What happened to VeruDesigns in 2018?

Happy New Year my beautiful friend!!!

If you noticed the gradual decrease of social media posts and publishing of my newsletters, today I disclose why:

In a nutshell:

In April of 2018, we moved to another country (Bolivia) to pursue a long-time fantasy of starting a Specialty Coffee Roastery and Coffee Shop.

 

Sounds crazy??

It probably does.

 

 

Every three years or so, (believe me, it’s never on purpose), but somehow, Cliff and I, find ourselves changing things up in our lives. 2018 marked the end of a 3-year period, and sure enough, big changes took place.

Without going into too much detail, allow me to share the core forces and desires behind such a big change, and what about this little story might be relevant to you as well.

 

First: WHY did we move to another country and started ANOTHER business?

Let me address the first and most important point: Coffee.

Specialty coffee has been a HUGE passion of ours ever since my husband and I met. Over the last 6 years however, we began planning almost all our holidays around locations in the world that have the most amazing specialty coffee roasteries and coffee shops in the US, Europe and Latin America. Just for fun, we also began making meaningful investments in education, certifications and home coffee equipment (roasters, methods, grinders, espresso machines, excellent green beans, etc). The last 4 years or so, we’ve been roasting and making our own coffees at home every morning at a professional barista-level. We NEVER did this thinking we would one day open a roastery and coffee shop. We only did it just FOR FUN and because we genuinely love all of it.

 

Then: When/how did this serious “hobby” turn into a decision to open a coffee shop?

Besides the coffee, another desire began to grow:

Having more meaningful human connections in our daily lives.

After the “Pajama Factory” experience 3 years ago (click here for more on that), this desire became A LOT stronger.

My husband and I are software engineers and own a technology company. It’s an office job that keeps us 8 to 12 hours a day somewhat isolated with our computers and with little human interaction. VeruDesigns was born not only out of the desire to EXPRESS my creativity outside of technology, but also as an initial way to expand my human interactions with people who also share an appreciation for art. But we wanted more.

 

And then November 2016 happened. Suddenly the US political and social climate got a lot darker.

It’s NOT that we wanted to “escape” the US, but we felt that a short-term brake from the daily negative energy felt everywhere, would do us good.

 

And before we realized it, the perfect storm emerged:

1. Our technology company had reached stability,
2. We had a sudden desire to (temporarily) leave the US,
3. We realized that there was no better time and place to move where my parents live! (Cochabamba, Bolivia).

 

But then a BIG question emerged:

What could we “do” in this new place?

What could we do that, a) We LOVE  doing, and b) would allow us to connect with people?

And finally the clincher:

Bolivia happens to be one of the TOP producers of the absolute BEST specialty coffee beans in the world!!

So, this is how the seed idea for creating “Elevate Coffee Bolivia” happened.

 

There goes A LOT into preparing to leave your country and moving to another one. Especially when it’s only for a few years and you have serious businesses, clients and commitments in place. So I won’t down play all it took to get ready for this move. Let’s just say we did it methodically over the course of a full year (all of 2017).

 

The MAIN timeline and details go as follows. (If you rather skip the details, scroll down to the paragraph that start in “blue” font further below, that says “Scroll until here”).

• On April 1st 2018 we arrived in Cochabamba, Bolivia to start the first “Specialty Roastery and Coffee Shop” in the city (the third one in the country).
• Between April and September 2018, I experienced the most challenging, rewarding, demanding period of my life. Not knowing anybody, nor the culture, nor the process or means on how to get things done, we ended up doing EVERYTHING ourselves. From legal work, to designing and building furniture, purchasing, importing, you name it. I may write a book about it (“10 key steps to start a business in a foreign country and a completely new industry”). 
• On September 23 we opened the doors of our beautiful new roastery: Elevate Coffee Bolivia. Our only contacts? My parents, a sister and 1 friend.
• On November 27, I flew to Philadelphia to follow through with the only exhibition I had committed VeruDesigns to participate in. I completely sold out during the 3-day event, and received several incredibly exciting offers for 2019, including a solo exhibition in early 2019 (which I had to turn down with enormous sadness), and a special invitation to Italy for the Florence Biennale 2019. All of which made me feel very loved, and affirmed my intention to find a way to continue with VeruDesigns in 2019 and beyond!
• As of today December 31st, Elevate Coffee Bolivia has not only become profitable since our first month, but we’ve created a community of amazing supporting clients that come almost every day, a growing fan list, and an accelerated demand that we’re trying to keep up with. We end every single day incredibly exhausted, but feeling so fulfilled as well.

As you may have noticed, despite my/our careful and thoughtful plans during this transition, there is ONE aspect that has remained still unresolved: VeruDesigns.

 

THIS IS WHY I didn’t share this with you from the beginning.

I wasn’t sure what this move and new business meant for VeruDesigns.

Al I knew is that 2018 would require ALL OF ME, and that no matter what, everything else (including VeruDesigns), would have to take a back-step.

But I also knew that I LOVE my art, and that after 2017 (a year with the most rewards yet in terms of sales, profits, opportunities and so on), I was not ready to say good-bye to VeruDesigns.

 

All I needed was TIME.

And trust.

Trust that life, the Universe, God if you will, would help me clarify how to move forward.

 

Do I have complete clarity now?

No.

But I have what matters most: Intention and a clear decision that somehow, VeruDesigns will live on.

2019 will be still a slow year. I’ve communicated with all our partners (galleries, boutiques, vendors and clients) that I will have limited production time. However I can confirm that I have a solo-exhibition lined up for April 2020 too.

And that is it for now.

I hope you don’t give up on VeruDesigns. I plan to create the necessary time and utilize 2019, as a year of exploration for VeruDesigns. Explore new themes, methods and ideas, that many times I wasn’t able to pursue freely.

 

Scroll ’til here: So here we are. It’s the end of 2018 and here are the humble lessons this (very powerful year) has taught me, that maybe, just maybe might be relevant to you as well:

 

2018 taught me that our dreams and desires carry within them much more  than just and “END POINT” (success, wealth, relationships, travel, a career, etc)  that will somehow make us feel “complete” and happy forever.

A dream is actually only a sneak-peak into a journey of becoming.

 

Our dreams (what we think we want) are almost like a “guiding light” towards what WE REALLY WANT in life. Let me explain:

The imagined feeling of a “happy ever after” that a dream generates, is actually the hook, the bait that is meant to energize us into action.  They lead us to the breadcrumbs towards evolution, transformation, growth and continuous becoming of our next best-self.

What is the main difficulty with our dreams and the main reason we give up on them before even trying?

 

The HOWS.

Not knowing HOW to accomplish dreams that seem impossible.

This is what 2018 taught me: We DON’T need to know the HOW in order to get started.

The hows are revealed one step at a time as we allow ourselves to take action. And it’s actually in the STEPS…in the actions we take, where the true gifts of our dreams are revealed and internalized into ourselves.

In other words. it’s truly about the JOURNEY (what happens to us as we pursue our dream)… not the destination (the dream realized).

All you and I are asked to have is TRUST. Trust, guts and intention. The rest is life. A beautifully imperfect one if I may say so.

 

Elevate Coffee Bolivia was on of those crazy dreams that felt totally ilogical and out of place in our lives.

And yet the idea of owning and running a gorgeous roastery and coffee shop felt sooo dreamy!!!!
So that was the HOOK. The dream.
The JOURNEY however, turned out to be oh-so-much-more than that. Here are the initial gifts it has already given me:

• If I ever doubted my strength, my fortitude, my character, my resilience. This little journey made it clear that I can trust myself. What a GIFT! I know that whatever next dream I choose to pursue, I can trust myself.

• What else? It has also become the most UNEXPECTED means to express another HUGELY DESIRED aspect of myself: Love.

I’ve been looking for years now, ways to express my love to lots of people. It sounds silly, but when I express love I feel the most true and real I’ve ever felt. I feel it’s part of my reason for being.

I tried writing a love-letter in the form of a book a couple of years ago (to reach as many people as I could), but it didn’t feel right. This VeruDesigns newsletter has been another channel in trying to convey my heart (restricted of course by the fact that I had to keep it within the scope of my Art).

Imagine my surprise, when two and a half months into our new business, I realized that my PRIMARY job every day, is to LOVE people.

That’s right. No matter who comes in, I welcome everyone in our shop with my love.

It’s the most amazing feeling ever. And the impact is profound, not just on me, but in all our customers. And it makes every single day INCREDIBLE. And even though I don’t know exactly what, I feel that something else will emerge from this communion in the near future.

 

In other words:

If you have a dream, don’t wait for a perfect plan or path to unfold before you take the first step.

You are meant to be and do even more than what you’ve already accomplished. Trust your dream. If you have it, it’s because you’re meant to experience it.

Take the first step, no matter how useless and tiny it may seem. Trust me, the first step your logic can come up with, IS ENOUGH. The first step will reveal the second, and the third and so forth.

 

Let 2019 be a year where you give that first step towards realizing more how amazing you truly are. Will there be challenges, obstacles, tough days?? YOU BET!!! But trust that each of those instances, bring within themselves the gift of showing you just how much stronger and capable you are.

 

Below, a few pictures of our November exhibition in Philadelphia

HAPPY HOLIDAYS my beautiful friend. 

Stay well, stay happy and stay healthy. I’ll be in touch soon!