANY image and transfer that to ANY object with crystal clear quality. I pride myself in using only the highest quality of materials. Softness, fit and comfort are some of the key ingredients to bringing a clients ideas to its fullest potential.
What are you most proud of as a company?
Starting with just a dream and a whole ton of grit and tenacity, I am incredibly proud of how much I’ve been able to achieve and how I’ve been able to grow both personally and as a whole with my business. Being entirely self-made and self-taught is something that is truly special to me. My company has given me the opportunity to speak with many other business owners that inspires so many and support other women to aspire for greatness.
What sets you apart from others?
I strive to create a unique customer experience for each individual client. I don’t want the client to have a cookie-cutter design process. I pride myself in creating a brainstorming workshop that is unique to each project and allows the client and I to openly explore the vast imagination of the clients’ ideas. From there, the client truly feels as if they are building the project alongside me and are rewarded in the outcome by creating something they never thought possible.
Where do you see your industry going over the next 5-10 years? Any big shifts, changes, trends, etc?
Pop up shops are where several businesses come together to showcase their products and the local community can shop and see what their community has to offer in one convenient place. I aspire to collaborate with other businesses and bring pop up vendor shows to Tucson. As a community, we need to support each other and shop locally. A larger pop-up scene would help change the way we shop and promote small business growth within our city.
Contact Info:
- Phone: 5204454004
- Email: antonellahandcrafts@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/antonellahandcrafts?r=nametag
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/antonellahandcrafts/
Image Credit:
Ever is Everything
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