once upon a time a {lovely} artist :: malva mood

so i am back for more, this time, more on lovely artists. one of the things i love about being a blogger is with no doubt whatsoever, the amazing number of people i know from all over the world. i think that i can say with most sure, that i would not know so many people through traveling like i do through blogging. jimena spínola is among that amazing number of people… and she belongs to the list of really nice ladies (i am just kidding, there is no list, but she is indeed a lovely lady!). i met her a while ago because she reached me for advertising. she is a very warming person and when people are so nice and caring, you can only wish that success meets them during the journey! jimena is the face behind a project called {malva mood}, based in uruguay. let’s get to know this project better, shall we?

can you explain what do you do? malvamood’s goal is to connect talented people’s products with that other people that admire them. we are an online store but always remembering that there are people behind the computer, that’s the key.

and now more about you… who am you? i’m jimena, a 27 year old girl, mom to be (!), that has made malvamood her constant dreaming. living in a small city near the river full of brightness and good people.

when did you start this project? {malva} as i lovingly call it starts on december 2010, after some months of thinking and rethinking the possibility of making that idea come to real life. so, we are close to our  first year birthday!

what is the most important thing for you in your business? from the very beginning i was convinced that i didn’t want a cold/virtual store but a warming one, where people that came across with it feel inspired and at home. so, a warm mail response, a nice phone call and always trying to solve what our clients need is our main work tools. as for the products we sell, we are happy to sell handmade unique products, made by people that enjoy what they do and rely on their work.

what challenges do you face? online shopping is still very young in my country (uruguay), so people are not very used to do their shopping this way. this may be due perhaps to lack of confidence in the payment methods or the products they’ll receive (we try to show the products as real as possible but they are way much more beautiful in person than in the photographs!) that’s why we try to make every shopping experience in malvamood a great one! it’s just a matter of rely ant test it, don’t you think?

well i think that is one great idea, and someone has to start changing the mentality towards online payments. and how about goals, what are your goals for a near future? we’d love to have more customers from other countries so they can see what it’s being done in the south, particularly in uruguay and argentina. also grow in the number of designers who can showcase their creations in the store and promote their work, we currently have about 20 but there are many more designers!

how do you promote your business to make it a successful one? we’ve made some connections with design and fashion blogs from uruguay and argentina mainly. in addition to our {facebook page} that has been very helpful to make our busines known among all interested people and also supportive, and have a more fluid contact with our clients-friends. we also have a {blog} to share the store news, introduce the designers and talk/show those things that inspire us every day to keep working (and investing) every day to get better and better.

don’t you love these ideas? i think that if there was more people like jimena, all the artisans that work hard for their work to be appreciated, would live a better life. i was talking yesterday with mr twiggs about the fact that nowadays it is so hard for us to work in what we love. there are a few lucky ones, and i must say that for now, i am one of those lucky fellows, that actually love what they do. but much more we will find that work just for the money, because bills must get payed. jimena also strived with her dream and certainly built a very warming online place to visit. filled with flowers and beautiful colours, you can explore some of the very best artisans in south america. i hope you can have the time to pop a visit! jimena will thank you!

images: {malva mood}, presentation designed by twiggs for {a place for twiggs} blog