Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Misas and Daniel Robles.
Michelle and Daniel, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
We moved to the U.S in our early twenties to pursue our college careers. (Michelle) I began my undergrad career in Fashion Merchandising in New York City. Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve dreamed of having my own fashion brand. I’ve always loved going fabric shopping and designing my own dresses. During a summer in my hometown, I worked for a non-profit which empowers female artisans through the craft of hand-making artisanal handbags (better known as “Mochilas” in Colombia.) I was part of their marketing team, we used to travel to trade shows and promote the Handbags, as well as oversee all the production and design process. On the other side, (Daniel), I moved to the US to finish my undergrad in Industrial Engineering. I also dreamed of being a business owner one day – I’ll say it runs in my family.
So when Michelle and I graduated from college, we knew we wanted to start a business together. With our different complementary sets of expertise and personalities – we knew we could make a great team. For a couple of years, we found ourselves trying out a variety of products. Mostly in the baby niche since we saw ourselves as new parents in the near future and these early adventures really helped us gain expertise in the e-commerce space. But it was not until the end of 2018 (on a trip to Asia) when we met an amazing factory that employed the most talented local artisans who specialized in leather shoes. (Michelle) When we got back from that trip, I couldn’t resist researching the baby shoe market, because the workmanship of those artisans really captivated me. We found a gap in the industry where we could fit our vision, and we immediately started working on our first samples. After about six months, our first samples came back- and Consciously Baby Shoes was officially born!
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 most adventures, it hasn’t all been smooth. (Daniel) I remember the day we released our first collection on our website and we didn’t even get one sale. It wasn’t until after a trade-show that we attended in New York that things started to pick up. (Michelle) I spent nearly three months designing our booth to make sure our vision for the brand was so on point for this show that people would have to stop and look. I remember being so nervous… I mean, this was THE show where some of the most famous children brands from around the world displayed their collections. And we are so grateful and humbled that all of our hard work paid off during that show. We even won the “Best Emerging Brand” award! This show gave us a lot of confidence that we were really onto something great. (Daniel) It takes so much time and effort to build a brand from scratch… but I think our positivism and desire to make it happen has kept us from giving up. Also, having each other to lean on for support has been a great thing to have along this amazing journey.
Consciously Baby – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Consciously Baby is a modern-boho footwear brand for newborns up to four-year-old toddlers. We design timeless, yet modern shoe styles in neutral/earthy tones that give them a soft boho feel right out of the box. At Consciously Baby, it is our mission to promote a more conscious lifestyle for our children at the earliest stage possible, so we are constantly working towards becoming a more eco-friendly and sustainable brand. Our shoes are all hand-made with leather (a natural and very soft material that is highly recommended for baby’s growing feet) by artisans who work in dedicated factories that are audited yearly ensuring safe and fair working conditions. We are passionate about slow fashion. We aim to create versatile, timeless, and durable shoes vs. trend-based, poor quality items that will need to be replaced after just a few uses. With every collection, we aim to design shoes that can be dressed up or down for any occasion and colors and styles that can easily match just about everything in a child’s closet. We are also working on bringing in more gender-neutral heirloom designs that can be shared between siblings and passed down through generations.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I think that watching our brand grow day by day makes us the proudest. Currently, our Instagram community consists of more than 17k moms. It may sound cliche but every single comment that says our shoes are adorable, every like, every time a person enters our website to make a purchase (or even just to look at it!), every tagged photo we get of our clients wearing our shoes… it all just makes us so proud. It’s an amazing feeling!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.consciouslybaby.
com - Email: info@consciouslybaby.com
- Instagram: @consciouslybaby
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/consciouslybaby
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/consciouslybaby/
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