Today we’d like to introduce you to Maria Teresa Sequeda.
Maria Teresa, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Seven years ago, I was an executive in a prestigious automotive company in Colombia with a very promising career in the corporate world. I was 37 years old, divorced, and had no children. I would never have imagined that today, I would be telling my story while living in The Woodlands, TX, happily married, and with two beautiful daughters. I also wouldn’t have imagined running my own online business from home, Colorful4U.com, now in its third year with a community of more than 60,000 followers on social media.
It has been a meaningful journey supporting artisan women in Latin America and Asia. And now, I feel motivated to add more value to my entrepreneurial journey with a new dream; helping other small business owners, especially women and momtrepreneurs, to grow their small business online and through social media, by sharing what I have learned and my experiences in the business and online world.
I am someone who always looks for the positive side of every situation, curious about learning something new every day, and obsessed with what I feel passionate about. I also really enjoy encouraging others to find their own passions or purpose.
I was born and raised in Colombia. Our family was not wealthy but rich in values. My dad, a very intellectual psychopedagogist, was a professor at a University. And my mom was a psychologist and schoolteacher, had nothing to do with the business world. Dad used to travel a lot with the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), so I always dreamed of being able to travel the world.
During high school, I was interested in Industrial Engineering because I was passionate about the business world, although it was totally unknown to me. In the end, I decided to study Mechanical Engineering because it seemed to be “more challenging” career (it was the wrong motivation, I know that now). I always wanted to study English because the bilingual schools were not yet popular in Colombia and people used to say “English will open doors for you”, so I took English classes for 2 hours every night for two years while I was studying my bachelor’s degree. In 1998, I survived an engineering course dominated by men and graduated 2nd in my class. Just before I graduated, I began working in Colombia for an American multinational armoring company in the automotive sector, as a Design Engineer. Two years later, I had been promoted as Engineering Manager for Latin America and that’s how I started traveling for business to many places all over the world.
I must confess that I was never really passionate about Mechanical Engineering, but I always loved management, business, and leading work teams. So, in 2009, I completed an MBA while I was the Operation Manager at Nissan, managing the entire aftersales network in Colombia, in charge of more than 1000 people. At that time, I was obsessed with work, while my first marriage was starting to collapse. Three years later, I was divorced at 37 years of age, had no children, and all I had was my job with a high level of responsibility and stress, and wanting something to change in my life; I didn’t know what that was, or how it would happen! All I knew was that I had a hole to fill.
Out of nowhere, just at that moment of my life, Edgar, a friend from college, contacted me on Facebook after 15 years of having no contact. And right there, in 2012, the second chapter of my life began.
At the end of 2012, I quit my job, left my country and family in Colombia, and married Edgar in Canada where we started a new life together.
During the next four years, we lived in four different countries in Latin America, Asia and North America. We also had the opportunity to visit many other countries, where we experienced different cultures and discovered all kinds of talented artisans. I have always appreciated and admired colorful art, handicrafts and I love finding new handmade treasures.
In 2016, 32 weeks into Hanna’s pregnancy and with 2-year-old Emma, we moved to The Woodlands, TX. The first year living in the United States was very exciting and very busy as a housewife in our new home. Being a mother is the most incredible experience and I have loved every moment with my family, but my passion for business has always been there. In 2017, I felt ready and motivated to start my own business where I could apply my passion for marketing and business, that allows me to continue dedicating myself to my family working from home.
During a vacation in Colombia, I fell in love with the latest colorful bags hand crocheted by the indigenous women there and I did not hesitate to start my business with something really unique, handmade, and very meaningful since I could support the indigenous communities and give back to my country.
In August 2017, Colorful4U.com was born offering colorful handmade fashion accessories and after two years in the market, we have sold hundreds of bags and accessories made artisan women in Latin America and Asia, here in the US and exported a lot of them to many other countries.
Since the beginning of Colorful 4U, I have spent many hours learning about the online business world thru many podcasts, online courses and multiple blogs, while experimenting with my own social media accounts, especially Instagram (@Colorful_4U) where today I have a fantastic community of more than 55k+ followers, in addition to 8k+ on Facebook and about 60k monthly views on Pinterest, which currently drive most of the traffic to my website.
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?
When Colorful 4U started, I thought it would be easy and fun to sell my products to feel busy at home. I knew my products were beautiful and unique, and I thought that was enough to easily sell them. Reality was very different as there were multiple challenges trying to grow and have a profitable small business with an online presence.
One of the main challenges has been to get traffic to my website without paying for ads or with a small marketing budget. In addition, the fact that each product is one of a kind, makes inventory management very complex and time-consuming, as each product is unique and requires a separate listing in our online store.
Another challenge I have had is that it is becoming more difficult to grow social networks (new algorithms) or bring enough traffic to a website at low cost, with customers that convert. This is especially challenging due to the limited time and resources I have, as I do everything in the business: Product customization, importation, marketing, packing, and shipping all over the world. My husband helps me a lot setting up during my Pop-Up shows and dealing with some financial tasks but his help is limited as he is already busy with his own corporate job.
I still invest much of my time learning about e-marketing, social networks, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), search engines (Google, Pinterest) to be able to keep growing organically and drive traffic to my online store without spending a lot of money on paid advertisement. My family complains at me when I spend too much time on my smartphone, so it is challenging to try to balance family life with the time I dedicate to my business, which is a common problem for every entrepreneur. Working from home in your own business, while trying to be the best mom, wife, and housekeeper, can make you feel overwhelmed at times. So far, I am making it work and both my husband and kids tell me they are proud of me.
All this personal and professional growth motivates me to start working on a new project to share all my learnings and experiences (good and bad) to help other small business owners to grow and improve their small businesses more effectively. I want to share all the tips that I wish someone else had shared that with me when I started Colorful4U.com, as it would have saved me time, effort and money. It would make me extremely happy to have a positive impact on the lives of other women entrepreneurs like me.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Colorful 4U – what should we know?
Colorful 4U offers unique handmade fashion accessories in boho-chic and casual style. Our main products are crochet bags made by Wayuu women in Colombia and customized by me, bohemian style bags made with fabrics embroidered by the Hmong tribes of northern Thailand, and some other trending accessories, especially for travel lovers such as woven bag/camera straps, charms, cute summer sandals, boho jewelry and limited editions of straw bags. All our products are handmade and support small businesses and artisan women all over the world.
Our clients are people – usually women – who appreciate the outstanding work behind an art piece made by hand, and are generally color lovers, just like me. Every week I launch new products and I always offer fair prices while promoting fair trade practices with the artisans who handcraft our products.
I believe that colors brighten the soul, and so does helping others. So, our business concept around colorful handcrafted one-of-a-kind treasures is not a coincidence.
I am very proud to work directly with the indigenous communities in Colombia, where we help to support 13 families that handcraft our products. In our journey with this family business, we have bought more than a thousand bags from Wayuu women, giving women who crochet from their homes a chance to market their products globally and support their families.
I also feel very fortunate to have other small business owners by my side during my entrepreneurial journey with Colorful 4U, especially on Instagram where we have a very special community, and part of my learning process comes from our shared experiences and mutual support.
As I continue to evolve Colorful 4U, I am beginning to help other entrepreneurs like me to grow and develop their own small businesses online to positively impact their lives.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
I would say my passion and persistence. When I am really passionate about a project, I focus on it with great effort and dedication and I become obsessed with achieving my goals. I love what I do and why I do it, and I am always researching and learning about new strategies to improve my business.
Pricing:
- Exclusive selection of Crochet bags (from small to large size) starting at $39 upto $179 some Special Edition Bags with crystals, Leather Backpacks, and Premium Bags (Single Thread Crochet)
- Embroidered Bohemian Handbags and Clutch Bags and Backpacks from $15 upto $59
- Other cute accessories like Keychains, Bracelets, Earrings and Bag Accessories (Charms) starting at $12
- Removable Hand-woven Bag and Camera Straps with leather from $49.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.colorful4u.com
- Email: contact@colorful4u.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colorful_4U
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Colorful4uAccessories
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/colorful4u
Image Credit:
All pictures by Colorful4u.com
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