We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Gloria Duque a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Gloria thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Alright, so we’d love to hear about how you got your first client or customer. What’s the story?
I still have the check my first “real” client sent me over the mail. It is a constant reminder of the importance of giving small business the opportunity the same way someone gave it to me long time ago. This check served as momentum to believe in myself and to keep moving. This first job was a result of the love I have for interior design, art, architecture. It never felt as “work”. I remember I visited my client’s house and just told her: “we are going to have fun working on your space”. And we did. We will meet even during the weekends to We had a blast and it showed. I was able then to understand that if you do what you love inevitably the money will follow. Thank you first check!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I believe it’s possible to generate happiness by designing beautiful objects and spaces. This has been my primary professional focus since I graduated from Architecture school in my native Cali, Colombia, and decided to move to New York City. My fearless, cheerful, creative, somehow rebellious yet always authentic personality is reflected in my vibrant and rejuvenating architectural aesthetic.
Since earning my Architect’s license, I have completed a wide array of institutional projects in the American Northeast as well as overseas, including the Rockland Psychiatric Children’s Hospital in Rockland, New York, and the Bayamón Correctional Medical Center in Puerto Rico.
More recently, I have had the opportunity to work on Columbia University’s new Manhattanville campus, at 125th Street in Harlem, as a project manager responsible for the development of furniture and interior fit-out for both the Jerome L. Greene Science Center, which serves as the home to the Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind and Brain Behavior Institute & The Lenfest Center for the Arts designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop in collaboration with Davis Brody Bond.
Alongside my professional career, I have always pursued other creative outlets like dance, photography, painting, and especially pottery. My ceramic pieces evoke the characters found in the imaginative worlds of celebrated magical-realist novelist Gabriel García Marquez. My pottery is also inspired by the colorful colonial streets of Cartagena, Colombia, which I frequently visit.
Malpaso is an outgrowth of all these passions and influences. It’s the blank canvas I developed for my creative mind to run free finding lively expressions in different ways. Sometimes in words, sometimes in sculptures, always with LOVE.
We’d really appreciate if you could talk to us about how you figured out the manufacturing process.
I moved in to Hell’s Kitchen New York not knowing that there was a super cute pottery studio 2 blocks away from me. This place became go to whenever I wanted to relax and explore my creativity. It all started like a hobby and little by little I started to see how my sculptures could potentially generate an income. People started to ask me about my sculptures and next thing I know I was selling them to friends and family. I started doing art shows and I began selling them to people who were not related to me which represented a huge milestone. Your friends and family will support you, but to sell to strangers in my mind is the real challenge!
If you have multiple revenue streams in your business, would you mind opening up about what those streams are and how they fit together?
I also like to paint. A lot! During the pandemic I started to paint clothing. I painted a pair of jeans and a denim jacket. Next thing I knew, people were asking me to make custom jackets for them too. The painted clothing not only help with the business but are a great complement with the ethos of the brand.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://malpasofundesign.com/
- Instagram: @malpaso_fun_design