Empress Avenue had the opportunity to chat with Marissa Cristina, graphic designer and owner of stationery brand Design Love Co.; they design luxe organizational products for the modern woman.
- Describe your most recent business success and tell us about your next big goal. – My recent business success is building Design Love Co and what’s up next is creating a luxury lifestyle brand.
- How would you define success? – Success to me is defined by that blissful state of happiness where you love the work that you do and you can also enjoy a few finer and beautiful things in life like travelling around the world.
- Give us the ‘inside scoop’ – what does a day in your business life look like? – I wake up at 6:30 everyday and always make a healthy breakfast, then I usually watch Bloomberg news for a bit. I get to work at around 8:30am and usually stay until 6. After work, together with my boyfriend, we usually cook a healthy paleo dinner almost every night. Then a little more work until I shut everything off at 9 o’clock, read for an hour and go to bed.
- If you were not doing this job, what is your plan B? Are you still chasing your dream job? – I’ve found my dream job and now it’s just a matter of continuing and furthering that dream on a yearly basis.
- Do you think it’s important to love what you do, or make good money? – I think one of the most important things in life is to love what you do. We spend most of our lives working so if you don’t enjoy that you need to make a change. In my personal opinion, good money comes immediately after loving what you do.
- Is owning your own business as glamorous as it sounds? – Yes and no. I say that because even though the highs can be very high and the lows can be very low, there is nothing in the world I would rather do than own my own business. Doing so is a daily struggle but it’s a struggle I will gladly take over having a job or boss I don’t enjoy working for. But yes, this is not for everyone…
- What inspired you to start your own business? – There are a few things that inspired my to start my own business. I’ve always enjoyed working on my own projects, whether I had a full-time job or not. I spent a few years dabbling in various things like making jewelry and writing my own fashion blog. I guess the turning point was moving from a long-term job to another job that I was hoping would be much greater and it wasn’t. I also have to say that my boyfriend is a big influence in my life and he has inspired my to reach further than I could have ever imagined.
- Where did you get your education? – I went to SFU and got my bachelors degree there. I loved university and met some incredible people. Studying never came easy to me but I always worked my hardest.
- What was your first job after college/ university? – I worked as a graphic designer for a big furniture company designing catalogs and advertising.
- What are your tips for setting yourself apart in the workplace? – I’ve always had a knack for dressing above-average where ever I go and that always did and always will include the workplace. To me, there’s nothing worse than fitting in.
- How do you achieve work/ life balance? – When I feel a mental block coming on I go away. My place of bliss is somewhere life SF or LA; somewhere where I am inspired by the people and the community (and where the shopping is good).
- What are your plans for expansion? – My plans for expansion are to create an all-encompassing lifestyle brand that will include leather goods.
- What is your favorite travel hot spot? – MAUI
- Can you offer any advice for new graduates looking for a job or new entrepreneurs? – Learn as much as you can from people that inspire you and don’t be afraid to ask them for help or advice.