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

Desirae , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

I love this question so much because it’s so fun and personal and I love how the name of my brand embodies what my mission is. So, most people automatically assume that my name is Moxie which sadly it isn’t my name but it’s a fun word and means a lot to me, so in some way I really do wish it was my name!

Moxie means force of character or having determination, also just having energy or pep. It was a few years ago where I had originally seen the word and it just kinda stuck with me and at that time I was already grasping at the idea that I wanted to start something and eventually would open up my own business. As far as Moxie and Magic, I like to think that everyone has a bit of magic in them. Everyone has something that is completely unique and makes them one of a kind and that’s amazing! So Moxie and Magic was born! It’s something fun and whimsy but also encouraging and positive to others. When people shop with us I want them to feel happy and loved and seen and just all the happy vibes.

Desirae , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hi! I’m Desirae and I’m the creative behind Moxie and Magic. I started Moxie and Magic in 2019 but growing up I was always very creative and prior to launching my own shop, I knew that I wanted to create some type of space where I could share my creations! I was the kid with tons of doodles and beads and little crafts here and there, it was always so much fun and freeing to just make something. Once the pandemic hit, I purchased an iPad and got into digital illustration and started to share my little graphics on social media and eventually opened up my online shop, Moxie and Magic, where I started selling custom illustrations, and stickers. Fast forward to today, I still share my digital illustrations, stickers, tote bags, jewelry, cups, and a lot of other fun stuff! I love sharing happy and positive quotes through out the things that I make, so you’ll mostly find colorful uplifting stickers and encouraging sayings on tote bags and keychains.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

The thing with social media is that it’s so easy to get sucked into and it’s always changing. I’ve built my social media audience in a slow, natural way. It took time and work to get to the audience I am at now. When I first started out, I had a great handful of followers who would share my work and posts with their followers. I’ve had luck with a few of my posts that went viral and essentially helped grow my audience which was great and I am always very thankful when that happens. By sharing authentic posts are showing my audience who I am as a brand is also important! My number one tip with growing any social media following is to just have fun and not think about it too much!

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

I use Square as a platform to sell online. From the very beginning it has always been square and I love how user friendly the app and online retailer are! It’s been such a pleasant experience with them. When looking for a platform to start selling on, a couple of things were important to me. Those included being user friendly on both ends (admin and customer), having a POS system that would also work offline for markets and pop-ups, and integrated tools to open up to more customers. I would say that I’m very happy with my choice to start selling on square and I don’t have any cons!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://moxieandmagic.square.site
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moxieandmagic/

Image Credits
all photos taken by the talented Estefani from @heartandsoul_collective