We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ana Costa Reis. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ana below.

Ana, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

This is the story of Sambelina Atelier, a registered sole-proprietorship small business, owned by a woman, a spouse, a mother and an immigrant (myself) who makes beautifully handmade dolls that are out of ordinary, proudly celebrating the diverse world we live in.

It all started in 2009, when I was still living in Brazil, where I was born. I was looking for a meaningful gift to give to one of the little girls I was going to take care of, during an exchange program in the United States. This little girl was 4 years old at the time and had a condition that caused her hair to fall easily. I looked everywhere trying to find a doll that had short hair, just like her, but I could not find it. Hence, I decided to make one myself. When she saw the doll, she hugged it immediately and said “Mommy, she has short hair, just like me!”. When I looked up, her mother’s eyes were watery too. It was one of the best feelings I had ever felt in my entire life.

When I started to attend markets with my dolls, the feedback from the community was absolutely amazing! I had quite a few orders and lots of invitations to bigger markets. I have touched the lives of so many incredible children and families that my heart is beyond grateful. I have made dolls for children of colour that felt unseen, children who went to surgery and had a special scar, children who lost loved ones and wanted a doll to remember them by, children with orange hair and freckles, children who wanted a Disney Princess with black hair and dark skin and so many others! And I was lucky enough to deliver all those dolls in person because all those people are from the community we live in.

My wish now is to be able to spread all the kindness we received, making our dolls reach even more communities! What drives me to continue to pursue this career, even with its many challenges, is to be able to create dolls so unique that light up the faces of children and make them feel that they matter, they belong and they are seen.

I want my dolls to be a constant reminder to children – our children – that there is so much beauty in their uniqueness that it deserves to be celebrated. I want to support children with “out of the ordinary” characteristics of being able to say “Wow, I am so special that I have a doll that looks JUST LIKE ME”.

I want to inspire children to care for each other, no matter how different they look. And I know I can make the world a kinder place, one doll at a time.

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.

About Myself: I am Ana Costa Reis, Brazilian-Canadian Immigrant, mom, spouse, Early Childhood Educator and social entrepreneur (phew)!

I grew up in Brazil and all the social inequality I saw there everyday really bothered me and made me think that I had to do something. My mom is a sociologist and my family was always involved with the community, either donating, helping or advocating for better quality of life for underserved communities.

When I was attending Business School, I volunteered at a public daycare and I absolutely loved working with children. When I was 23 years old, I decided to venture myself on an exchange program as an Au Pair in NY. There I lived with an American family and their 3 girls.

After 4 incredible years of learning English, studying fashion and creating bonds with lovely people, I decided it was time to go back to Brazil.

I lived, back in Brazil, for another 4 years and, in the meantime, I met my husband and thought English for kids.

In 2017 we immigrated to Canada and I attended college, pursuing my ECE degree. I graduated pregnant of 30 weeks and my son was born in July 2019!

How you got into your industry:
When I made my first doll for Elizabeth, the little girl with LAS, I saw the power I was holding in my hands. She was caucasian, came from a wealthy family and, yet, she felt left out. I saw an under-represented child on her and, this time, I felt that I could do something. When Elizabeth saw herself on that doll, I understood that I could empower under-represented children and make them feel that they belong, they are seen, they matter and they are beautiful through my dolls.

A few months after my graduation in 2019, I had my son, Oliver and, to be able to be closer to him (especially during the pandemic), I started to think about Sambelina Atelier as a profession. My passion for the world of children and their one-of-a-kind stories encouraged me to become an entrepreneur. I started attending Craft Markets, offered my products to friends, colleagues and local stores, invested in patterns, tools and courses to make the dolls even more unique and special. I drafted my business plan and identified Sambelina’s mission as “making the world a kinder place, one doll at a time”. The values that I carry dear in my heart are kindness, inclusion and diversity while making every single product.

What type of products you provide:
I design beautifully handmade fabric dolls focused on diversity and inclusion. I offer a collection of pre-made, ready for sale dolls on my website and also the opportunity to order custom made dolls that look just like that special person you love so much. Soon, we will also be offering another custom product which is the “Família” Collection, where we make your family members and loved ones in one special package (including pets)!

What problems you solve for your clients and/or what you think sets you apart from others:
I believe I offer the unique opportunity to my clients to create a doll that represents exactly the person/people they love and give them full autonomy to choose all the details on each project. What I also believe that sets me apart is that my background story makes me personally connect to my products and my clients, creating a one-of-kind pieces that will be treasured for many years to come.

What are you most proud:
I am definitely proud of my origins and the path that led me to where I am now. It was not an easy one but it made who I am and aware of the injustices towards under-represented folks. I am also proud of advocating for a better world through my work and creating awareness on the matter that are often unspoken.

What are the main things you want potential clients/followers/fans to know about you/your brand/your work/ etc:
Would love to potencial clients to know that they are beautiful, exactly as they are, without changing a thing! And I also want them to know that their unique beauty can and should be celebrated. They are worthy!

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

Every single doll of mine is handmade and, wow, it has been a journey!

I learned to sew by hand at school, when I was 11 years old. After that, I paid close attention to my grandmother making clothes for herself and all her grandchildren with her sewing machine, but she would never let me use it.

When I had the challenge of making a meaningful gift by hand, all those memories came back to me and I decided to sew a whole doll (plus accessories). They definitely did not look like the ones I make today, but they’re my start!

But when I saw how loved my handmade doll was, oh my, I just wanted to keep making them! So every opportunity I had to gift someone I loved, I made a doll!

When I went back to Brazil, my mother-in-law finally convinced me to use the sewing machine (I spent 5 years making everything by hand). The sewing machine was a game changer and the only way really to make my business profitable.

After I started attending Craft Markets,I was able to invested in patterns, tools and courses to make the dolls even more unique and special.

I take pride on the journey of learning to sew and feel this makes my dolls truly one of a kind.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

This is an interesting story because I always thought Sambelina Atelier would be my side-hustle, hobby business kinda thing…

However, during the pandemic, I met another Brazilian woman that lives here in our small rural city (Stratford, Ontario, CA) and she mentioned that our city had a Business Centre and they were really open to help any kind of businesses. I didn’t get in touch with them but I signed up for their newsletter.

A few months later, I got an email saying they had grants for small businesses from our town and all we had to do was to tell the story of our businesses, our mission etc.

I was so not believing that was for me BUT I am usually the “we already have the No. Let’s try the Yes” kinda person. So I applied and sent my story and just by answering the questions, I felt something… that little spark begun.

For my surprise, I got the grant! And in order to receive the grant, I had to register my business and attend their program (which was amazing)!

The grant was 30k divided to 6 entrepreneurs so I got 5k and it really took my before shy, hobby biz to a proper studio space, funding to go to bigger markets, build an audience and so much more!

Contact Info:

• Website: sambelina.com or https://sambelina.square.site/
• Instagram: @sambelina.atelier
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Sambelina.Atelier/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ana-costa-reis/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Sambelina.Atelier

Image Credits
My feature photo was taken by Amanda Dehoog @sweetoakphotography