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Meet Vanessa Suarez from Cositas 305


Shop this Friendor at https://cositas305co.square.site/


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Hi Vanessa! We appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin and how did you get to where you are today?


My story begins right smack in the middle of the pandemic. I was living in Seattle, Washington with none of my family or friends around. I was feeling very depressed staying home and having to work from home too. My solution was to pick up new hobbies. At the time, I came across some videos on digital illustrations using Procreate and thought, “Why not?”. With the days, I became better and better. I started by creating digital portraits of friends and family. One day I decided to create an illustration for the saying “Tranquila y Tropical”. I posted it and from that moment my drawings changed to representations of my Miami and Cuban culture. After posting many of my designs and seeing how popular they were, the idea to make the designs into actual merchandise came easily. Fast forward two years, and now I have my small shop called Cositas 305 Co. My shop is my way of showing love to my city and mi cultura.



I feel that. Looking at your products can sometimes bring back serious nostalgia and hanging out at my abuela's house after school. The designs are colorful, fun, and scream MIAMI. How do you come up with your designs?


My designs are heavily inspired by my Miami and Cuban culture. I love how rich in “dichos” my culture is. Honestly, I just listen to my family talk/argue, and I get ideas.


That makes me laugh so much because, honestly, same. What products do you sell?


Currently my shop sells: Stickers, Magnets, Notebooks, Mugs, Apparel, Tote Bags, and Keychains



Thank you for letting us know! Tell us, what's the number 1 strategy you've used to increase your sales?


Instagram—I am consistently posting on Instagram and Instagram stories. I love to engage with my customers. I also love to send monthly newsletters to my customers to inform them of new items or store updates.


Social media is huge these days. Where do you see Cositas 305 in the near future?


In the future, I would like to have more face-to-face interactions with my customers. I am going to start participating more in markets and pop-up events, since I am now back in Miami. Another goal I have is to increase my Instagram following to 10,000.


We see it happening in the very near future. Thank you for your time, Vanessa!

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