We were lucky to catch up with Lia Cohen recently and have shared our conversation below.

Lia, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

Being a business owner sounds so romantic at first. People often imagine it as a way to escape the 9-to-5 grind, with more freedom and time. But the reality isn’t quite like that—it’s not passive at all, and a lot depends on how you’re financing your business. In my case, it’s all self-investment, which means I’m usually the last to get paid. Sometimes, all I wish for is an extra day in the week just to catch my breath and recharge. But that’s not how it works when you’re building something from the ground up.

Sure, there are moments when I dream of the simplicity of getting a paycheck at the end of the month, closing the office door behind me, and leaving the responsibilities with someone else. But then I look at what we’ve achieved so far and all the possibilities ahead—and it makes the challenges worth it. I’m deeply empathetic by nature, and seeing my team (we call ourselves THE LADY TEAM) grow and thrive, both personally and professionally, is incredibly fulfilling. That’s the real reward for me—it’s what keeps me going.

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?

I am a fashion designer and entrepreneur who has been producing RTW in her Guatemala studio and atelier for more than 5 years. I was trained in Europe with experience working for the fashion industry in cities like New York, Milan, and Paris.

LIACOHEN ia a designer luxury brand renowned for its craftsmanship, celebrating femininity and authenticity through romantic prints and intricate embroideries meticulously made by hand. Each piece becomes a canvas for art and storytelling.

At our core, we aim to create a dignified environment where women feel magnificent. With prints that carry meanings and emotions as reminders of inner strength, we see clothing as a tool for women to conquer their day-to-day challenges.

Crafted in our atelier with the finest fabrics, every garment is brought to life by skilled women artisans who pour expertise and passion into every stitch, creating heirloom pieces to be cherished for generations.

THIS IS IMPORTANT TO US

We believe in creating a dignified and empowered environment for our makers to invest their passion into the creation of modern treasures for women to reflect the best version of their authentic selves.

As part of our brand culture we are on a constant mission to achieve two very important things that lay at the heart of the LIA COHEN ethos:

1. Provide opportunities in Guatemala through job creation specially for young aspiring women, and women who are breadwinners and primary leaders of their home.
2. We have several divers projects that honor women.

What truly lies in our heart is that we want to remind women they are MAGNIFICENT.

Any advice for managing a team?

I believe in creating opportunities and recognizing that every job is a dignified job. It’s so important to make people feel appreciated and valued for the work they do. While this can be a challenge when starting a business, for me, it was a non-negotiable foundation of what I wanted to build a dignified job on a business that has been challenge on how the industry treats their workers.

What I love most is seeing our team grow within the business. Take Eli, for example. She started on the cleaning team but got curious about embroidery. Thankfully, our LADY TEAM is always eager to share knowledge, so Eli began learning embroidery during her free time. Fast forward, and now she’s an amazing embroiderer! Stories like hers are a constant within our business, and they fill me with pride and motivation to keep going. This is what it’s all about for me.

Do you have any stories of times when you almost missed payroll or any other near death experiences for your business?

For us, it was the COVID pandemic that really tested everything. With 80% of our team being the breadwinners for their households, and all our international partnerships suddenly on pause, we had to figure out how to make sure everyone could still put food on the table.

To make things even harder, our Instagram got hacked, and we lost the organic following we had built over four years. Our online presence took a huge hit, and we had to start over from scratch. It was tough because, at the time, IG was our face to the world.

That’s when we decided to open our doors to manufacturing for other brands. What started as a way to keep things afloat has now evolved into a whole new side of our business. Not only are we still creating premium products for our own brand, but we’re also helping other brands bring their visions to life. It’s been a challenge, but it’s opened up a lot of opportunities we hadn’t expected.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.liacohen.com
• Instagram: LIACOHENOFICIAL
• Facebook: LIAOCHENOFFICIAL
• Linkedin: LIACOHEN
• Youtube: LIACOHENOFICIAL

Image Credits

PHOTGRAPHY . CARMEN MALDONADO (AREA STUDIOS)
H&M . PAOLA VALVERDE
MODEL . ALESSANDRA BREGNI
AGENCY . NOVA MODELS
STYLING . LADY TEAM
LOCATION . LAKE ATITLAN GUATEMALA