We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Vienna Jimenez a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Vienna, appreciate you 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.
The name itself, Our Casita Bonita – translates to “Our Pretty Little House”. As a proud Latina, it was important for me to incorporate some of my culture in the name and foundation of our business. Our Casita Bonita was created with the idea that we would go OVER and BEYOND the industry norm to showcase new and innovative pieces and products. Pieces that were customized and hand made with Love.
We recently launched a couple of new products that are one-of-a-kind … an Exclusive OCB – Miche Bar & Mimosa Bar ™️ (patent pending). This is an Industry FIRST and no one else in the Market has created one.
In our first launch we sold out twice. So we’re really anxious to work on mass producing and getting these products out to the public as fast as possible. It’s really exciting when you think about it!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Vienna, I’m a Mama, Wife and a Small Business Owner. Though most of my personal career has been spent in a Construction setting as a Project Engineer. I have over 20 years of experience in the industry.
Construction runs through my veins and I love working on DIY – home improvement projects with my husband. If you can’t find me in the shop or my office, I’m likely outdoors tending to my flower gardens.
How did you build your audience on social media?
As a Small Business you have to start somewhere. There is no Instagram book or manual to help you along the way. So a lot of my marketing strategies came out of trial and error.
Even with a small audience of 1700+ followers I can still rake in engagements and new accounts with over 10k views via reposts and sponsored ads. It just all comes down to knowing your target audience and capitalizing when the time is right!
My audience started off with a handful of friends and family. But with word of mouth and customers sharing their products, You can easily grow a social media following that captures your niche audience!
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
One thing I always tell NEW online shop owners- is, “Don’t let the lack of support discourage you” … not everyone will be on board, at first you may get no followers, no likes, no one cares. If I had quit or thrown in the towel every time I felt like a product or post was unsuccessful, I would of never made it past the first 3 months.
But I promise if you don’t give up and you can power through that initial wall – you WILL find success on the other side.
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.OCBpartywalls.com
- Instagram: @ourcasitabonita
Image Credits
MR Photography