Today we’d like to introduce you to Sayuri Tsukahara.
Sayuri, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
As a mother of two daughters, I was starting to collect a lot of hair bows and hair accessories. I had them all piled inside a bathroom drawer and it was starting to get out of control. I searched online for something I could buy that would match my room decor and would be useful, but I didn’t like anything I saw. I knew what I wanted. I had the concept in my mind, so I went to buy a few supplies and made my own hair bow holder. The girls loved it! My husband, who is always supporting my ideas said: you should sell those! My first thought was: yeah right, who is going to buy that?
So I made a couple more, an improved version and just out of curiosity, I posted it on some mom’s chat just to test the market. My closest friends were the ones who started ordering, then my daughter’s classmates and then I started getting messages from friends of friends and people I didn’t know. That’s when I started my Etsy shop (BohoBela).
I still remember my first order like it was yesterday. I was so excited! It was from a lady from Texas. I was nervous, of course, that my product would meet her expectations. I was so full of gratitude that I included handmade hairpins as a special gift. I wrote her a message telling her she was my first customer and that I was going to be forever grateful. Then her review came and it was five stars, the highest you can get on Etsy. I was beyond excited. And then more orders started to come. I opened the shop in September, so it wasn’t a busy season, but then November and Christmas came and I couldn’t believe I was getting all these orders. People were trusting me with a special gift for someone else and that made me really appreciate my craft and my customers.
Last week was my two year anniversary and I’m very proud to say that I have shipped to almost every state in the US and internationally as well. There is a Boho Bela hanging somewhere in Mexico, Spain, Australia, Argentina, Costa Rica and Canada.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Like every other business, it has had its ups and downs. Seasons of low sales and then it peaks and goes down again. I haven’t invested in ads yet, so growing my social media followers has been hard, but it also makes me appreciate every new follower and “like” even more because I know they are on my page because they like what I do.
I tried doing local farmers market as well and realized it was harder than I thought it was, it takes me a lot of inventory preparation and then the results are not as you would expect it to be. But you do get exposure and its always a learning process that helps you get better. It also makes your heart fuzzy and warm when you see your friends come and support you and buy a little something from your table. My older daughter insisted she wanted to stay with me the whole day and every time someone bought something, she would get so excited and you could tell she was really proud of her Mama. So that makes it all worthwhile. It also teaches them to follow your dreams and get up if you fail and do it all over again.
But I love my little business, so I enjoy all of it, the good and the bad, although I must honestly say I feel very lucky and blessed I have had the support I’ve had from my customers. They are the ones who have made this ride a smooth and amazing one.
Boho Bela – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
So I create hair bow holders/organizers and dream catchers that can be both useful and decorative. I mostly have two types, the Horizontal version that is made to hold more hair bows and headbands. And the round one, which is the dream catcher type that can be more decorative but are functional as well. The customer can choose the style, the initial that comes embroidered and the color tones as well as a “theme” if they wish for a different theme to match their decor. Some themed ones I have are Harry Potter, Minnie Mouse, Frozen, floral, butterfly, unicorns, and rainbows. Some orders them to decorate, but the cool part is they have a function as well and are made to hold bows and headbands.
Last year I introduced dream catchers for boys as well and small items are also sold on my Etsy shops such as key chains, weaving art, personalized drawings and macrame art. The one thing I am more proud about my company is that my daughters have seen it grown alongside me and when someone asks them what your mom does, they always say she works at Boho Bela. They sure have the brand well-positioned in their little head and they are my best sellers. They were my little helpers when I started making them on the kitchen table, then they helped me decorate my fist “office space” and then when it became a real studio. They know is my sacred space and when they see me in full work mode, they know to respect the creative process and let mommy work… well… most of the time.
I think that something that sets me apart is that these are one of a kind pieces. No one else has something like it, they are personalized and they never look exactly the same. Also, I like to create special bonds with my customers. I like to hear about who the gift is for, is it for a daughter or a friend or a niece? is this a gift for a special occasion? what colors do you have in your room?… my customers like to share pictures of their decor so I can get a feeling of what they would like. This is a very personal gift. This is something handmade from my home to theirs. Everything I create is made with all the love in the world and to think that some little girl somewhere in the world sees my piece every day and becomes a part of her room and her life, that is just beyond me and it makes so proud and so grateful.
I like to always add a special handwritten note to personally thank them for choosing my store and if time and supplies allow it, I like to throw a little surprise gift in there too. So I take this honor with much pride and above all gratitude. I’m so grateful for every order and every review, every comment and like, when I say they have made my day is because they really have.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Mmmm tough question. I have had so many little steps of course and little achievements to anyone else but that to me represents so much. Like my first international order was a great moment in my life. The moment I finished decorating my first farmers market and seeing my tent completed and ready to open was another proud moment.
But I think the proudest moment was not too long ago when Boho Bela was set aside for a while to become a full-time fabric face mask producer. When all this COVID chaos began and I started listening to stories about the shortage in medical supplies and all these nurses asking for masks, any kind of masks, I knew it was time to use my supplies and make masks for the greater good. So far, I have been able to donate masks to different hospitals, nurses, police, firemen, grocery store, doctor’s offices and my neighbors and friends.
I then received thank you cards, text messages, a picture of the nurses in NYC wearing my masks, anonymous gifts and donations outside my front door and I knew that bad times and situations as hard as they can be can also bring out the best in people. I have seen kindness and love been spread around me and I have been able to give back all the good that has been given to me. Realizing that Boho Bela has been part of easing someone’s peace of mind has been a moment of much pride. My missions still carry on and I am now adding a free fabric face mask to every order too. Keeping my customers safe and mostly just as a thank you because their purchases allow me to keep buying more supplies to keep on sewing. So this is their achievement as well, even though they don’t realize it.
Pricing:
- Hair bow holder can range from to $34.99 to $45.99 depending on what they want.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/BohoBela
- Email: entresiestas@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bohobela/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Baby-Goods-Kids-Goods/Boho-BeLa
- Other: @bohobela
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