DECO LOFT
CURATED ART AND DESIGN
San José, Costa Rica
"Since I was a child I always loved taking care of my hair. I used to buy products that helped me moisturize and eliminate frizz. One day I dared to experiment creating a hair oil with a key ingredient that I had on hand, pure honey."
ISSUE NO. 3 // HILDA VALVERDE
DESIGNER SPOTLIGHT // DECO
LOFT
Ethical. Mindful. Witty. This is one of those brands you had no idea you needed, until now.
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"Since I was a child I always loved taking care of my hair. I used to buy products that helped me moisturize and eliminate frizz. One day I dared to experiment creating a hair oil with a key ingredient that I had on hand, pure honey."
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Hive's story goes back to 2015. "My family bought a box of bees to produce pure honey to consume at home. We were amazed at the natural benefits and how delicious the honey we produced was. As time went by, the bees began to reproduce and the amount of honey increased." They had enough honey to begin selling locally to friends and acquaintances in Guatemala City.
Eventually, the honey was such a success that demand increased, and not just locally. Clients in Boston and other countries such as Egypt, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia were eager to try it.
"In 2019, during my last year of university, the Hive Honey brand was officially born and from the beginning it was clear that I wanted to make it grow."
"Hive is a 100% Guatemalan brand that seeks to innovate and provide natural alternatives to anyone who dares to enjoy the benefits obtained from pure honey. Hive seeks to raise awareness about the importance of bee conservation through its biodynamic practices and seeks to promote care for the environment by recycling and using sustainable packaging materials ."
"This is how Hive was born, with the purpose of providing natural benefits to all types of hair, from eliminating frizz, to providing hydration, shine, nutrition, softness and protection."
Meet Victoria, BSBA in Marketing & Finance from Suffolk University, creative, and the mastermind behind Hive.
"My background in finance and marketing allowed me to have order in my finances and to make good decisions regarding investors, private and venture capital firms but, predominantly, it helped me understand the world of how financial entities work"
Her interest in the benefits of pure honey and beekeeping aligned with her lifelong passion: beauty industry and haircare products, which along with her creative and artistic abilities paved the way to The Rebel, the first of many products to come.
COLLAGE BY
TOPIC EXPERIENCE
FROM VIC, TO YOU...
"Fear is the biggest limitation that exists, and I cannot stress this enough. Everything we need to create and follow our dreams is found within ourselves. As I always say, I will never do less than what I have already done. It is better to keep walking forward towards achieving those goals, or discovering new roads in the process.
If we don't believe in ourselves, who else will? I want to motivate other enterprising women and men to continue and/or start that project that they always wanted.
The road is hard, but nothing good is easy and the important thing is not to give up and to have a good attitude and a lot of patience. Many things are out of our control, but it is crucial to keep going. Don't stop. Ever.
Success begins when we believe in ourselves and what we can achieve."
EDITOR'S NOTE
If there is one thing I can already identify as probably the most invigorating moments in this entrepreneurship journey, is the feeling you get when you find a brand that is equally committed, passionate and aligned to the same goals as you are.
This is something I comment more in depth in our ISSUE NO. 1, regarding some lessons learned about working collectively with other brands and having a business that sometimes does not depend mainly on your efforts, but also on the values of the people you decide to work with. And I’ll explain why I emphasize on "decide" in just a bit. This is a lesson I learned from Vic, to which I am eternally grateful since it actually marked a turning point in my entrepreneur mindset.
I was having this awkward situation with another brand. TOPIC’s essence is to fall in love with the brands it represents and work with. Fall in love with what they work for, what they believe in. The creation process, the story behind. The outcome.
Fall in love with the project completely, or don’t do anything at all. And I fell for this one, hard. However, the sad part of the story is this brand alliance and expanding her market to Costa Rica (someday internationally too) was not on this designer’s priorities. I dedicated so much time preparing, brainstorming and working on the whole launching campaign of the brand, that I decided to ignore all the red flags.
As many of you could’ve guessed by now, communication was ambiguous and inconsistent. I took out a loan and traveled to Guatemala to meet with some of the brands I’ve being doing business with, planned the trip specifically to adapt to her availability, and she never showed up.
I commented all this to Vic when we met. I was super disappointed and angry at myself. She gave me some tough love and said some words I will never forget, and I hope they find their way to as many entrepreneurs possible in this line of work.
“Don’t forget that some of us need you more than you need us. You are giving us a chance, you are helping us grow.” As soon as she said that, I felt grateful. Gratitude for her and the trust she gave me. This is one of those things you just never forget.
My story with Vic has been constant, compelling and we’ve been aligned since day one. She believes in this project as much as I believe in hers. It is our decision to invest (money, health, time and energy) in the people who believe in us. It is our choice to look for balance and peace. I am honored to work with such a talented designer and thrilled to see her and Hive grow. Cheers to this exciting new partnership. It’s going to be one hell of a journey.
And I can’t stress this enough. MY HAIR LOOKS AMAZING.
SHOP HIVE
ALL PHOTOGRAPHS ARE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OF HIVE, UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE.