I am very pleased to introduce Paulina Cota-Hungar and her Kuxtal Vida macramé shop. Paulina has been making macramé designs since 2018, drawing on her background and artistic talent to make truly beautiful and complex articles of clothing, handbags and amazing decorations for the home. They also make great gifts during this holiday season, by the way. See the bottom of the interview for the many ways you can reach Paulina.

Briefly, describe your business:

At Kuxtal Vida Macrame we focus on the production of high-quality sustainable pieces; using manual production textile techniques such as macramé and loom.

What would you say is your typical work environment?

My typical work environment is at my home studio, in a space where I can create and sketch my work, I like to play some music too while I'm creating.

How does your educational background help you in your business?

I feel that my education has helped me to be consistent with my work, to have the discipline and respect for time .

What are some of the benefits of running a small business like yours?

The best part is that I get to do what I love and what really feels my soul at the comfort of my own home, being able to set my own schedule and take care of my family at the same time.

What are some difficulties you encountered starting the business?

The most difficult thing about starting my own business was building my own community of potential clients, getting people to know the quality of my work .

At what point would you say that you had made it, and reached success?

I still need to keep working and learning a lot about growing as an artist and as a business; I want to say that I feel that I made it and that I reached success because now I have a community of people that supports my art, slowly I get more clients, more events were I can expose my work, a place I wanted to be when I started so for that I'm very grateful and it's a success for me .

How do you leverage social media?

I like to use social media as a way of sharing my art, showing the process and the creation of my work , announce my upcoming workshops and events.

Other than a computer, do you use any unique tech?

I use canva very frequently to create flyers for my workshops and also for diy instructions for my diy kits.

Have you had any computer security or data loss issues? If so, how did you correct those?

No I haven't. I want to share that l like to keep it old school, I do have a notebook because I like to write down my inventory and other things like supply restock and other business things.

What apps or software do you rely on the most?

Time tracking software

Project management software

How do you balance work and personal time?

I have a very good discipline and a good time management, I try to respect my own schedule all the time for a more productive business.

How did the pandemic impact your business?

It was hard for me to really show the quality of my work just trough a screen, with the pandemic I had to adjust all of my selling techniques and costs. All of my events were canceled but I used social media as my selling platform and also for marketing.

Diversity is a common topic in the news. What are some ways this is changing your business?

For me diversity drives creativity and innovation, learning about different cultures and nationalities and the different ways that we can see the world it's always a good inspiration for my work.

How do environmental issues impact your business? Do you have any green initiatives in place or planning to implement?

Yes, I'm all about sustainable products, reusing and recycling for packaging products. I also use all of my scraps from left over cord/rope to create small pieces.

How do you see the future for your business?

My goal is to see my work in a museum that's like my dream and I'm working hard towards that . I will like to also teach kids about the techniques to keep the art going through future generations.

Do you have any habits or routines that you feel help you be more successful?

Follow my schedule no matter what but also taking breaks when needed, always creating new designs and always trying to create them unique not following any pattern; I like to call this free styling designs.

Is there a question we didn't ask, that we should have asked?

All questions are well written for the artist and also the business point of view.

One final piece of useful advice I would give to others is:

Be patient and persistent in what makes you happy.

You can reach Paulina and Kuxtal Vida via:

Email: kuxtalmacrame@gmail.com

Website: kuxtalvidamacrame.bigcartel.com

Kuxta Vida is also on Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook