We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Maria Valentina Santiago a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Maria Valentina, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

It all started the moment I decided to leave my regular job from Monday to Friday from 8am-5pm. I quit this job from one day to the next because the environment was something that affected me a lot, seeing myself without a job and basically without sources of income, these publications began to appear “I’ll teach you how to create your digital business and make $$$$ in simple steps”. I took the course and like everything, it seemed super easy and simple as they explained it in the classes until the time for practice came hahaha, that’s when the good thing began since the classes were like the push I needed to start but no I had no idea what this entailed. Starting a business is not easy, it means taking care of every detail so that the client feels identified with your business and your brand, putting love and effort into it, it is almost like a child. At first, ignorance leads you to give up, but the secret is not to stop trying.

Ocean baby store started as Ocean Trending Store, an online store that sold all kinds of items such as electronics, makeup, storage items, clothing, among many things, but I realized that by wanting to reach such a wide audience I was going to be more difficult to connect with people.

Some time later I became pregnant and that baby was the inspiration for what Ocean Baby Store is now. Having this experience as a mother, I said basically I have the perfect inspiration and motivation to take this business to another level, I had to learn photography, marketing, be creative, manage networks as a source of income and not entertainment, launch campaigns.

We took our products to Amazon and Walmart which was another even bigger challenge since I had to learn how to use the platform, constant trial and error.

With the arrival of my son, my ideas about baby items expanded without any limit, I was wondering if I can use it with my son and it is functional for us, why not share it with the other moms that exist in the world because as we know how to be? Mom is not easy and especially a first-timer, inexperience is our middle name. This is why I focused on looking for articles that would really make this chaos of love a little less complicated for us.

Maria Valentina, 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?

For those who don’t know me, there are many haha, my name is Maria Valentina Santiago and I am 26 years old. I started my business the moment I lost my job, I have always been a person who cannot stay doing nothing, I am a person who always wants to have my head busy creating and working for my goals.

My business is an online store Ocean Baby Store of baby items, such as utensils for eco-friendly complementary feeding, such as BPA free silicone plates and bowls, silicone cutlery, dishes made of 100% natural toxic-free bamboo We also have welcome kits for newborns and now we are working on a new collection that will go on sale very soon and I know that my clients are going to love it.

Our products are inspired by the health and comfort of our babies and above all by the practicality of parents, since our products are light, easy to pack and transport and can be washed very easily. Also as a mother I like to use quality and durable products, a product that is natural and easy to use, with which babies feel encouraged to interact, want to explore and feel interested in them, I also look for products that are for them. benefit of baby development.

I am very proud that every day we reach more homes and make our mini customers happy, seeing them happy with their conversations and cutlery from my brand, seeing how parents can rest assured that the product they are using with their babies is reliable. I like to see that as they grow, their development and interaction when eating is greater, they feel happy doing it and do not see it as something bad.
​

Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?

We are on Amazon and Walmart, and we have our website. Start with my website where the variety is a little wider compared to the other platforms, on my website you can find all our products and be updated on what’s new to come.

We started on Amazon, as we very well know, Amazon provides the opportunity to grow in a more organic way. Amazon is a very gigantic platform and practically when searching or buying something if we don’t find it on Amazon it doesn’t exist, so why not use this platform. For me, Amazon is a very kind platform for small businesses, I love using it. Obviously it is a challenge to understand it and understand the issue of positioning and campaigns, I consider that with this platform it requires patience and a lot of insistence, but it does give good results.

As for Walmart, I am still working on understanding the electronic issue in a slightly more complicated way since it is not yet exploited as such, the public sees Walmart more as a physical store than as an online store, which is why I feel that it still needs it but that the moment it explodes, it will be a great success
​

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

In my business, my great support has been social networks, Instagram and Facebook. The issue of creating attractive content that connects with your audience attracts many customers, sometimes we only think about selling and not connecting, and therein lies the secret, that relationship that we create and that feeling that we inspire is what drives us as a brand. .

Contact Info:

• Website: https://oceanbabystore.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oceaanbabystore/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oceaanbabystore/