Women who run their own businesses. In our monthly Small Business Spotlight series, we talk to independent fashion entrepreneurs about their journey to becoming bosses. Here are some tips from real women who have started their own businesses, including fundraising, marketing strategies, and using social media.

Anna Waller Andres trained as a nurse and has had a lifelong passion for giving back. When she was not caring for people at work, she spent her downtime caring for others: for years, she traveled back and forth between Denmark (where she lives) and Guatemala, volunteering at various NGOs and co-ops aimed at helping local artisan women earn a livable wage She has been involved in a variety of activities. It was on one of these trips that I met Bernabella Zaparú, a founding partner of Sharing the Dream (open in new tab), an organization that promotes sustainable fair trade and handmade items such as jewelry, paintings, bags, scarves, and coffee. Zaparú grew up in Santiago Atitlan, where her skills in beadwork, weaving, and embroidery helped support her family and put her daughter Elisa through college. Zaparú and Waller Andrés quickly became close friends. They said, "We realized we had the exact same emotions, feelings, and ideas about what we were doing. And we share a passion for helping women make a better life for themselves," Waller Andres says.

In 2013, the friends became business partners and launched Pura Utz (open in new tab), a whimsical fashion brand that hired Mayan women to handcraft all of its pieces, including beaded banana earrings and smiley-print cell phone bags. Initially, Waller Andres wrestled with the idea of starting a for-profit business rather than a nonprofit, but ultimately decided that the former would put money directly into the pockets of the Mayan women, while empowering them to use their skills to benefit themselves and their families. The women were not interested in being limited by what they could earn as a salary versus what we could create with the surplus," said Kurtzman. Because they don't need charity. Because they don't need charity. Bernabella explains that many marginalized women in Guatemala know trades such as embroidery, beadwork, and weaving, but they need a platform to sell their work, which Plautz provides.

With team members based in both Santiago Atitlan and Copenhagen, Pura Utz connects the world through craftsmanship and positive impact. Saparoo, along with her daughter Elisa, oversees production in Guatemala and trains all women (ranging in age from late teens to middle age) employed by Pura Utz.

All of Poulautz's pieces are handmade with care: for example, the Peach Flower Dream bag (opens in new tab) is made of 55,500 tiny glass beads and takes three women four days to make. The brand also believes in transparency and fair trade, and Plautz pays its team four times the Guatemalan market standard.

Here the two tell how they turned their dream into reality.

"The bank didn't finance anything, so we did it ourselves. When we started Plautz I was working as a nurse and lost a lot of money because my ideals were too high. I saved a lot of money to start the business, but lost it all in the first year and a half and ended up in debt. Much of my time and money was spent sourcing great quality beads, zippers, etc. I also made sure to pay my artisans a salary, even if they didn't make any money, because it took them a long time to finish their products. I had to continue to nurse part time for the next four years and did not receive a decent salary from Pulautz until 2019. Having to deal with that was tough, but I learned to be prudent with my time and money. "-Anna Waller Andres

"We are 100% social media based and have no advertising budget. Without social media, we wouldn't be a brand. But I have a love/hate relationship (with Instagram). Our main goal is to be authentic and show our customers who we really are. Elisa runs our Instagram account from Guatemala, and we do everything ourselves, from shooting the images to styling. It's been a constant journey to find the balance between catering to an aesthetic world where people want to see beautiful earrings and necklaces and showing the behind-the-scenes of the brand." -AWA & Bernabela Sapalú

"Our business would not exist without our family environment. Our trust and love for each other is everything. We built our office and warehouse in a house in Bernabela and some of the girls stay there. Our team consists of about 15 women who make all the pieces by hand. The most important thing is to divide the workload equally and to give everyone the opportunity to earn the same amount of money. AWA & BS

"Our main goal is to buy land and turn it into a recreational area. That way our team can be self-sustaining. Our dream at the retreat is to start a restaurant, practice yoga, and teach the craft. And most of all, we want this place to be for the girls we work with. We want to make a difference in our village. Our goal is to employ more than 50 women." -AWA & BS

"The secret to success is not to be afraid of losing. You have to keep trying, even if the design or quality of your product doesn't work. We have spent a lot of money and time on this. We never give up and continue to invest money in the process, their talent, and the development of the product. Do what you really love and remember to take risks." -AWA & BS

A version of this article appeared in the April 2021 issue of Marie Claire.

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