We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Maria Valencia. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Maria below.

Hi Maria, thanks for joining us today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

Whether I’m managing events, doing a project launch, or growing the gallery, my main concern is making sure that I’m leaving a positive impact not only professionally, but socially. To me, if you’re trusting us with your time and energy, you should have a pleasant human experience and everything should be seamless, because otherwise you could’ve done it yourself, right? And there’s layers to this, but for me, it’s all intertwined.

Mayhem Project was founded in 2020 on the basics of authenticity, creativity and high quality everything. While events weren’t really happening because of the ‘pandemic’, I took the creatives I was working with, and provided management services for their side projects. Here, I learned about the power of remote work, organization, collaboration and systems, and everything changed.

The possibility to grow with the same great people in different directions that have your same interests is exhilarating. I realized the problem for them was the lack of presence and intention, everything is fast-paced and rushed, their craft suffered because they were overwhelmed with sometimes unrealistic deadlines that were disruptive to their creative process. I made it a point that with every project, I’d educate as much as I can because the more you know, the less mistakes you make, buying back your time. Whether you work with me or not, you’ll always leave knowing more. This tactic is great to build trust.

My most important lesson learned as an entrepreneur is putting the heART first. Everything from collaborations, client relations and communication, should all be intentional. Staying curious and adaptable to explore other people’s dreams and passions, then ask yourself, “how can I enhance this experience right now?” Afterwards, we reverse engineer the dream and find the right team. You’ll quickly realize that your life can improve if you’re intentional about the energy and time you invest in every room, you learn that discernment is as crucial as time management, and you’ll gain so much clarity that will reflect back on creativity.

Some people measure the success of any project on how perfectly you’re able to meet deadlines and how much money you can make, and although those ARE key and mandatory, you can’t forget to care along the way. It’s important to be transparent, that’s the root of respect, and whoever is involved at the moment should feel inclined to care about the collective outcome. Your success is also based on retainment, how people felt working with you, how your guests will remember their night.

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As with Restrepo Gallery, I’m proud to share that this was founded with my mother. Our main focus is to showcase, educate and help give back to the community where we’re needed. The gallery is fully online and pop-up at the moment, (hopefully soon). We are not in the business of commercial mass printing or mass production. This is a fine art gallery, and great things take time. These original paintings are exclusive and commission as well.

While my mother, Luz Patricia Restrepo, has been an artist for 30+ years, we only recently embarked on this journey in late 2022, and by mid 2023, we were showcasing in Madrid and Luxembourg, this year (2025) will be our 6th international show, in Austria. I share this because often as women we downplay our efforts and accomplishments. This level of exposure has been great for our growth in America. As we are looking to go in the healing and educational route. We are developing art classes and seminars in south Florida, involving ourselves deeper into the community.

For accessibility, we created a gallery shop where you can order prints and merch of the original artwork. We believe art should be for everyone, and sometimes, the atmosphere is suffocating and feels rehearsed and robotic. We don’t do that here, we’re open and ready to collaborate with the community as we did for the Ganja Gala II in Miami.

I’m eager to keeping building with like-minded creatives and professionals. My purpose remains the same, to be a better human and professional and help curate a pleasant experience for my environment. As I look to build with bigger brands and learn more from more experienced professionals, I want to remember my essence of being human and treating my businesses as an extension of my character and values. I believe we should always leave people and places better than we found them, and in order to do that we have to be organized and prepared to meet each opportunity. Never sacrifice creativity for efficiency.

Maria, 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?

My Name is Maria Fernanda Valencia, or you can call me Mafe.
I’m the founder of Mayhem Project and co-founder of Restrepo Art Gallery.
I’m an event and entertainment specialist based in Miami, FL. Providing Management solutions for creative projects and VIP events. I embarked my freelance journey in 2012 within entertainment, and explored just about every lane in the industry plus hospitality. Why? Because I love to learn & have a good time.

I launched Mayhem Project in 2020 because the world shut down, and I realized I had everything I needed to create an opportunity for myself, without excuses, distractions or other people’s deadlines. I had just moved back to Miami from NYC and while there I worked as operations manager for an event firm who handled clients like Ferrari, Covergirl, Spotify, etc. and I was completely depleted, mentally and physically from the lifestyle.

I began by offering project management for creatives, since I’ve always had a passion for problem solving, leadership and human interactions. My clients at the time were LA, NYC and Puerto Rico based, so I expanded my digital knowledge and was super intentional about my time and energy. I literally couldn’t afford to mess up.

I’d help creatives get organized, and help brands get to creatives. I found the sweet spot between fun and discipline, and found freedom in systems and networks. My “secret” lies in being obsessed with great human experiences. I like to make sure that fun is never compromised while meeting deadlines, because I’ve paid the price of happiness plus soul tax working corporate.

I create timelines, budgets, blueprints, and make sure deadlines are met. I learned more about human psychology and client relations than anything else. I found that once you customize your blueprint, everything else repeats, and this was exciting to me because that meant I could make the mechanics work exactly how I need it to and focus on the creative collaborations and finding the right team for each client. Navigating a creative’s mind while maneuvering through logistics is actually some challenging work I’m thankful to experience.

Then on January 1st, 2022 I had a life threatening car accident, and everything crumbled, including myself. I had to learn how to walk again the same year I turned 30, and my mental health declined drastically. I had been so hyper-focused on the hustle culture and meeting numbers, that I burned out. I physically couldn’t get myself to care about staying alive, much less make money, and that’s when I realized, I needed to dive inwards deeper in order to save myself. I changed so much and also grew through so much thanks to silence, that I had to rebrand myself and my offers because I didn’t really resonate with my “Why” anymore.

I went from exploring every project and sitting at every table, so much that I lost track of purpose. I was chasing monetary pleasure and although that has been crucial for my foundation, now that I have more wisdom, I realize the value of health and that rest and recovery are just as important as grinding. I lost many connections and learned the true meaning of the word “Friend”. and I also began my relationship with my mother. This is crucial because 6 months later we’d embark on a super random journey that would smile back at us.

In early 2023, I co-founded Restrepo Gallery with my mom because she was also going through a life changing adjustment and didn’t exactly know where she would find financial stability. I figured this was the perfect opportunity to show her I wasn’t just some “little party planner”, and I’m glad I aligned my ego with my truth that day, because we have been able to answer many silent prayers in a very short amount of time.

Restrepo Gallery is a growing collection of over 100 fine art oil and pastel paintings by Luz Patricia Restrepo, and although we are digital and pop-up at the moment, we have prioritized sharing art and making art accessible. We participate in showcases that are both ticketed and free to the public, both gallery clients and open festival settings throughout the US and in less than one year we accomplished representation in Madrid, Spain! We have since had 6 international exhibitions with the most recent being in Innsbruck, Austria in October 2025.

I’d have to say this is one of my most proud accomplishments, because after I truly pivoted and allowed life to steer me where I was truly needed. I got the opportunity to share with my mother and prove to myself that I’m capable of accomplishing so much more than my imposter syndrome was letting me believe.

Our main focus continues to be doing shows and selling original artwork and artisanal pieces, but we are being called to expand within the community and are developing art classes and workshops for different age groups, making them affordable, intimate and insightful.

Beyond education and art sales, we had the pleasure of sponsoring the Ganja Gala II, as well as making a commission painting for the event. I can confidently say that through creative collaborations, honest conversations and hard work, both Mayhem Project and Restrepo Gallery will make a positive impact for years to come.

I hope that entrepreneurs learn to embrace the slow season and adaptability. I hope that people who have had to start over from scratch and heal through their success come forward and share their projects with us. I look forward to creating a more colorful and intentional world with like-minded individuals that are here to lead with intention and move from love.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

My personal experience has been: Non-creatives monetize everything. They’ll do all types of things because there’s profit, but rarely will they act on passion, because they lack the emotional depth and confidence to jump into the abyss. These are the same people that will cut the budget on creatives because there’s a program that can do it for free.

But in order for any brand to connect to a human, they have to be deeply relatable. This is where creatives come in, these are the people that self-expressed and lived out loud enough to be able to conceptualize then materialize your ideas. These are people that have studied themselves and colors, the same people that are mocked for not picking profit, are being exploited for their creativity.

You need creatives in order to dream new concepts, to teach us about self-expression and passion. And I’m not saying artists need to struggle, in fact, I feel the exact opposite. I want creatives to learn about creating a routine that doesn’t impede their creative flow. I hope to continue helping them maintain systems that support their lifestyle and promote growth in their craft.

I personally don’t concern myself with a non-creative’s opinion because they don’t even have the courage to dream out loud.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Human beings were made to create, and unfortunately we are caught up in a vicious cycle of capitalism and a mirage of opportunities. But it’s important to remember why you follow your passion. For me, it’s to help others find their flow, or educate a younger generation, I also enjoy helping others heal through every project, everything is connected.

The most rewarding aspect of being creative is being unapologetically human. I get the privilege to work on profitable passion projects, meet incredible people, learn in real time all on topics that I choose. I get to work on self-improvement for the betterment of my community everyday.

Contact Info:

• Website: mayhemprojects.com or restrepogallery.com
• Instagram: @MafeMayhem | Mayhem.Project | @RestrepoGallery
• Other: Email: [email protected] or [email protected]