We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jose Balmaceda a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jose, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?
It occurred to me years ago when I went to shopping at a local mall. Hours spent of indecisive decisions of what shirt would look good on me. I would find an excuse to leave the mall empty handed and that’s when it hit me, “Why don’t I just make my own clothing?” Fast forward to now, I am finally doing just that. It’s quite comical actually, it the idea started to simply satisfy my own standards but the thought of it overwhelmed me and I took it upon myself to finally take the risk this year to just do it! It took about 7 months of planning which involved finding a good manufacturer, fabric, design(s), samples, measurements, pricing and much more. Each day, week and month I found myself a step closer to having a finished product. I’ll say it’s been a difficult road especially one where you’re on your own and you have no idea what it takes to design clothing. My business was just selling photographs as prints and books prior to introducing it to clothing and fashion. I had to revamp my entire business design and structure to make it all happen. July 1, 2022, I will be launching my website and dropping my clothing brand. Definitely looking forward to this new journey!
Jose, 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?
“Express yourself by being yourself.” That’s the mantra I’ve been following and implementing into my business. I’ve struggled a ton to reach the level of mindset I have now. I’ve always had a creative and artistic soul but I was terrified of expressing myself the way I wanted to. Now I look back and can’t believe I let the opinions of others stop me from being me. I enjoy writing, designing, flowers and anything motivating really. I guess what I’m saying is I want everyone who comes across my work to know that everything means something. Every image I took, every design I made, I simply want them to feel what I do. I’ve realized through experience that people don’t buy what you do but how you do it and I just want to be a role model to do what makes you happy! I’m working on a lot of things now but people will be able to buy photography prints, photography/poetry books and clothing from my website. Each one will have a message and I’m sure my audience will be able to connect to one of my works. Whoever is reading this….THANK YOU!
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
When I first started a social media presence for my business, I was consumed about how many likes, reposts, shares and etc. In the beginning that was my priority and eventually that obsession, diluted my work and quality. One day in Miami, I went to a tiny hole-in-a-wall cafe and I had the opportunity to talk to the owners. I told them about what I was doing and how I felt about my presence/reputation was not where I wanted it to be. One of them replied with, “Take a look at our place. Most told us that we were moving to a terrible location and that nobody would come. (He turned around and said hi to everyone that was waiting in line by their name) My business may be in a saturated niche but if you do it the way you want to and you’re honest with yourself, the right people will find you.” Since then, I’ve stuck to being authentic and although my platforms don’t have the largest followings (yet) I’m happy because I know the ones supporting me currently connect with what I’m doing. For those who are reading this and want to take a look at my Instagram page, here’s my handle and let me know what you think. @ZBstreet
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I don’t have a specific story to tell but I remember how many times I felt like giving up. I remember hearing all the doubts and believing the voices in my head about, “This won’t work.” Life is too short to not live it the way you want it to be though. I started new habits such as reading, hearing motivating podcasts, taking long walks, organizing my days and it took a long time in the making to break my own mentality. I also had the support of so many people and once I felt surrounded by their positivity, nothing has stopped me. I have my days though, where I need to sit back and catch up with everything happening but I’ve come back stronger each time. My advice? Take the time you need, it’s okay to feel. I’ve always said that starting a business is an emotional rollercoaster so prepare yourself for the ups and downs. Surrounded yourself with positive and reinforcing things. Never back down from achieving your dreams.
Contact Info:
- Website: zbstreet.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zbstreet/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zbstreet
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/zbstreet/?viewAsMember=true
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@zbstreet