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Introduction and Announcement 

Xiomara: That was when I knew that this is what I'm working for. I'm working to create these opportunities where they didn't exist before. And to really help other people support their families and to have this connection with my father's home country.  

Jasmine: Welcome to Make Good Fashion, the podcast that's all about starting, launching and growing impactful fashion brands. 

Jasmine: I'm your host, Jasmine Rennie.  

Before I start today's episode, I have a very special announcement, so listen up.  

Launching the Make Good Fashion Shop 

And that announcement is that the Make Good Fashion Shop is now live.  

so what do we have in the Make Good Fashion Shop? Well, I'm glad you asked, friend, because we have all of the things. We're talking a sourcing directory of over 200 fashion industry manufacturers, vendors, and suppliers that you can access in one click. We also have cost sheets 

that will help you calculate the true cost of your garments and tell you exactly how much to price them for. [00:01:00] We also have budgets so that you can keep all your finances and orders and so much more. So make sure to head over to makegoodfashion. 

com slash shop. I'm also going to include a link in the show notes along with a promo code that you can use to get 15 percent off of your first purchase. You guys, these templates are essential and things that every fashion business should have. So make sure to head over to the make good fashion shop so that you can tap in and get yours today.  

Jasmine: Hey friends, welcome back to the Make Good Fashion podcast.  

Interview with Xiomara of UnoEth 

Jasmine: Today I have the privilege of interviewing Xiomara of UnoEth. UnoEth is a father daughter handbag business that sells the most beautiful leather handbags and accessories. They hail from Northern California, but all of their goods are produced by artisans in Ethiopia. 

Jasmine: In today's episode, Xiomara takes me through the journey of how her and her father created this [00:02:00] beautiful brand as an homage to her father's home country. We talk about how she was able to get gritty and raise capital for the business in only a couple of months, and her motivation to build a brand with a greater purpose than herself. 

Jasmine: You guys are going to be so inspired by this episode. It's real, it's authentic, and so encouraging for anybody on this entrepreneurial journey. So without further ado, here's Ciamata. 

Jasmine: Hey Xiomara , how's it going? Thank you so much for being on the podcast.  

Xiomara: Hi, Jasmine. I'm doing amazing. Thank you so much for having me 

Jasmine: amazing.  

Xiomara's Journey to Handbag Design 

Jasmine: Okay, so I want to hear a little bit about your background. We all know that you are the founder of uno at this beautiful bag company, but I want to know how you got here. 

Jasmine: I heard that you used to work in corporate America before this. So like, tell me how you landed on being a handbag designer.  

Xiomara: I, it's funny. I, some, I think about my path and [00:03:00] how I got to where I am now. It's kind of funny. I started out in marketing and advertising. That was. Since I was in high school, I just wanted to be in an advertising. 

Xiomara: I just thought that I love the creative side of business. And that's where I just wanted to get into. I think I was inspired by some movie or something like that, but I started out in advertising and marketing at an ad agency here in San Francisco, and then. I got into social media management and a little bit of sales and a part of me really just loved retail. 

Xiomara: I was in retail when I was in college, like, you know, working at express and different stores and boutiques. And I really wanted to have a say of what was actually being sold as opposed to how we're communicating to the consumer. And. To buy it or to inform like about this brand and whatnot. And so I went back to school at FIDM, the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, also in San Francisco. 

Xiomara: And I studied merchandise buying and the retail side or the business side of retail. [00:04:00] And after that I worked for, um, Pottery Barn. I started out in their email marketing as a planner, and then I switched over into merchandising and assistant assistant buyer in textiles. And from there, I. And I learned so much, it was such a fast paced environment and in home decor. 

The Birth of UnoEth 

Xiomara: And during that time, my dad went to Ethiopia, where he's from, and he got me a leather messenger bag as a gift. And I was like, oh, this is perfect. I can wear my carry my laptop and commute from Oakland to San Francisco every day, because it was a long commute of consisting of taking a casual carpool with a stranger and then walking a mile to work and then back and then taking the subway back home. 

Xiomara: So it was really great to be hands free. Little did I know that this leather messenger bag would cause so much attention. I would get stopped on the sidewalk, at a coffee shop, on the subway, at work. Everyone asked me where I got this bag [00:05:00] and I was like, Oh, it's handmade in Ethiopia. My dad got it for me as a gift. 

Xiomara: It was custom made by this artisan. And they're like, Oh, that's so cool. So cool. And they're just Everyone keeps asking about this bag and I talked to my dad. I was like, hey dad, like the people keep asking about this bag He's like, babe, me too. Me too And he's like, we should start a business. I'm like, I'm working at this very demanding corporate job. 

Xiomara: I'm styling on the side for stitch fix and trying to buy a house in the Bay Area, which is super competitive. Um, I don't really have the time to do all of this. And he's like, okay. Okay. Another like month, like passes by still compliments questions. And at that point we had friends and like some of my co workers ask, Hey, when's your dad going back to Ethiopia? 

Xiomara: And I'm like, I don't know, I think in a couple months or so. And they're like, we place a pre order for that bag. And I'm like, a pre order [00:06:00] with who? Like, I don't, this company doesn't exist. What are you talking about? So I told my dad, my dad, and he said, babe, I really think that we should try and we should do this. 

Xiomara: And I was like, you know what? Fine. Let's go ahead and do it. And so he connected with the artist and that he met back in Ethiopia. His name is Muzan Siraj, and we helped him get his leather export license so that he can ship goods to us. And I sent Muzan over some sketches, very loose sketches. And we went back and forth on like finishings and designs and. 

Xiomara: All of that. And my dad went back to Ethiopia with two empty suitcases and came back with them full of leather messenger bags. And so I gave, we had about 15, 20 pre orders for this. Company, and . So I start, we gave 'em back to everyone who had ordered, shipped 'em off, and I started getting emails from people that I didn't know and it subject like said Messenger bag. 

Xiomara: No [00:07:00] way. Hi. I, you know, I know you don't know me, but my, I'm friends with Shannon. I'm friends with so-and-so, and I love her bag. Can you please, like, how can I place an order? I'm like. Okay, this is getting out of control. So I was like, you know what forget it. Let's just go ahead and just do do a quick photo shoot. 

Xiomara: I'll set up a website on Shopify. Like I basically already do this for a living as a merchandiser and all of our business was mostly online. So I already work with the e com teams. I'm like, this is already something that I do in my every day to day. So why don't I do this for fun? And so February 2015 is how we, when we officially launched and online, and then we did pop ups every other weekend here in the Bay area, both in Oakland and in San Francisco, and we just spread like our organically through word of mouth and through these markets and through Instagram, and then we started to. 

Xiomara: Consign a different [00:08:00] boutiques in our in Oakland, and we just kind of just kept growing and growing into the point where a year and a half into it. I was. I was really distressed because I was working so much and then also I, I would work, you know, nine hours in a day and then come back and work three, four hours when I got home after dinner. 

Xiomara: Oh my goodness. And so I just said, you know what, let's just make a plan. Let's just, you know, I have like reserve monies saved up. And at that point my job was super toxic and I just had to get out. And so.  

Transition from Corporate to Entrepreneurship 

Xiomara: Wait, and I was like, well, I got six months to get this really like to support myself. So that's how I became a full time entrepreneur from corporate. 

Xiomara: And that's my kind of story. Oh my  

Jasmine: goodness. It almost feels like this business found you. Exactly.  

Xiomara: I never, I never ever thought that I would be a like design. I didn't really say it because I just Don't feel like it's true. [00:09:00] I feel like I concept more, but I really do kind of design every aspect of every one of our styles. 

Xiomara: And yeah. I knew I always wanted to have my own business. Like I always wanted to have a boutique. I even like created a business plan for it, but little did I know it'd be more of like my own brand and all of that. So I really got to marry my like analytical side in terms of business and trends and reports and all of that. 

Xiomara: And with my creative side in terms of, I love developing new products and assortments, and then also with. Our photo shoots and like the aesthetic I run all our ads. And so I really love those parts of like running You know,  

Jasmine: yeah, that's amazing.  

Fundraising for UnoEth 

Jasmine: So tell me about that transition Of you leaving the corporate world like what at what point? 

Jasmine: Did you feel confident enough to take that leap and to go full force with uno?  

Xiomara: I think so the point It got to was [00:10:00] where we had really good, like consistent growth and consistent sales to a point where like, you just have to lay out all the numbers. Like what are your monthly liabilities for your business? 

Xiomara: What are your monthly liabilities for yourself? How much are you making in sales? You know, and. When you see a consistent curve and a consistent trend, I'm like, okay, I feel confident that we can fulfill this and keep growing. When, so when, that's how I knew I could take that leap. And when it, cause I had like six months of savings, I'm just like, okay, well, I'm going to do this. 

Xiomara: I'm really going to put my good old college try. And, and if I don't, then I can go and get another job. Like I'm very employable. So, and so that's how I. I knew that I, once I saw the plan of like, in terms of numbers, I felt more secure about that. But I will say not a consistent check [00:11:00] is very like nice, like feeling in terms of like security. 

Xiomara: So I was really battling between that and whatnot. And so, but when we first, when I first took that leap, I did do a crowd fund for about 10, 000. And so that I wanted to put into inventory, which, you know, like all of that just kept duplicating into. More sales. And then also we, I did this program where I really created a really in depth and business plan with a business mentor of mine for like weeks. 

Xiomara: We worked together for like nine weeks on it. And then she helped me apply for my first business loan of, I think at the time it was like 35K or 40K at that point. And so then I was like, okay, I feel much more confident and just invest more in product and. marketing and whatever it may be. So, um, that's how things just kind of kept rolling. 

Xiomara: And that was literally six and a half years ago when I went full time, like we've been in business for about [00:12:00] a little over eight now. Wow.  

Jasmine: It's amazing. Okay, so I want to talk more about the fundraising because a lot of that's a major challenge for a lot of Businesses, a lot of fashion businesses especially. 

Jasmine: Mm-Hmm. because it takes a lot of capital to build a fashion business. Yeah. And I mean, it depends on how, you know where you're starting. You can start small and Mm-Hmm. , you know, not invest so much, but you need capital. Period. So, yeah. You talked about fundraising through crowdfunding. Mm-Hmm. . And through obtaining a small business loan. 

Jasmine: So can you tell me a little bit about the process with that? What crowdfunding site did you use? What was your  

Xiomara: experience with that? I first went through Kiva. They're a nonprofit organization and not only can entrepreneurs in the States, but it's also global. So you can fundraise or crowdfund, um, up to 10, 10, 000. 

Xiomara: I think maybe it's more now. Um, and you have to, uh, do an [00:13:00] application and then you, uh, there's like two different. Steps, two different steps or so, like be by your first week or so, like there's 30 days that you have to raise this money. Okay. It's like the first week or two. You have to get at least 25 of your network to contribute at least $25 towards your crowdfund. 

Xiomara: So  

Jasmine: you would have to basically market this to your community. Mm-Hmm? .  

Xiomara: Oh yeah, yeah. Oh yeah. Okay. You call you. I find the most effective way to. Is to call people, like not to just send an email or send, I mean, you can send a text obviously for like reminders, but like calling people and like, hey, I know you heard about this little brand was really actually growing and I'd love your support, blah, blah, blah. 

Xiomara: All you need to do is contribute at least 25 towards my crowdfund. I have this, like, my deadline is this time. And all of that. So you need 25 people [00:14:00] to 15 or 25 people contribute within a certain time period. And then you have to crowdfund the rest. What was great is that other companies like say LinkedIn or like Microsoft or whoever, they did matching programs. 

Xiomara: So like, so say for a certain amount of days, they would match your whoever's contributions during that time. So Kiva had a really great like network and how in that aspect. But the cool thing about Kiva is that it's actually you repay, after you've raised the funds, you repay that each month at 0 percent interest. 

Xiomara: Okay. So, and I think it's up to three years or so. So anyway. So instead  

Jasmine: of for, for example, like I did Indiegogo for my crowdfunding and they, they, you don't get equity in the company, but you do get product. So this is, they're getting their money back basically. Yep, yep.  

Xiomara: You're not giving product. Not giving product. 

Xiomara: Okay. They're getting their money back. Yeah. Interesting. I've  

Jasmine: [00:15:00] never heard of this  

Xiomara: site. Yeah. Kiva. K I V A. And you can do it multiple times as well, too. And it was a great, like, way to, you know, really be your true test. Like, do you really want this or not? Because back then you'd think... Like 10k is a lot of money, you know, to, I mean, it is a lot of money, but I think once you start to get into it, it's just like, Right, right. 

Xiomara: I feel like everything is 10, 000. Yeah,  

Jasmine: I was just explaining some to someone like a thousand dollars is like a hundred dollars in like business world. It's not going to get you very far. But yeah, when you're just starting out anything. Yeah, yeah. In California, especially. Yeah, so you did Kiva. That was successfully Crowdfunded and then tell me about the small business loan. 

Jasmine: Where did you get that through and how did the process for that go?  

Xiomara: so I worked with a business [00:16:00] advisor through Optima business bootcamp Her name is Ronnie Langer and Froger and she we worked together every week for like nine weeks on my business plan to help like You know, in my application for a business loan. 

Xiomara: So we worked on that together tirelessly and I felt really sound and really collect, you know, uh, confident in it. And I applied for my first business loan through working solutions. Um, they're also a nonprofit organization that. funds, uh, small businesses and startups, um, that are between the zero to five years old, um, range. 

Xiomara: And because it's typically, it's so hard for small business owners to get funding in the beginning, um, because you have no sales history, you have just, or maybe very little sales, you know, as well. And you would need to. Most banks, they want at least like two to five years worth of history [00:17:00] before you start to apply for anything with them. 

Xiomara: And so the process was like a simple application, like who, how many businesses or business owners are involved and what are your sales projections, you include your business plan and all of that. And I submitted my plan, like I said, and so they working solutions at the time they funded up to 50, 000 or so. 

Xiomara: And we were at the time approved for 40. So I was like, let me just take it off. Wow. So you  

Jasmine: raised 40 from the small business loan? How much for from the crowdfunding? 10. 10. So you had 50, 000 to start off with?  

Xiomara: Yeah, as a full when I'm full time. Yeah. Yeah. That's amazing. Where I am still anyway. Yeah. So I did that. 

Xiomara: That was, I would say my first loan was I want to say October. So I, the first month into entrepreneurship was August 2017 and [00:18:00] then September, October. Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. Yeah, you, you  

Jasmine: raced pretty quick.  

Xiomara: It was my life.  

Jasmine: I always say when your back is up against the wall and you put all in, like you're going to figure it out. 

Jasmine: You're going to make that money somehow. And I  

Xiomara: will tell you, I didn't, I wasn't sure that I was going to make the last, make it in the crowd fund because I had About 4, 000 left like the last four days of like crowdfunding. Oh my gosh Isn't gonna happen. Is it one of those where you have to  

Jasmine: make the whole thing in order to get the money? 

Jasmine: Okay. Yeah, so it's like Kickstarter  

Xiomara: Yes, basically. Yeah I was stressed. I was pacing up and down. I was like, I'm, I'm just going to work on it. I was like so tight. But then one person, I don't even know this [00:19:00] person, but the full 4, 000.  

Jasmine: Amazing. And I was falling. I  

Xiomara: fell. I don't know who you are. Thank you so much. 

Xiomara: Oh  

Jasmine: my gosh. That is so  

Xiomara: amazing. Yeah. But some stranger believed in me so much that they just dropped 4K.  

Jasmine: And that's why you, you have to continue to believe until the last second, cause it's really easy to look at the natural and be like, it's not going to happen. You know? So it's just so amazing to see how that kind of all panned out. 

Jasmine: And you made. the whole  

Xiomara: goal. I was, I actually thinking about it now. Like I have goosebumps because of how I remember exactly how I felt. And I'm like, the universe really believes in me. I was like, okay,  

Jasmine: we better make this work. And you have here we are eight years later, and thank you to whoever that was that invested in this because what it's produced. 

Jasmine: Okay.  

Working with a Parent in Business 

Jasmine: Let's just look him up. I know. Let's bring him on the [00:20:00] podcast. Um, so you mentioned that you started this with your dad and I'm so curious about that because that's so special getting to work with a parent, but I'm sure also challenging at times. So tell me about like what that looked  

Xiomara: like. You know, it's so funny because, you know, I came from this corporate world, business world, and my dad is a college professor. 

Xiomara: I spent 32 years in Sacramento city college. He loves his job. Oh my God. Actually retiring this month. This is his last month working. Ever. Um. With you too? Or just? No, no. Just, just for Los Rios Community College. Okay, cool. I was like, is he leaving? No, no, no. And so we come from different backgrounds in terms of, you know, I'm type A, you know, this should have been done yesterday, or, you know, detail oriented, and he's like, Okay, you know, a little more laissez faire, kind of like the attitude. 

Xiomara: Yeah, you know, [00:21:00] so funny. And like, I'm type A with like a laid back attitude, type B attitude. Like I'm like, okay, let's get this done. It doesn't need to be like 1000 percent perfect. It just needs to get done. You know, like, what are the most, I think at this point in my life, I've learned like, what are the priorities? 

Xiomara: You know what I mean? It's just kind of, that's it. Um, anyway, I had to learn how to, I think just communicate, you know, it's like you're communicating with your parent on a totally different level of, you know, not just father daughter, like family style. This is like, okay, business partner style. Like, hey, I need you to do X, Y, and Z, blah, blah, blah. 

Xiomara: He would have to. I guess he would have to like, he's not a very like a conflict kind of guy. Like he's just, I would rather avoid it like the plague. And so, you know, I guess you get kind of scared to like, give me some bad news. Like, Hey, like our vendor wasn't able to deliver on time or, you know, something along those [00:22:00] lines. 

Xiomara: And sure I get pissed. But so I had to really learn how to communicate like my frustrations in a Much more subtle kind of like way as opposed to like an emotional way that you would if you're just Talking with your dad, you know, yeah, and so I had to learn so I would say the first two years It took a lot of like, you know learning and just straight up experiences to pop up and happen So that you can learn how to really just learn from experience. 

Xiomara: Like I said, yeah, that's awesome So I love working with him though. It's just He is so supportive and he takes no credit. Like, this was his idea. My idea? This was his idea. Yeah. So it's just kind of like, sir, like, oh, but you do everything, babe. I'm just, you know, I'm just here for support. You know, I'm here for the shows and, you know, I'll talk to the vendors. 

Xiomara: Like, he's literally like created and like that whole foundation for us. Yeah. [00:23:00] Well, that's about it. But maybe he prefers  

Jasmine: to be, like, in the background and, like you said, his personality is very laid back and, yeah. That's awesome, though.  

Xiomara: He photoshoots. But he does so well in them. He's such a natural.  

Jasmine: Aw, I love it. 

Jasmine: That's awesome. Okay, so tell me what you guys did after raising that 40, 50, 50k, did we say 50? So what was your first step when you got that money? Did you know exactly? Where to invest it right away?  

Investing in Inventory and Operations 

Jasmine: Did it go right to production? Like, what did you take that and  

Xiomara: do? I definitely divvied it up mostly to inventory so that we can have that in order to make sales. 

Xiomara: Yeah. And then we invested into marketing and also just for just general operations like. These application booth fees that were really the pop ups were mainly in the beginning, probably like 90 percent of our business, you know, so we had [00:24:00] to keep popping up and going and going and going and all of that. 

Xiomara: So just general operations on that, on that end. So inventory and operations was just it because at the time I didn't have a studio and have an employees. I I did partner with opening a store with two other business owners the following year. So just, yeah, it was mainly just product and operations.  

Jasmine: Okay. 

Starting with Few Styles 

Jasmine: And how many styles did you start off with? Did you start smaller or like what did your collection look like in the beginning? I think we had,  

Xiomara: well, we had our Shiba Tote, our Tlaloc Messenger. We, I think we were, were we doing buckets back then? I think when we had like maybe a wallet and a bucket backpack. 

Xiomara: We had like four styles in like maybe three colors or so. Yeah. So that's how we [00:25:00] started which is very like minimal and like the tried and true like essentials for everyday kind of wear. Yeah.  

Expanding the Product Line 

Xiomara: And Now we, I think we're at like a hundred different SKUs. Wow.  

Jasmine: How did you start with those though? Did you have any proof of concept with the styles that you ended up producing? 

Jasmine: Did you have feedback on those? I know the messenger you off the bat was like a fan favorite, but what about the other styles?  

Xiomara: Yeah, the messenger was the still tried and true even till this day. The Shiba Tote was just something like, well, okay, not everyone wears a messenger bag, like some. You may think that this is more of like a masculine kind of style or whatever it may be, but everyone wears a tote, and totes are probably one of our, definitely one of our top selling styles, and I wanted to make it with a zipper, there were hardly any, still, hardly any totes with zippers, and I just wanted, like, in the Bay Area, we just commute, well, commuted because now with [00:26:00] everything after COVID, offices shut down, people aren't commuting as much. 

Xiomara: All of us up downtown is like ghost town now, um, which is sad.  

Understanding Customer Needs 

Xiomara: But I just thought of like, I asked everyone, what is your commute like? Or what is your day to day like? What are your needs? You know what I mean? How can I help you in that aspect? And so like, I really need this. I'm on bars. I need security and like, you know, uh, make sure all my stuff is collected and And then some other people were like, Hey, I need, I need two straps because I have back issues. 

Xiomara: So backpacks, perfect. Okay. So those were the things we kind of focused on. And then once people basically had those items, like what else do you have? I'm like. Cross bodies. Okay, let's get into that. Like, oh, I need a wallet with this. Okay, let's do a wallet. We would also even like pick up, my dad would go and pick up a lot of different like random styles from different artisans in Ethiopia too and just try them out and see how people felt.[00:27:00]  

Xiomara: We even had what was really popular headphone holders.  

Jasmine: Interesting. I didn't know that was a thing. Oh my god.  

Xiomara: Do I  

Jasmine: need a headphone  

Xiomara: holder? Now that we have like air pods and stuff, right? So you would basically just like wrap it around like the headphone holder and it had just like a little snap and just kept it like closed together like this. 

Xiomara: Yeah. Wow. I'm just thinking about like, I'm just you're making me go through. Like the booth days of just like selling and what was what we have, you know, we've had so many and now I start to feel old.  

Jasmine: Time goes by so fast when you're building a business though. It's insane. I feel like the last few years have like Flown before my eyes. 

Jasmine: I know.  

Challenges of Importing Goods 

Jasmine: I want to talk more about your production process, though, and producing in Ethiopia Where did you even find the artisans that you would end up working with? I know your dad [00:28:00] initially sourced that messenger bag from an Artisan in Ethiopia, but yeah, how did it go from there? How did you scale like what is so  

Xiomara: it's funny So with our artisan partner Mouzain Siraj, we've We both started together, like he feels like a brother to me because we both kind of helped each other grow our businesses together and scale and scale like he started in his mom's like house, you know where he lived and like I started in my one bedroom apartment and then I moved into a house. 

Xiomara: So that was in my garage and then I moved into a small studio and another studio now like a bigger studio so. He has done the same thing during that time. And so that's how we met him. But also my aunt who lives in Ethiopia, she, she helped us so much in growing our business because she works for Ethiopian airlines as one of their, in their VP as a VP and she has [00:29:00] crazy connections. 

Xiomara: She knows everybody. Like if I have an issue and I'll give her a call, it'll be resolved in 24 hours. Like she's. Like this cutthroat businesswoman, like boss, babe, like, you know, energy and she's, we call her like the colonel because she is, she may be the smallest one, but she bosses everybody around in the family. 

Xiomara: Oh my goodness. No one like, no one can test her. Like she is like, she runs things. And so. She also helped us a lot because especially in terms of shipping from Ethiopia to Oakland or San Francisco and with cargo things. It was just such a, I've never, I was never an importer. You know, I'm like, I would literally go on my lunch to the customs department in downtown San Francisco. 

Xiomara: Try to meet with somebody to help them help me fill out my customs entry [00:30:00] form because if it's wrong Then it'll get denied and they only work monday through friday from nine to five and they take their one hour lunch I'm, like, I don't know what i'm doing and if If it's wrong, then it's the cargo is just going to sit there and then you're going to accumulate fees at the cargo place in SFO and I was stressed out. 

Xiomara: Girl, girl,  

Jasmine: girl, I, I, I know this too, like I'm so triggered right now because we Triggering myself! Like, usually when we import fabrics and goods and stuff, we do it through the supplier, right? They take care of all of that, they import it, and we just deal with them. La Maybe a year ago, we developed our own fabric, started importing, and Oh! 

Jasmine: Did not know any of this. I thought they're just gonna ship it. It's just gonna, he was like, you can get it was like, okay, I'll get it from the airport. I was in Hawaii on vacation at the [00:31:00] time and found out I needed a customs broker. Got my customs broker. It was on a Friday and they don't work on the weekends. 

Jasmine: Turns out that they were charging us a hundred and something dollars a day. To keep it there if I didn't come pick it up. So I'm on vacation stressing out because my fabric is sitting here in customs And then you have to pay to get it out of customs. I'm like, yes Oh my gosh, so I'm like, I know this very well now and I just Yes, I know the  

Xiomara: struggle I think the first two, two shipments, I was able to do it by myself, because if it's under a certain amount of money, Yeah. 

Xiomara: like, valued goods, then you don't, you, like, you don't get charged a certain fee. If it's, if it's over, like, if, you can't claim it's personal, you know, like, and then if it's over, say, 1, 500 or something like that, then [00:32:00] you got to claim everything that's inside and whatnot. And so then after that, they're like, why don't you just use a customs broker? 

Xiomara: I'm like, why don't I just use it? I'm I didn't know a customs broker even existed. You know, like what do I need them for? Honey, they had, it landed, say a shipping would land at 12. It would be cleared by two 30. You know what I mean? Then I can go, and then I would go pick it up myself because I'm not paying, you know, a hundred and some dollars at that time for someone to come and deliver it to me. 

Xiomara: Like,  

Jasmine: it's so expensive. Gas is cheaper at this point, like to go pick it up. Yeah, people don't, I don't think people understand the challenges of importing goods. And so this is good to talk about because it, you know, you have to count all these  

Xiomara: costs. Right. And I, it just makes me think about, I got a DM on Sunday [00:33:00] or Monday and This woman, so we were featured on CBS's Black Renaissance segment where it highlighted my father and I and our business. 

Xiomara: And we got to talk about how everything is made in Ethiopia and blah, blah, some successes. And the woman sent us a DM. She's like, hi there, like congratulations on everything and your success. It was so great to learn about your business on. Black Renaissance on TV. I can't say the same about your prices. 

Xiomara: Why? It's hard, like, it's hard for low to middle income people like me to support businesses like yours. It almost feels the same as going to a big company or whatnot. And please consider, like, you know, consider us and consider your pricing in the future. Just, just a thought. And I'm like, okay, I understand my brand is not for everybody, but I do understand that my prices are fair [00:34:00] compared to what, in terms of what I bring into as, in terms of quality, in terms of material and in terms of what we do in terms of supporting artisans in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 

Xiomara: Yeah. What people don't understand are the costs that are tied to each. In every bag that we sell for the importing fees to the duty fees that we now carry because the goa act is not no longer serving us anymore. And for everything that comes into into running a business, you guys are experiencing high prices and so are we. 

Xiomara: So, you know, we have to in order to not in order to keep supporting people that. We, as a main core of our business in Ethiopia, we have to support ourselves too so we can keep doing what we want to do, you know. Yeah.  

Jasmine: Yeah, I've definitely got one of those before too, but I think, yeah, it's important also when we have these businesses, especially that, [00:35:00] you know, are paying fair wages and, you know, trying to do the right thing that we have to educate too, because people just don't, sometimes can't reconcile the prices, but then they also are not informed about, you know, that dress that you're getting from Forever 21. 

Jasmine: How do you think it gets down to like five dollars? You know what I mean? Somewhere in that, you know, in that That whole thing, like someone's probably not getting paid fairly, something's going on there, so, Mm-Hmm. . Yeah. I think it's really great to educate as much as we can and, you know, show the process and all of that. 

The Importance of Storytelling in Marketing 

Jasmine: And so that brings me to my next question about how , how you market and how you share the story of your brand with your customers, you know, through social media, through any of your marketing efforts. How do you. educate them and share that  

Xiomara: story with them. You know, Jasmine, this is actually something that I am working. 

Xiomara: I [00:36:00] need to improve upon. I've always led with the product in terms of this is a great bag. It's leather is handmade in Ethiopia. We support artisans. Those are the top three things that I like advertise in like our. On Instagram, on our website and those three things to make it kind of simple. And I need to do a better job at. 

Xiomara: Advertising our story and how we got started because that I've always remembered that facts tell and stories sell and people remember people may not remember all the facts, but remember the story. They remember how it like the story made them feel and I want people to. remember our story when they're carrying our bag and when they they could tell the same story to other people who ask about the bag and so I I'm gonna do a better [00:37:00] job at it, but I definitely like in all of our communications like There's a handmade, there's a made in Ethiopia, there's an artisan made, there's those keywords, like, all throughout our page, pages, and it's something that we need to emphasize more, and I think I've always just been a little more shy about it, and I don't, I don't know why, but thank you for bringing that up. 

Jasmine: Yeah, no, I think storytelling is so important for purpose driven brands and brands that are, you know, doing good. People need to know, like, what this, the background is, and I think, like you said, that emotional tie to it, people really invest in it, get invested in, and it really moves people, and I think it even allows them to, like, want to share with other people, and want to spread the word, and that's free marketing for you, so, yeah, we need to start becoming more so of storytellers, less of sellers, so, yeah, we  

Xiomara: Right. 

Xiomara: That's exactly how this brand started. It was [00:38:00] through, you know, Instagram just started, like it just came out during that time. So we weren't like popping then, but people met us in person. My dad and I at Treasure Island market or second Saturday is that in Jacqueline and square in Oakland. They met us that way. 

Xiomara: They got that firsthand. Feel and smell of our product and also just to hear our story and we, as you know, how much we have to repeat our story all day long when we're selling in person. So, yeah, so I think, and you know, they take a, they take a car, they take a flyer, they buy something or they tell their friends and whatever it may be, so. 

Xiomara: That part for me is, um, something I really want to focus on for this year. Yeah.  

Jasmine: Okay. Awesome.  

The Impact of Press Features 

Jasmine: And tell me about, like, so you mentioned being on TV recently. It was CBS, right? Yeah. Which is amazing. Thank you. Tell us about that [00:39:00] opportunity, how that came about, and how brands can do a better job at promoting themselves and getting these tv spots or getting press mentions to kind of increase sales and awareness. 

Xiomara: I am very lucky that I, all of our press, people have sought us. I don't, I, I'm not, this is another thing that I'm working on, is to get out of my own way and to like create these opportunities. I've been blessed with the opportunities to be featured on Insecure. I literally received an email from Shiona Torini and her team. 

Xiomara: For season four, and they said, Hey, we want to feature your brand, you know, we, they have talking about, you know, Oh, these are the main characters. These are I'm like, I know, insecure. I know my favorite show. What do you guys want? I'll send you anything. Oh, my God. So they Shiona chimed in and like listed the different styles and I was like, okay, great overnighted it to them. 

Xiomara: They received it. They sent everything back and I don't [00:40:00] so maybe a month or two later So, I don't know what was actually used and I didn't know Until we started watching the show and it happened to be at the height of the pandemic like in April Right, and we got to advertise, you know post about it and you know, Shiona Tarini Posted our stories as well, too. 

Xiomara: And wow, and it's just kind of like during that time It was I didn't do that time I don't have any inventory because it was all sitting in Ethiopia like waiting to get shipped You know the whole bottleneck of like shipping.  

Jasmine: Oh my gosh. It was a nightmare. It was a  

Xiomara: nightmare Absolute nightmare. I had products ready to go. 

Xiomara: They were supposed to arrive until June Oh my I was I hadn't I was not making Any money because of this pandemic and because of lack of inventory, I was like, I need to find a job. I need to, I'm going to quit this business. I [00:41:00] didn't know where I was going to go. So. As soon as it dropped, we posted about it, like, hey, you can get a pre order, get on our pre orders, da da da da. 

Xiomara: So that, that's also being part, resourceful, you know what I mean, as a, as an entrepreneur. Gotta  

Jasmine: get scrappy. Figure it  

Xiomara: out. Scrappy. Scrappy is like my middle name. sometimes. And so we, and during the pandemic, it was just a lot of, you know, support Black owned businesses. I mean, you and I were on this analytics report, like an internal analytics report for sustainable Black owned brands to watch. 

Xiomara: I don't know if I, I feel like I sent that to you. Anyway. I'm like, wait, what,  

Jasmine: what report? There, there was so much in 2020,  

Xiomara: honestly, like, I know there was this internal report that listed you. Me, my friend Taylor, and several other Black Oh yeah, Taylor J. Yeah, Taylor J. Black owned brands, sustainable brands to watch. 

Xiomara: And, oh, and also Brother Valleys was on it, so it was like a Wow. It [00:42:00] was, it had a whole trend analytics of like, it had our followers, it had like, a bunch of internal industry things. That's amazing. And I found out about it because there was this company, this wholesale company wanted to partner with us, and He's like, yeah, you were on this list. 

Xiomara: I was like, excuse me. He's like, yeah, you're this report. I was like, okay, and you were on it. So, oh, cool. Well, I'll resend it to you.  

Jasmine: There was so much press around that time. I honestly don't know. But oh, yeah. Marie  

Xiomara: Claire. It was very, it was a, it was nice. I want to touch  

Jasmine: on something you said, though, because you were just saying that, you know, you've just been blessed with these opportunities, which I do believe you have been and, you know, believe there is favor in that, you know, all of that. 

Jasmine: But I also believe that In order for us to be blessed, we also have to take steps of faith and put things in order and be in a position where we can be blessed, right? [00:43:00] And so, I don't, I think there's also something in our part, right? We, we do the work, we, we do the branding, we do the post, we put ourself out there to be found. 

Jasmine: Because, you know, You can have the most amazing brand, but if no one can discover you, it means absolutely nothing, right? So I think that it's great that you already have been building this brand. You've been doing the work. And so, you know, when your work meets that opportunity and you're able to be found, then these amazing opportunities come up for you, which is great. 

Jasmine: So I think that just speaks to the importance of like, you know, even if you feel like you're not being seen or like, you know, your brand, you have this small community and no one, you know, can find you or whatever it may be, just keep doing what you're doing, keep being consistent. And, you know, when the work you're putting in meets the opportunity, then things [00:44:00] happen. 

Xiomara: Absolutely. And it's I agree 100%. Like I don't believe that anything, any energy you put into something won't come back to you. It doesn't matter if that's like health wise, if it's business wise, if it's energy in your relationships, your friendships, and whatever you put on the universe will come back to you 1000%. 

Xiomara: And that is, I think that is what is truly You have to keep going, you know, whether do it scared if you do it, if you're not feeling great, or you know what I mean, just do what you can and be okay with that. And consistency is always going to prevail. It really is. And Also, when, when you see other people, you know, receiving praise, clap for them, you know, don't, don't be jealous, like, be, clap for them, be happy for your friends and even for your competitors, whatever, we can all win, like, there's so many people on this earth, like, I'm not trying to be the number [00:45:00] one handbag company in the world. 

Xiomara: That's stressful. And I don't, that's not my, I don't feel like that's my, where I'm trying to be in life. I just want to make a positive impact here on this earth while I'm here and have fun doing it and traveling and coming up with amazing, an amazing assortment.  

Jasmine: Yeah. And you know what? No one can do what you do, how you do it. 

Jasmine: You're the only you, you only have your mind, your own creativity. your own thoughts, like, no one's going to be able to duplicate what you've already done, even if they try. And so, right, I think that, you know, that's important to remember, too, is just to be yourself and do what you do. What keeps you going? 

Jasmine: Like, what has kept you going these last eight years? What has made you this relentless to keep pushing and, you know, keep your yourself focused?  

Xiomara: In the beginning, it was more of just like, I think coming from the corporate world, you're [00:46:00] just, you are told what to do over and over and over again. And I internally hated that. 

Xiomara: I hated being told what to do, where to be and all this kind of stuff. Especially being the only black person in this like toxic, uh, environment. I just, that was what led me to one, leave. And two, I craved freedom of choice and to create my own schedule and just do what I wanted to do and to not have a limit on how much money I can make and to be able to be like, I'm going to take today off. 

Xiomara: And, or I'm gonna work as hard as I want today and I want to develop these types of products. I want to, I want, I just, I want, I want, I want, like, I just want it. That's what I would really strive for, strove for, aim for. And when there was a trip that my dad and I went back to Ethiopia and visited our artisan partner, Muzan, and we went [00:47:00] to his new shop, his new workshop. 

Xiomara: When we arrived, he had this big sign. He was, just wanted to show us his, all the, his new space. He had so much pride and he had new employees and just, he had our pictures, like, of our styles, like, taped up all over in the workshop and That's when I knew that this was bigger than just selling bags. This isn't about just making a lot of money. 

Xiomara: This isn't about just, you know, being famous or not that I've never want to be famous. It was just, that was when I knew that this is what I'm working for. I'm working for it to create these opportunities where they didn't exist before and to really help other people support their families and to really have this connection with my father's home country and to know that we've [00:48:00] sent over thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars into where my dad is from and to support people who look like me. 

Xiomara: And so that's what really keeps me going because my vendor, I was the only, during the pandemic, I was the only one placing orders with him. Like all the other companies that, I mean, he was working with a handful of other brands like mine in Portugal and Spain and, and Canada, but I was the only one supporting him, you know? 

Xiomara: And. So it's just very, like, if we didn't have these, we wouldn't be surviving, like, it wouldn't be, he wouldn't be around. So I feel a duty to really keep going, to really keep this business model of supporting artists and small business all over the globe, like, part of what I do for the rest of my life, or as long as I can, you know. 

Xiomara: So that's what really has been pushing me over the eight years. And also just, I have, I mean, we have [00:49:00] standards, we have goals, you know, of how we want to live and, you know, I'm not there yet. So that's what also keeps me going.  

Jasmine: Yeah, it's powerful.  

The Importance of Planning and Authenticity 

Jasmine: Okay, so tell me what you would tell an emerging designer who It's kind of trying to take a similar path of working with artisans or to create a brand of some sorts that, you know, has this greater mission behind it. 

Jasmine: What advice would  

Xiomara: you give them? I always give any entrepreneur this, have a plan. Because when we first started UNOF, before I went full time, we did not have a plan. We didn't know where we were going. We were just kind of winging it and having a good time until it got to a point where, okay, we need to buckle down and really create this plan. 

Xiomara: So have a plan and... Also, that it's okay to start small, you don't have to be this huge, like start with this huge company and blow up in a year and, you know, be viral and be all over the place. Like that's [00:50:00] like, it's not sustainable, especially if you're doing it for an emerging as an emerging brand and you're working with sustainably and you know, with a small batch or whatever it may be. 

Xiomara: Be okay with starting small and Everything, it's gonna be a bumpy road. It's still a bumpy road and that is normal for that to happen and whenever you receive any type of resistance, like you're gonna have to go through it. You can't go around it. You can't go over it. Can't go under it. You have to go right through it and it is normal for that to happen. 

Xiomara: Um, maybe painful sometimes, but it's always beautiful in the end, and there's so many lessons that you take with you, and you just become so much more wiser, and you know what to do when it happens again, or just, and honestly, some of the problems you may face, they may be really funny. Like, how you and I are laughing about importing, and our struggle of doing so. 

Jasmine: Triggered, but it's funny. Yes.[00:51:00]  

Xiomara: I'm just like, why did I do these things? But there are just so many lessons that you just wouldn't be able to do if you just didn't do it. Let's just, just do it scared, you know, and be authentically you, that's always going to win. Don't try to be anybody else. Like, I feel like I was trying to do that at some point, you know what I mean? 

Xiomara: Like. I just have to realize, I'm like, no, this is who I am. I'm, I'm not gonna be anybody else. I'm not gonna try to change for, to be what's popular and to be what, what everyone else is doing, because that's just  

Jasmine: boring. . Yeah. And it's exhausting. I feel like you stress yourself out trying to copy this mold, but being exactly who you are is enough. 

Jasmine: Right? So what's next for UnoEth what can we expect? What's coming soon? What are your visions for the future?  

Future Plans for UnoEth 

Xiomara: So I am so excited that we are going to be launching our home line at the end of this [00:52:00] year, late fall, early holiday. I love home decor. Obviously I came from home decor before I came over here and that is going to include woven goods. 

Xiomara: We are partnering with an amazing. Weaver in Addis Ababa and they have these amazing cotton hand woven blankets and throws and robes and so that's probably our woven collection and pillow covers and then we're introducing a candle that we're working with a black owned perfumer. Amazing. Like I wanted to do One, I'm obsessed with candles, like, I don't know who is, I probably spend a little bit too much money on candles. 

Xiomara: But, so, black owned brand here, based here in Oakland, er, in the Bay Area, and so we're working together to create a scent that smells like our studio. Oh, I love it. So it's funny because every time like we add a pop up people would comment like oh I love the smell of leather and at this [00:53:00] point in my life like I am so used to the smell of leather I just barely smell and plus post having COVID last year I'm like my sense of anything has kind of gone awry and so it's going to be a combination of leather and Palo Santo because I always light that in our studio so it's going to be a Nice and smooth. 

Xiomara: We're working on a sense now and so we're launching that and then also some leather pillow covers We have we have had done leather baskets in the past. We sold out So we're relaunching those and different colors and styles and so that'll be at the end of this year and some other wholesale Partners that are still in the works too. 

Xiomara: So I'm excited for that end of this year. Yes. Love  

Jasmine: it Okay, so I want you to end this episode by telling me what you have been most proud of from your journey  

Xiomara: For me, I am most proud of my resilience. I think I often look back at [00:54:00] all the things that I've endured both personally and through business. And. 

Xiomara: I've realized, you know, I have overcome a lot and I've realized also that when I'm in therapy, like talking about things with my therapist, like, girlfriend, that's a lot. I think the ability to just cry and then just take a deep breath, shake it off and just work through it, you know, I think there's a lot of challenges that We battle within ourselves, and so especially with, you know, mental health and things like that, and I'm glad that conversation is a lot more, that topic is a lot more popular, and anxiety and, um, depression are just, they're very real things that a lot of people experience, and now we have actual names to them, and people are able to identify it more and are open to talk about it, but, so just the resilience to keep going and to And through the thick of it, find the beauty, you know, I think that's very important to recognize what you're [00:55:00] surrounded yourself with and that there's beauty in everything. 

Reflections on the Journey 

Xiomara: And just the ability to focus on the most positive things and in the middle of all the negativity. And so I commend myself for just, just pushing through it and not giving up. And because I feel like I wouldn't be giving up on myself. And. That's one thing I will never do is to give up  

Jasmine: Perfect. So tell me where people can find you where people can shop uno at give us all the handles  

Xiomara: all the handles so You can follow us on instagram It's at U N O E T H, UNOETH. 

Xiomara: I'm also an UNOETH too, so it's at X I O M A R A R T, Xiomara R T. And our website, where you can buy all the things, it's UNOETH. com, UNOETH. com. We do free standard shipping on orders over 50 [00:56:00]  

Jasmine: bucks. Go buy something right now. See, that's marketing, you guys. You gotta give us all of the information. Perfect. 

Jasmine: Thank you so much, Xiomara. It's been so great talking to you and just hearing some of the history behind your brand, how you got started, all the good stuff. Thank you so much for sharing with us. No  

Xiomara: problem. Thank you so much for having me.