Insights from Melissa Moriarty of Azulina
Honest Lessons from an Artisan Brand's Final Chapter
Talented and driven, Melissa Moriarty of Azulina Home kindly shared her story and the lessons learned after making the difficult decision to close her doors.
Melissa and I met in Colombia many years ago, and I’ve really enjoyed following her progress. Running an artisan brand is challenging, and we shouldn't sugarcoat it. Despite the difficulties, Melissa worked tirelessly as a one-person show, navigating tight margins. She reflects on what she wishes she had done differently and there’s a lot of hard-earned wisdom in her insights.
It's not easy to share these experiences, especially after you've invested so much of your sweat, tears, and money into a venture. So, thank you, Melissa, for your openness in discussing your journey running an artisan textile brand.
Lets dive in!
For those new to Azulina, could you tell us a bit about how you first started and your original vision for the brand?
Back in 2012, when I was living and working in Medellin, Colombia, I came across a town with gorgeous blue and white ceramics. I instantly fell for them and wondered who was selling them stateside. The answer was no one, and I naively wondered, “How hard could it be?” I wince as I say that now because, holy sh•t, I had no idea what I was getting into.
One thing led to the next, and suddenly, I was shipping a 20-foot container of ceramics to the US. The brand was initially called Azulina Ceramics. A few years later, I shifted to textiles and rebranded as Azulina Home.
I originally got into this field because the joy I felt experiencing these incredible handmade goods was such a visceral, unexplainable feeling. There is so much creative talent out there, and I wanted to be a part of sharing that beauty with the world while supporting a maker community at the same time. That social component has always been a North Star for me.
Looking back, what are you most proud of regarding how you grew your brand?
I’m so proud that we were able to support hundreds of Colombian artisans over the years, paying them fair wages for their craft and having the chance to introduce well-made, high-quality artisan home goods to North America. We also created a pillow line for Restoration Hardware for a couple of seasons, a MAJOR pinch-me moment.
Fun story about that… before working with us, RH had never imported goods from Colombia. They had to re-code their backend system to add Colombia as an option in their barcode-generation tool. That was an amazing feeling and a big moment for our little brand.
Could you tell us about the artisans Azulina worked with?
We primarily worked with three different artisan groups across Colombia. They are all women-run or owned businesses and were established before I met them, but they had little experience selling outside of Colombia. Like most artisan producers, their technique was impeccable, but the designs needed editing (and quality control!). That’s where the collaboration happened and how we made a line that was unique to Azulina Home.
Did you think about selling before closing?
Yes, I was approached by another textile business, and we were in discussions to be acquired. But the negotiations dragged on for 6+ months and then fell through right as we were about to sign the documents. Ouch! Since announcing our closing, a few people have approached us who might carry on the brand…TBD!.
I know running an artisan brand is extremely difficult. There are many challenges, but what critical challenges do you feel aren’t often discussed?
There are two big things that come to mind, the first being the noise. There is SO MUCH noise in the industry right now, and it’s really hard to break through, especially when you’re self-funded and competing against brands with institutional backing or deep pockets. Just think, Ernesta launched with $25M in backing. It’s wild.
Take holiday gift guides, for example. Some can cost between $2,500 - $5,000 to simply get onto the list! And by the way, they make these lists feel organic to the end user, but vendors pay a lot of money to be on them. The authenticity lessens more and more each season (and that’s across the board).
And secondly, it continues to be challenging to educate U.S. buyers on the value of investing in quality pieces over quantity. It seems like buyers often go for the cheaper option, even though it’s of different quality. I see so many makers turning to cheaper production or methods just to maintain profitability, which breaks my heart, but it seems to be done out of market pressures.
What tips did you receive that were inspirational and helpful?
One of my favorite pieces of advice came from Katie Kime, who told me, “I’ve found that [in-person events] are hard, exhausting… and WORTH IT. Even if it’s not direct sales that come, 95% of the time, something really significant comes from them…knowledge, a lead, a relationship, etc.”
As anyone who has ever had to set up for a trunk show or trade show can attest, they are absolutely full-on body and mind exhausting, BUT incredible things can come from just showing up. And I loved getting that reminder from an industry veteran to keep showing up, and to expect good things would come (frankly, it’s a beautiful mindset to have in any context!).
The second most helpful lesson I learned came from my prior business partner, Jeff Hutto, now CEO of Furbish Studio. He was always so laser-focused, which I (still) really admire about him, in addition to his incredible work ethic. Thanks to my ADHD, I had the bad habit of getting spread too thin by expanding too much, too soon, and ignoring the bread and butter of my business (which was bathmats)
I’ve come to learn that focus isn’t just something important, it’s make or break, no questions asked. Since this comes up so much, for any business owner reading this, I advise choosing one category at a time, getting extremely good at selling the heck out of that category, and then expanding because you are forced to or your customers are begging you to create more. Until that happens, stay tight and focused.
Some brands that I really admire for their focus in the artisan-category are Makaua, Virginia Sin, and Tantuvi. They are all examples of brands with a clear vision and a tight assortment.
What steps did lead to the growth of Azulina?
Tradeshows and events like Round Top and Field & Supply. In my specific experience, our products performed far better in person than they did online - shows were an invaluable exercise in building our brand and also getting sales, most importantly.
I launched at NY NOW as part of the ByHand Consulting artisan incubator (highly recommended, by the way), which offered reduced booth pricing and coaching. Thanks to them, I got our product in front of the best in the industry and tested the tradeshow waters. We then moved on to Shoppe Object in NYC, our best resource for initiating wholesale relationships that would last for years. While the shows suck the life out of you, I also found them to be wildly invigorating and inspirational. I loved meeting our retail partners in person season after season and made many friends along the way. Some of my best friends started as tradeshow neighbors. I always advise newbies to make friends with their neighbors. Share your ladder and hammer, who knows, you might find a new friend for life (I did!).
What is the key to closing a sale at tradeshows?
This is a tip from Colvin English of ByHand Consulting, always ask for the sale: “Are you ready to write an order?”
For some dumb reason, we are afraid to ask for the sale, but when we do it, that’s when the magic happens. You either make a sale or you get valuable information. If it’s a “no,” you stop wasting your (and their) time, or perhaps they share what they are hesitating about, be it style, timing, or pricing. That’s all super valuable information you may not have gotten had you not asked.
When in doubt, ask for the sale.
Tell us about your experience with shipping.
Gah. Don’t get me started. I hate all things shipping and warehousing.
We worked with a 3PL when we first started, and then self-fulfilled at a warehouse in Raleigh, and then moved over to self-fulfilling at Saltbox, which is like the WeWork for warehousing (nice, but way too expensive for the space). If you can, I recommend co-warehousing with similar brands so you can share the cost of the warehouse, employees, and all the packaging materials. In a perfect world, and if I could do it again, I would have done that. I once heard that you should expect 100% turnover in the packing/shipping world, so either make your operations dummy-proof, knowing you will have to constantly hire and retrain, or outsource it to a 3PL.
Did you try to tap into the interior design industry?
Yes, 100%. Starting about a year ago I was beginning to notice that our wholesale orders were slowing down, and some of our accounts were even closing their doors altogether. Turns out, most clients who bought our goods were interior designers, so I made the conscious decision to pursue the trade as our primary marketing strategy.
Unfortunately for me, I had reached a point in my business and my personal life (I have a toddler and another on the way!) that I was becoming really burnt out and just didn’t have the energy it takes to properly take on that strategy.
What trade shows would you have invested in if you were to go after the trade? Or any other tips for those who want to tap into the trade world?
I would have done a booth at ICFF and continued to show with Design Social Pop-Up, in addition to simply getting on the road and meeting with any interior designer who would let me in the doors! Nothing beats pounding the pavement, even in today’s online world.
For the uninitiated, the Design Social Pop-up is an awesome way to position your brand to the trade, and I’m so glad to see that as a new option for makers and vendors - it was recently started by industry vet Brooks Morrisson who is uniquely talented in creating community and bringing people together.
What investments did lead to sales?
What worked for me was attending in-person events and markets and setting up in-person meetings with store owners. This led to the strongest sales results, and I loved meeting the shop owners in person.
Faire has also been a decent platform for us but I didn’t like that we don’t have relationships with buyers.
Could you tell us more about the artisan scene in Colombia?
There is an explosion in that field—many of the biggest players are now sourcing from Colombia, which brings a huge smile to my face. Colombia has nailed design and technique, but needs to improve its logistics, at both a macro and micro level. Getting product out of Colombia is frustratingly difficult and expensive, and artisans are simply not educated on logistics and exporting, so the onus is on the overseas buyer to navigate the system. The options today are either DHL or working with a consolidator, and it seems like there is only 1 outfit. They charge 15% of the order total + shipping. However, there is a free trade agreement between the US and Colombia, so the goods are imported duty-free (hoping the new administration doesn’t mess with that!).
What are some other challenges you faced?
In the past year and a half, we lost dozens of amazing retail clients who had to shutter their doors. Some of them were among the last to source high-quality, artisan-made goods in their towns. I really hate to see it, because it’s becoming so hard to source great, quality goods that you can touch and feel in-person. Those types of shops are a treat to visit, and it’s been such a bummer to see so many close their doors during this downturn.
Did you find the same shops that bought your pillows and rugs? Or did you feel you needed a different sales channel altogether and needed to be sold via showrooms and sales reps?
At the time we closed we sold custom fique and metal rugs, door mats, bathmats and pillows. I made the mistake of essentially running two different businesses within a business as a solopreneur. And that’s something I want to help others avoid as I begin my new foray into coaching and consulting.
The custom fique/metal rugs were never something stores stocked, so they were purely made to order for the trade via showrooms or direct to interior designers.
As for the bath rugs or door mats, many of our stores stocked both our mats and pillows, so that was the same channel. The rule I learned the hard way is that I expanded to a new category before the business, and my audience was ready, perhaps out of my ADHD tendencies. Doing that was at my peril because it drastically reduced the time I could spend on my core business, which was bath mats and pillows.
If you were to do it again, do you think you could do well solely selling high-end fique rugs? Those were so unique and less saturated in my eyes. Or, what was daunting to you about that market?
Yes, that should be its own business, and it would likely do well! Heck, the idea of only offering made-to-order products and never stocking inventory is a great business model.
What would you have done differently if you were to do it all again?
Two things. I would have been laser-focused on just one product category (bathmats) and I would have structured my business as a non-profit.
By the time I figured out what worked, I was nearly 10 years into the business and just plain old exhausted. I finally found our best-selling product—with quality, function, and a good price point—but to grow the business to the next level, I would have needed to invest in ads and in-person events, and I was just too burnt out to do it myself, and didn’t have the appetite to take on debt or investors.
As for the business structure, that piece may surprise some, but knowing what I know now… if I’m going to have a company with 100% artisan-sourced goods at an attainable price point, it has to be subsidized by something...in this case, fundraising. That also would have allowed us to have a more meaningful give-back component, which is more in line with my desire to impact the sector and artisans, be it through education, grants, or infrastructure.
Can you shout out some artisan brands that you love?
MINNA – Sara Berks is so true to herself and to her producers. Her move into wallpaper is genius; it is all her art. She’s amazing.
SIN – I love this brand, and the products are even better in person. They have a strong focus, and their design is cutting-edge.
Sien and Co – Alex Gibson and I started around the same time, both self-funded and working with South American artisans. After receiving consistent requests for outdoor rugs, she cold-emailed the President of Sunbrella and designed her own collection of outdoor fabric by the yard.. She pivoted her business and has found some awesome, much-deserved success.
So, what’s next? I noticed that you’ve been sharing a lot of posts about lessons learned on your Instagram.
On a whim, I started sharing the honest truth behind our closing and some lessons I have learned along the way, and a funny thing happened. I got more engagement from those posts than from any of my Azulina content, so I thought, well, maybe there’s something here?
Given the lessons I learned over the past 10 years and the full-body joy I get from brainstorming and problem-solving, I’m shifting my focus to helping other business owners through coaching and consulting via Goods to Great and my new substack (stop by and say hi!!).
Who knows if this is a temporary or permanent next step, but I just signed on three new clients, and so far, it’s been wildly fun and fulfilling (and I have the bandwidth to take on 1-2 more if you know of anyone interested!).