We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cristina Lynch a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Cristina, appreciate you joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Mi Golondrina’s mission is to share the timeless beauty and traditions of artisan-made clothing with the world. When I founded Mi Golondrina in 2013, I was inspired by my mother’s Mexican heritage and love of Mexican art, I wanted to continue telling the story of Mexican art by preserving the traditions of hand-embroidery and empowering artisans throughout Mexico. As a young girl, I often frequented my grandfather’s ranch house in Mexico and would see small swallows or ‘golondrinas’ nesting in the eaves of the roof. I envision these golondrinas flying about, delivering the beauty of Mexico to women all over the world. We work with various artisan communities across Mexico. Each community utilizes its own specific technique for making its respective garments. The designs are indigenous to each community and are the equivalent of flags, representing the identity and culture of the people who made them.

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?

First and foremost I am most proud of my Mexican heritage. My mother is from northern Mexico and I was raised in a beautiful Mexican home here in Dallas. I always tell everyone that no one loves Mexico the way my mom does. She has been collecting art from there since she was 18 years old. I was fortunate to go to New York University and when I was there I double majored in theater and economics. I loved the freedom that New York gave me and in my junior year I realized how much I was interested in the fashion industry and inspired by the clothes around me on the streets of New York. I was so excited when I got my first job at Oscar de la Renta. I worked for their sales team and learned a lot. It was while I was there that I started to think about a lifestyle brand that would highlight the beautiful embroidery in Mexico. They were gorgeous gowns embroidered for the runway and it made me think of all of the embroidery I had grown-up seeing in our home. I moved to Dallas to start Mi Golondrina and moved in with my parents. I was so fortunate to have Peacock Alley support me and at first started selling decorative pillows. From there, Mi Golondrina evolved into a women’s clothing brand with all pieces hand-embroidered throughout small villages in Mexico. We sell both online and in our showroom located in Dallas, Texas. We now work with over 800 artisan-partners across Mexico and collaborate with various artisan communities including San Antonino Castillo Velasco & Chiapas. I am so proud of all of the amazing women who make Mi Golondrina the company it is today.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I think the pandemic taught every business leader that you needed to learn to pivot quickly. For us we had built up quite a bit of inventory and had planned to open a few stores. It was a really scary time for us and for everyone. I was so happy at the time to have great mentors and a community I could rely on. We decided to close all of the stores early on and focus on online sales. Mi Golondrina had never had a sale before and it was something that I was adamant about not having. The pandemic made me realize that the sale would save our business. Fortunately we had focused on our online business the summer before the pandemic and were able to quickly pivot into e-commerce. We launched our first ever sale online and were able to sell what we normally would sell in a month in a day. I remember it was so much work for our team. We were at the office until midnight pulling clothing and packing boxes. I think pivots are great though. You learn to lean into them and make the best of it. I love where this pivot has taken us and has helped us focus on our growing e-commerce business.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

One of my mentors, Jason Needleman, the CEO of Peacock Alley, said to me, “Cristina, you don’t realize how large the Texas market is.” I think this was a really good piece of advice because when I first started Mi Golondrina I thought so much about growing and selling all over the United States but to get focused on the state I was in was really smart. I started by selling in person all over Texas. I would load all of our hand embroidered dresses into my parents’ suburban and drive to various cities with a coworker. It was a great time to learn about the market and get to know the women who would be buying our dresses. One thing I love about Mi Golondrina is we are constantly seeking advice from our customers. I think I learned early on how important this is. I have traveled to Amarillo, Corpus Christi, Austin, Houston, Fort Worth, Breckenridge,… Really all over Texas and I think meeting with everyone individually really helped our reputation. I think you can have the best marketing in the world but it’s completely different and much stronger to grow by word-of-mouth. It’s incredible if someone is wearing your blouse and is excited to tell someone in the grocery store about it. Honestly, I think that’s how we have grown a beautiful community.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://migolondrina.com/
• Instagram: @migolondrina
• Linkedin: @migolondrina
• Other: Cristina’s personal instagram: @cristina_lynch