We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Antonia Lara Sanchez. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Antonia below.
Alright, Antonia thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you wish you had started sooner?
To be honest, no. I believe in divine timing and synchronicities, even though my fears often challenge this belief. I truly believe that all experiences I’ve had in life- both personally and professionally- have prepared me to step into the work I am currently doing.
This started before I was born. I come from a lineage of entrepreneurs on my dad’s side of the family. My grandfather, whom I did not meet, started a small food business in 1964 located in a small kiosks in downtown Santiago, Chile. At the age of twenty he was one of the few “grab and go” places in the area. He later opened a larger location, where my dad began to work at the age of four.
After my grandfather’s passing, my dad began to run the family business at the age of 19. He ran payroll, hiring and wore MANY hats that come with being a small business owner. The business grew to have close to fifteen employees, which allowed them to scale and cater to a variety of events. My favorite story is hearing that my dad and his team catered to production teams for concerts such as Ace of Base, Guns and Roses and New Kids on the Block.
As a daughter, knowing that my mom and dad’s grind played a part in my country’s historical events is huge: His business catered a two-day concert held at the National Stadium by Amnesty International to celebrate the return of Democracy, after seventeen years of dictatorship, where artist such a Peter Gabriel, Sting and Sinead O’Connor were present.That being said, the entrepreneurial spirit runs deep within me.
I’ve always considered myself to be a creative person, and this I owe to my mother. At the age of two we moved to Mobile, Alabama. A lot of the earlier memories are of sewing felt dolls, playing with play doh or going to the park with my mom and sister. When we would visit back home (Chile), we would paint at my grandmother’s dining table and also practiced knitting. I also believe that I am an educator at heart, and this I owe to my younger siblings (as I helped them with their homework) and the loving teachers that I had throughout elementary school. I was the only Latina in my class from kindergarten to sixth grade, yet my teachers never made me feel othered.
I finished my high school studies in Chile and my favorite class was art. It was very self lead, and my teacher, Ms. Francisca was mainly there to help push us to finish our projects. This was my favorite class and always looked forward to getting into the art room.
After graduating high school, I was torn between majoring in elementary education or design. I decided to go study industrial design and throughout those years I would tutor English as well as support my siblings with their schooling- unfortunately my dad fell very ill and as the older sister, I felt highly responsible for helping my mom out.
Once receiving my bachelors degree, I moved to Providence, Rhode Island, where I was able to combine both of my interests: design and education. I worked at a non-profit that taught arts programs for schools in the Providence Public School District. Providence was the first place I showed my work publicly, through a t-shirt design I made to help raise funds for media equipment for my classroom. ‘Public not Private’- currently known as Public-a local gallery and community space were the first people to give me the opportunity to share and sell my work. This was a pivotal moment, as he recognized that the t-shirt design itself wasn’t what mattered. It was the meaning and the “why” it was created- which ultimately was an opportunity for the community to help equip a space where to foster creativity for students.
After living in Providence for four years, I decided to move to Oakland,CA- which is where I currently reside. I began to host workshops while I was still teaching full time. At the time I never thought it would turn into my main source of income.
I think it’s because of my background in education and design, along with not so great situations that I’ve experienced, that I am where I am. I don’t want to get into too much detail about this experiences, but what I will say is that they have become one of the main reasons why I do what I do: which is to provide a healing space for other to tap into their creativity.
As a designer I understand how to see what the need is and as an educator, I understand how to scaffold in order to meet an end goal- I guess what I’m trying to say is that people don’t need any skills to join the class. I am able to help break things down to make the process easy to learn, regardless of the activity that we focus on. As a woman, I see that there is a deep need for collective healing, and art is just the vessel I use to facilitate that.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Hi! My name is Antonia Lara Sanchez, also known as Piscola Mami. I am a Chilean artist and educator based in Oakland, CA. From 2018- 2023, I worked as a classroom teacher and educator within non-profit organizations both in the East and West Coast. During this time I was able to learn different mediums alongside my students, and understood that we are all lifetime learners.
In September of 2021, I moved to the Bay Area after having lived in Providence, Rhode Island for four years. This transition was really rough mentally- not only had I moved to a new city where I didn’t know anyone in the middle of the pandemic, I was also battling some demons that made my PTSD flare up exponentially. What kept me afloat during this time was embroidering affirmations. I remember using each stitch as a way to take deep breaths- and understood that art making was a life line that could help center myself to the present.
I began hosting a monthly macrame workshop at a local plantshop called Planterday, who donates a portion of their annual proceeds to the Crisis Support Services of Alameda County, a mission that to this day I deeply connect with and also contribute to. I don’t think many people knew how much I was struggling mentally during this time. I’ll never forget that after hosting my first session, I sobbed in the car for a while before being able to drive back home. That night I noticed that all of my worries absolutely vanished while I was hosting the workshop, which was exactly the same feeling as when I would embroider. Being surrounded by plants, in a cozy environment, while crafting with others, was a space that made me feel so safe and nurtured my soul in a way that I hadn’t felt for some time. Creating that container became something I wanted to continue doing, not only for myself but also for others.This first experience gave me the confidence to reach out to other businesses and slowly began to gain traction. I never thought this would be something that would lead me to entrepreneurship. During my last year of teaching, I had a pretty traumatic work injury, which ultimately led me to quit my teaching career. I felt devastated, unsupported and had no idea what my next steps would be. I was applying to jobs but nothing felt right. But divine timing was showing me the way. Someone who I had worked with years before reached out with an opportunity to teach ceramics through the Parks and Recreation Department of the City of Berkeley. Even though I was still learning myself, I decided to accept. Around that time, ClassBento, an online platform that connects small business owners with community members and companies- who also donates a portion of their proceeds to the National Alliance for Mental Illness- invited me to be a part of their platform and helped me set up a profile on their website. I want to point out that none of these events were isolated, as they were all connected through purpose; supporting the communities’ wellbeing through art, especially women.
I am close to the two year mark for being a solopreneur, which is INSANE. Now I understand that I am somewhere in between the education and service industry. There has been so much growth within this process. Each workshop I teach (whether that be macrame, stamp making, ceramics or other crafty endeavours) is an iteration and opportunity to learn, grow and do things better. Some of my proudest moments have been hosting workshops or making art for companies and organizations that I would have never thought I would connect with such as Google, Meta, Square, Visa, Marriott BonVoy, our local radio station KQED and Planned Parenthood. It also makes me so honored to know that people travel from different cities to come to a class to celebrate special occasions, such as bachelorette parties, birthdays and wedding anniversaries. Knowing that I am facilitating a memorable experience in someone’s life is something I don’t take for granted.
One of the main things I would like potential clients to know is that being a full time artist has been a dream of mine for so long, and I am finally able to do it thanks to teams and community members that attend my workshops. No matter the group size, every class booked gives me a signal that I am on the right path.
I would also like readers to know that I believe that everyone should be able to experience art making and not let finances be the deciding factor- and thanks to larger team building activities, I am able to do this without breaking the bank. My short term goal is to partner with larger companies in order to host free community oriented events. Another goal is to eventually open up a brick and mortar where people can come and be in community while crafting- a crafty third space if you will.
Something else I’d like to mention is that it’s OK and normal to feel scared to post your work for the internet to see. Art making is a very vulnerable thing to do because we put our soul into what we create. You never know who is watching, which can lead you to amazing opportunities. Basically, don’t gatekeep yourself and your talents, it’s important to release work so we do not become creatively stuck.
I truly believe that when you live aligned within your purpose, beautiful things can happen, but you have to put in the work and most importantly trust the process. Entrepreneurship is probably one of the scariest things I’ve done other than leaving my home country. There are days where I question if it’s even worth continuing, or if I’m doing enough, but I have to remember that things take time and I am on the right path. When I’ve doubted what I’m doing, I remember my purpose, wipe the tears and keep moving forward- because it takes the same amount of energy to worry than it does to take action.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
Yes! I do want to say, I’m not the best at reading, like my mom always had to hound me down for me to finish books for school, nonetheless I do have a few I’d like to mention. The first would be “You are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life” by Jen Sincero. The title says all you need to know. The second, and probably my favorite is ” The Creative Act: A Way of Being” by Rick Rubin. I don’t want to spoil anything but I think that the sensitivity in which he finds parallels between our creativity and the cycles of nature is beautiful. I’ve picked at this one here and there but the “War of Art” by Steven Pressfield also is a good one.
The last one is “The Artist Way” by Julia Cameron which is a top tier read in my opinion. I’m currently working on this one now. What I love is that it comes with activities you need to do to nurture your inner creative- and as an educator, I love the interactive aspect of it.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career? Maybe you can share a story (or stories) that illustrate the things they did right and the impact they had on you and your journey.
My parents taught me what it means to work hard and to keep the end goal in mind. They moved to the US with two toddlers and nothing but a couple of suitcases of clothes and $50.00. My dad worked as a gardener while he was pursuing his business degree. Oftentimes my sister and I would go with my mom to house keep. She would clean while my sister and I would play together. Whenever I feel like giving up, or am afraid of the future, I remember what my parents were doing at my age, and it’s vastly different. My father was lugging boulders and cutting grass during Alabama summers to arrange someone’s backyard with poisonous snakes around- I’m lugging blocks of clay. My mother was learning how to speak English while raising toddlers in a different country- I’m learning how to scale my business. I have my parents’ resilience to look up to, which started with their parents.
Throughout our schooling, they instilled the importance of education and made sure we always turned in our homework- even if we had to redo it because it wasn’t up to standard. Not too long ago, my dad told me that he (and my mother) felt the need to push us because he knew we had setbacks that our other classmates didn’t have to worry about because of our intersections: being immigrant latina women. They always kept us involved in extra curricular activities, even if that meant it was a financial stretch. This is an important lesson to invest in your personal development, because your education/skills is something no one can take away from you. They made sure we spoke and read in Spanish while at home, to keep a connection with our culture, which I am extremely grateful for as it’s helped me connect to students throughout my years of teaching. I am the third generation of entrepreneurs on my dad’s side, which is something that I am just now taking in.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.piscolamami.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/piscola.mami/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antonia-lara-sanchez-763806ab/
- Other: tik tok: piscola.mami
Image Credits
Ivana Pinto, Anthony Azanon