Noelia Gutiérrez is Interior Designer, Décor Coach, blogger and owner of Ünik Warehouse Vintage. She born in Madrid, Spain and that is where she developed her career in Decoration, restoration and vintage furniture design. Ünik Warehouse Vintage is an importer and designer of Industrial and vintage furniture made in India and Spain, Mexico and now in San Antonio, Texas. These moments she are developing a new project Noelia Ünik Designs. Project that focuses on training and helping working women and their families to create a happy and well-being based on emotional decoration. Read our interview with the lovely Noelia below…
What motivated and inspired you to start your own business?
I have always been an enterprising woman but I knew that I had to train and work for others having experience in my field before setting myself up. After graduating in Decoration, Interior Design and Restoration, I started working for a great Spanish decoration brand in Madrid. For me that phase of my life was vital, I worked for them 12 years in which develop various jobs in the field of interior design, such as window dressing, store styling, brand design, furniture design and decorative projects. I had to take an important step in my life when my son turned 7, needed more time to dedicate to my family, sought the quality of life and above all I wanted to realize my dreams, I had many ideas in my head and I wanted to realize them … But the crisis of my country brought forward the events. My husband and I wanted to start and decided that Spain was not the right place at the time so we packed our bags and in 2012 we migrated to Mexico with our Ünik Vintage Furniture project.
The two years that we were in the City of Mexico were very intense years of hard work, illusions, projects. We participate in fairs, exhibitions, work with Mexican craftsmen forming them in the manufacture of industrial furniture and we have two stores. But life again made it complicated.. the socio economic situation of the country made worse and we could not meet our expectations of life. The city of Mexico is a very difficult place to live and raise your family … so we came back to think about giving another change to our life .. My family has always been very restless and if our project of life and profession is not could develop in Mexico we would look for the place where possible. In 2015 we moved to San Antonio Texas with our project. In addition to continuing with our signature of vintage furniture, we specialize in the decorative projects, home staging and rehabilitation of old houses.
Tell us about your business.
At the moment I’ve settled the business with my husband, it’s time to start on my own. I am a very restless woman, creative, positive, and my head always is plotting something .. I can not stop creating at any time. I’ve been working on my own project Noelia Ünik Designs since some months, but tackled from a more emotional point. So many changes in my life and several changes led me to think of homesickness feelings of my house and my country. In all the houses I have inhabited, which are 6, I had the need to create a perfect home, a happy home … I needed to do that regardless of when I would be living in each place outside my shelter, my dream home, my anti-stress space. I am incapable of living in a place of passage, a place where I would not feel it at ease and in peace. A place full of boxes of unpacked furniture, with furniture that I do not like, with personal objects loved because I did not know how long it was going to be in that place ..
And I decided to live the present no matter the time and live as I like. And my project has been developing through these reflections. Think of families who live in homes that are sad, insane, without taste, without good vibrations … our house is our temple of rest. It is our private refuge, that perfect and unique place that makes our lives better. It should be our private antiestres space, the place where it is essential to feel at ease and protected. It is very important that we take care of our house, it will make us feel better day by day. Did you know that the decoration and the objects can make you feel happy?. A beautiful house generates a sense of well-being and that makes our brain act in a positive way. Why not train and advise women and their relatives so that they themselves can create pleasant spaces for coexistence.
Are you currently running any promos/contests/giveaways that you would like our readers to know about?
I’m not sorry. I’m working on this project. I have much to progress, but in the coming months I will develop the first e-book and trainings for working mothers, order, organization and welfare, you can see the preview in my Fan Page @noeliaunikdesigns
Where is your business based?
I am currently living in San Antonio, but It’s an online global platform, you will have access to all the public that needs it. The web is in progress in two languages, Spanish and English. Will be fully available in the coming months.
What were the first few steps you took to get your business up and running?
The first steps were training. Although I already had training in interior design and experience of more than 16 years in three countries but the new direction that I have taken my profession in the emotional decoration I needed more knowledge in the matter.
What has been the most effective way of raising awareness of your business and getting new customers?
Social Networking is an important part of business today. It makes us reach more people and more. I am forming on these platforms too and above all, a customer calls other customers when he has solved his problem and is satisfied with the result.
What have been your biggest challenges so far?
Raise awareness to my potential clients of the benefits of living orderly, balanced and healthy lives within the home. Get to convey my message.
How did you overcome these challenges?
I still work on them today. A lot of work, responsibility and honesty with your customers.
How do you keep motivated through difficult times?
My family and friends are always supportive at the moment, but above all to believe in oneself, to know and to feel that you will get it, to give your family the kind of life that you have dreamed so many times.
How do you distinguish yourself from your competitors?
I think it’s a very interesting bet today. It is something new, to combine decoration and emotional well-being. It is a concept related to the millennial science of feng shui, but from a more practical point of view, more related to practice our common sense. And also try to connect with your customers through training and trainings to carry out all the knowledge for themselves in their own home.
What is the best advice you have received recently?
Well, I do not know .. I have to think .. maybe the advice to go ahead .. I have much to give and much to contribute to life … do not despair, dreams are achieved.
What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs?
The same, work hard, train, learn and move forward believing in you.
What is your favorite business tool or resource?
I use a lot of design editing tools for moodbards, infographics and inspirational projects like Olioboard and Canva, they are fantastic.
What social media outlets do you use? List them below.
Twitter @UNIKdecoration
Facebook @noeliaunikdesigns
Website www.noeliaunikdesigns.com
Blog www.noeliaunikdesigns.wordpress.com
Email unikwarehouse@gmail.com
Hashtags #noeliaunikdesigns #noeliadecorcoach #unikwarehousevintage
What is a good article or book you have read recently?
Home is Where the Heart is? Ilse Crawford about the emotional decoration
What are you currently learning about for your business or looking for help with?
Learning About Copywriting.
What are your goals for the next few months and how are you striving to achieve them?
Finish the web, launch it and finish my first E-Book on emotional decoration. Working hard every day.