We were lucky to catch up with Malia Alvina recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Malia, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

My business sales handmade Handbags & Custom Camo Jackets. I started sewing after a divorce, sewing was so therapeutic for me. Sewing is something that I had a desire to do and never took the opportunity to learn. I finally decided to just do it, and I went and bought my first sewing machine and start sewing. I learned from YouTube and from reading books. Once I learned to sew I began making handbags, I posted those to social media and and received positive feedback, so I began to market myself as a bag maker.

I continued to make bags , but being a Creative I always wanted to create and do more. I had always wanted to design clothes, so I took old clothes and began upcycling them into bags and jackets. Upcycling clothes led me to wanting to explore other sustainable options for materials by thrifting ( something I used to do with my Mom and Grandma back home in California). I started off with a Camo jacket that was a tribute to my Dad , my brother and my hometown (LBC). I would wear it to vending events and posted on social media and people expressed interest in purchasing custom jackets. I started to focus on customizing Camos and making bags specially with Levi denim. My goal was to be creative and have some sustainable business practices. Customizing and upcycling camos and denim were a perfect way to be able to express my creativity in a sustainable way.

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’ve always wanted to be a designer, but life derailed me some. By trade and choice I am a Mental Health Clinician, but by divine designation I am a Creative. I started out my business out of needing something to get me through a difficult time in my life. As therapist , I knew I needed a constructive outlet.

I’ve always been a creative person and and I love the satisfaction of idea to execution, its a very joyous feeling to see others appreciate your creativity as well. It’s a blessing to be able to share you gifts with others.

I currently create custom one of one handmade handbags and Camo jackets. As a creative, I learned early on that I feel creatively stifled when I have to do what feels like production work, so I decided to make each bag , each Camo, unique. I value my own individuality and that’s something I wanted to bring to my brand. I think at some point we all want to feel special , like we are the only one, and with my products, you will be the only one as there are no duplicates.

In being an entrepreneur who offers handmade and custom products it can be challenging. I run all aspects of my business alone and I’ve done so at times blindly, just trying to figure it out as I go. Entrepreneurship in and of it self is difficult and not for the weak. It’s difficult being a solo business owner having to manage all aspects of your business (especially while Moming and still working a regular 9 to 5 , and when you don’t see the results in terms of sales and engagement), but despite the difficulties , I am proud of my resilience and desire to not give up. Creating and sewing is my love it is so much more than just a business for me.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I was self funded , I still am. I did however get blessed to be a part of program here in Atlanta called StartME who awarded me a small stipend.

Being self funded taught me valuable lessons. It’s important to remain organized. Purchase supplies on a smaller scale until it makes sense to buy multiples or large quantities. Identifying your target customer is also something really important. It’s also really important to network and be around like minded people.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

The best source for obtaining new clients for me has been good old word of mouth. Social media plays a role in finding new clientele as well, but I am definitely a social media introvert and working on getting more engaged with the various platforms.

Contact Info:

• Website: Maliaalvina.com
• Instagram: @maliasewdope
• Other: Maliaalvina.Etsy.com