We recently connected with Monique Guzman and have shared our conversation below.

Monique, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

My mission in life has three parts.

Saving our planet from the way of life humans have been accustomed to living without a care or worry to the impacts it has by way of consumption, mass production, and a disposable lifestyle. The amount of pollution to our air, water, & terra needs to be made aware of so we can stop and change the status quo in our personal lives & globally. We can start with ourselves, but real change is when we demand it from our leaders. I love the earth. I love the trees, flowers, & nature all around us. I love hiking mountains, swimming in oceans, feeling the sand under my toes, cooling off in a river, and seeing amazing creatures roaming free. The list is so long of how much a love the earth. I am its protector & lover. When was the last time you laid under some trees and just listened to the wind, feel the breeze, & just breath? When was the last time you smelt a sweet lemony fragrant rose that wasn’t mass produced? We must protect our world. She is fragile but strong. We can change things. There is still time.

Secondly, I want to empower women and remind them of their greatness. She must not let go of her goals, her dreams, her power, her “Queeness” in this universe. To express to them, not to dim their light. It is time we ran the world after millenniums of a patriarchy rule. We must not fall into the pitfall’s society has so dimmed us into but come together as a collective to support one another. We are fragile but we are fierce. Our sensitivity, our compassion are what makes us strong. We are the creators of the universe. We are royalty.

Lastly, emphasizing the importance of art & creativity to make the world a better place. When we go back to the arts, we go back to the artistry of things. Making things by hand & crafting not by machine but by the beauty of imagination. Supporting the arts is sustainable, it is healthy, it is beautiful, & it is inspiring. The arts are immensely more important now with the overtaking of social media & AI. Art is in everything we do. It is in traditional forms that most know such as paintings and sculpture. as well as written works, dance & theater, but it is also how we love, how we eat, how we work, how we play. If we all lived with “Arte” in all things, meaning we lived passionately, authentically, & genuinely, wouldn’t the world be an amazing place? Imagine going to a live concert to listen to talented musicians, or eating handmade bread or pasta, or growing your own veggies & fruit, writing a book or poem, taking a surfing class, going to a museum, taking up knitting, sewing a garment, auditioning for a play, dancing a tango. The ideas are endless. We need more art in this world.

It is my mission through my fashion and other arts to support my 3 ethos: the urgency of Sustainability, the “Queeness” of Women, & the momentousness of the Arts & Creativity. I am a creator and I want to help make this world a better place.

Monique, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a fashion designer & multidisciplinary artist. My works of art focus on celebrating, embracing, & calling to action the feminine divine, sustainability, & creativity. I believe that art should be in everything you do. I am a creator and an “imaginist”.

I am a Chilean Mexican American artist & entrepreneur; I am a child of immigrant parents who instilled an immense work ethic. My art ranges from fashion design, dance, culinary, painting, photography, writing, sculpture, mixed media, interior finishes, jewelry, murals, fashion & media production & much more. I have been published internationally with my avant-garde designs and have been featured in the runways of London Fashion Week, New York Fashion Week, & Portland Fashon Week as a sustainable designer.

I am also a published writer both in poetry and in business for women leaders. I recently (during Covid) graduated from Film & TV Industry from NYU Tisch school with the future endeavor of producing & directing a short for submission to the International Fashion Film Festival that I have already written script for.

I have also been a guest judge at the SD Food & Wine Festival. My culinary fortes are wine pairings, paella, high teas, & “making pimp something outta nothing”. I have been creating since a very young age. I started dancing at the age of 5, sewed my first shirt at 14, & my first sculpture at 16.

I believe the world does not need more politicians, corporations, or big pharma. It needs more art. If we all live with “Arte” we would all live more authentic, genuine, & passionate lives. Wouldn’t that be a better world? I want to make the world a better place, by using my talents through art in hopes to inspire and bring awareness to protecting our planet, empowering women, & bringing light to the artistry of things.

Most recently, I used and incorporated recycled materials in my latest published work. I used plastic bread closures for a belt and made faux sugar flower sculptures out of green plastic bottles for the bouquet & hair accessories.

Currently, I am teaching a cardio hip hop class to a private adult treatment center. Also soon to start a burlesque class to women 50+ yrs. old. Simultaneously finishing two more avant-garde designs for publications, and I am currently looking for an art gallery to house my solo show with my avant-garde fashion designs and mission. My solo show I have named it: HER- her Fashion; her Earth; her Trash.

I am the protector of women, children, the earth, & the arts. When I am not creating, I am hiking or camping, playing the congas, rollerblading, reading or boogieboarding. My mantra is “Con Mucho Arte” which I have tattooed on my arm.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I needed an industrial sewing machine. I had been at the time, cutting my designs at home on dining table, and then taking them to a lady who had industrial sergers. She would set them up with all the thread bolts I needed and thread the machine for me. I “borrowed” the machines to finish my designs. The machines were so daunting. I thought to myself, “there’s no way I’m going to learn how to do this!” but I knew I had to. The current arrangement was not good, nor was it going to last, and just was not sustainable for my business to grow. I couldn’t afford my own machine. I sold two designs, and I found a place in Los Angeles that sold used commercial sergers. The two designs that I sold would pay for a used serger, gas, & snacks. I drove up 3 hours with my mom who had a big car to load up my machine.

Once I got there, a technician/machinists lead me to a machine and quickly showed me how to use it. But that’s not how I learn, I must actually do it and I couldn’t stay there and “Practice”…. I couldn’t afford to hire an experienced commercial seamstress so; I had an idea.

With every new step the machinist showed me, I repeated it back step by step and had my mom video me “talking to myself”. Essentially, I made my own videos of ‘me talking to me’ and spoke like my brain thinks. I spoke as if I would come up wrong ways and then correct them on the video. Something like this “So you are going to thread here, not this one that looks like a shoe but the one that has this little curve to the right, and you’ll want to come from behind it, not in front of it”. I made about 5 videos. Once I got home and started sewing on my new “used” machine and referred to my videos for like 2 solid weeks. Back & forth. Until I no longer needed the videos ever again. I even got so good; I could troubleshoot my machine when something went wrong. I felt so empowered & accomplished. If I could master this machine, I could do anything. This was just one example of how I saved money or hustled to figure out something I couldn’t afford nor had the knowhow. I never got enough money to do everything at once. It was one thing at a time. One battle at a time. Everything seems more feasible that way. When I look back at everything I had in the end. I was blown away “I did that?! I had that?!”

Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?

I was doing a trunk show in Las Vegas for an international tango festival. I was one of four other vendors. All the other vendors sold dresses and skirts and tops like I did. One vendor sold commercial duplicates at very cheap prices. We will call her vendor D. Think cookie cutter or fast fashion designs. The other two vendors were more similar to me in that they hand sewn their designs. We will call them vendors B & C. Vendor C made more of the same exact item, like sm./med/large and in basic colors, mostly black. I didn’t really compare myself with her or vendor D, I sold only one of kind designs like vendor B & C.

Now we were all very civil and cordial to each other and helpful if one of us needed to use the restroom or get food, but at the end of the day, we all needed to sell and were in competition. Alls fair in love & war. Something to note that is very important is that vendor B, C, & D’s price points were hugely different than mine. Theirs were all in the same boat ranging from $36-$80 and averaging $50 for a skirt. My prices were $150 to $300. Big difference.

The festival was 3 days long. I was selling out. On the last day, coming to my booth in the am to setup for my last day of sales, I came upon all 3 ladies huddled together chatting. when I entered the ballroom, they all stopped and looked my way. I could tell they were talking about me. As I approached to greet them, one of them says to me “We don’t understand it! Your stuff is 400% more expensive than our stuff and we can’t even sell half our inventory! You are almost sold out! We don’t get it!”

I shrugged my shoulders in disbelief and surprise. “Yeah, I don’t get it either”. But that was not true! I knew exactly why. But I wasn’t going to share with them.

Each of my designs had a name like a painting. And each name came with a story. A story that you want to be in. A story that takes you to a memory you have. And each piece was like a child I made and hurt to part with. Even how I got the fabric had a story. I was very excited to share each story of each design. I took my client on a ride of my imagination. My passion was physically visible & contagious. I also shared my mission of my brand. I had a purpose and they wanted to be part of it. I connected with each client. By the time I finished with every single person, I knew all about them. They shared with me their personal stories. I got up from my chair and went to each person and made them feel special. Each new client couldn’t wait to wear my designs and show me how they looked and how they felt. None of the other vendors did this. They didn’t smile. They didn’t get off their chairs. They barely spoke to their perspective clients, only to ring them up did they say hello. Nor did the other vendors have a company mission. Every business should have a mission statement. Why do you do what you do? At the end of the day, a client interaction should be an experience, a human experience. If you are not excited about what you are doing, then you shouldn’t be doing it. We all want connection. We are starving for connection. Also, customer service is a dying art.

Guaranteed a person will spend more money where they are given white glove service and connection with a purpose.

I brought 3 huge suitcases and at the end of the festival, I came back with only one almost empty suitcase.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bymoniqueguzman.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lamoniqueguzman/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/moniqueguzman1/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvQFlvtvj3W8qJzCAHS24iQ

Image Credits
Mike Les Cabre; Kristy Rodenbaugh; Sarah Dunning; Ellysha Leonard; Darya Liv