Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lisa Sato. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Lisa, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I started LS Magical Creations (LSMC) in July 2020 as a way to channel my grief and love for my two babies that died, Wyatt and Adalyn. Many people saw me as a mother of two kids, when I’m actually a mother of four. As a way to honor Wyatt and Adalyn, I created this shop to help spread love and magic to others. Every year, the profits from this shop help our family donate ornaments to bereaved parents at the hospital all four of my kids were born. In addition, this shop allowed me to build community amongst bereaved parents and other people as well. My shop values are always front and center, along with why I began this shop. It hasn’t been an easy journey, but it has been worth it to watch this community grow and to honor not only my babies, but all babies in the stars.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

For the people who don’t know me, hello and welcome! I am a Mexican and Puerto Rican Mama who is born and raised in Orange County. I am currently a wildlife Biologist and owner of LSMC. My shop has a wide range of products-from stickers, vinyl decals to shirts, keychains and more. Creating unique items just for you is something I truly love to do. Many of my designs involve sharing my values (i.e. representing my culture, supporting LGTBQ+ folks, etc.), which is something I will always be proud to do. The LSMC community is an inclusive, open minded, loving, kind and outspoken place where all are welcome. My goal with LSMC is to focus on community over competition. Too often the negative voices can be the loudest and I want this space to be safe for all. A space where we can be real about all of our feelings and support each other to take action to uplift our community. Throughout the year, a portion of the profits from the shop are used to donate ornaments to bereaved parents at a local hospital, along with donations for mutual aid and other non-profits that support marginalized communities.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Something that I had to unlearn about owning a small shop is that I have to be quiet if I want to succeed. I cannot share my values or rock the boat because that will scare away potential clients. It took a lot of learning and watching another small shop, GRL Collective, for me to realize this isn’t true. As a BIPOC, I shouldn’t have to hide that I’m Latinx or that my family is a mix of Latinx and Japanese. I shouldn’t have to hide that I support the LGBTQ+ community, the Black Lives Matter movement, pro-vaccines, reproductive rights for all, and common sense gun laws. I want to build a community with people who know my values and we can exist together. A real community where people felt safe and comfortable to be themselves. All too often, I have found myself not feeling safe in certain spaces because of the voices that were being the loudest in the room. I realized that the loudest voices aren’t always representative of all the voices in the room, including my own. I needed to use my voice and encourage others to do so as well, so others wouldn’t feel so alone. So, I make sure to share my values regularly on IG and let people decide if they want to be apart of this community. I am not here to make money at the expense of my soul.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

Most of the products in my shop are made by me in my little home office. The majority of the designs in the shop are made by me as well. I do sprinkle in some designs that are magically inspired because I love Disney and Harry Potter. For my apparel items, I use an outside vendor to create the DTF (direct to film, not the other meaning haha) transfer sheets. I have found that using DTF transfer sheets have allowed me more creativity and greater longevity for my apparel designs versus heat transfer vinyl. Previously, I used heat transfer vinyl and would cut the designs on my Cricut machine at home. However, it was limiting and the vinyl starts to crack and peel over a shorter time than the DTF transfer sheets. I’ve learned to spend more time researching my vendors and that the cheapest option isn’t always the best.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lsmagicalcreations.com
• Instagram: @lsmagicalcreations
• Other: www.etsy.com/shop/lsmagicalcreations