Hello everybody! Today will be a little different compared to our traditional blogs. We would like to share with you a get-to-know us together with a little of what goes on behind the scenes, our personal favorite products from Lolo and our role here. This is all in our effort to continue our relationship with you, we would love for you all to know who is who and who does what in our business! So sit back and relax reading a little about us!
Before we get to it, let's begin with how it all started. As many of you might know, Lolo Mercadito was established just little over a year ago in the middle of a pandemic! A long-time project put in action in the most unpredictable times turned into something that nobody expected and that we have loved deeply. While partnering up with talented artisans across Mexico who made new products for these modern times it created the pathway for Lolo. This project soon became more than expected and grew to have over 40k customers! Crazy, right? Well, as the business grew so did the variety of our inventory and now with over 100 different products sold, our only wish is to keep growing with you.
Now that you know a little bit of our background history we want to share with you what we discuss as a family in our off time. Each one of us answered 3 questions: What do you do at Lolo, What's your favorite product, and Why. After answering these questions we realized that not only do we love these products for their obvious beauty, but also because they take us back to our cultural roots. For some of us the product or technique brought us a memory from Mexico, for others, the astonishing beauty surprised us. In summary, they all reminded us of something special or we were fascinated by the way it was made. Continue reading to find out what are our familia’s favorites.
Heidi
What do you do at Lolo? My job at Lolo is the creation of all the creative content you see on social media! I work alongside Regina and with both of us working together we bring out the best of Lolo. I’m in charge of making the social media posts and scheduling them ahead, writing blogs, mailings, taking videos, marketing strategies, and (the best part yet) interacting with y’all through all the fun polls/questionnaires. I always say “the more color, the better” and that’s because I believe our culture is so beautiful and is filled with it that we must show it off! My goal is that those who’ve never been to Mexico can be able to discover it through every post we publish and learn something new out of it.
Favorite Product? Taxco Hat.
Why? I love to accessorize all my outfits and hats are one of my favorites! The bright colors and the detail on the hand painted designs are what makes these hats so unique and special. When I look at the Taxco hats it automatically makes me think of our Mexican culture. To me the colors and drawings on them resemble what our culture is all about. Rich, colorful and vibrant! Just like walking down the colorful streets of Guanajuato these hats pop out and are definitely a show stopper. Our culture is considered one of the most fascinating cultures in the world so why not embrace it while wearing my fashionable Taxco hat!?
Taxco Hand-Painted Hats
Regina
What do you do at Lolo? I work on all things related to writing, design, and cultural sensitivity. I work hand-in-hand with Heidi, who is the design and creative artist on all you see for social media. My job is to write so I mostly do and/or supervise all content including product descriptions, page profiles, marketing strategies, blogs, mailings, social media posts and interactions, etc. I am also in charge (and it is my favorite part) of developing a long-term project for Lolo of giving back to the communities of artisans we work with, so I am in constant communication with artisans to 1) learn from the cultural value of their artworks to correctly transmit it; 2) learn from their needs; and 3) strategize a way to help them grow as Lolo grows. Although a slow progress, I hope to soon be able to tell more about this!
Favorite Product? My “favorite” product would be coffee. (Favorite as in my go-to. If I can choose a favorite one that would make the perfect gift for me I would choose the parota tortilleros because who doesn’t love tortillas and beautiful art?).
Why? I love coffee, especially Punta Del Cielo. Growing up in Mexico this brand was the Mexican version of a Starbucks, only with higher quality coffee. Then I moved here to the US and it was impossible to find. Being able to have this accessible and in so many different regions, and so tastes, for me is heaven! This is the coffee I use at home and drink every morning and sometimes afternoon!
Oaxaca Blend Ground Coffee Can
Claudia
What do you do at Lolo? I check in all the new inventory, making sure it is complete, intact, in good condition and of quality. I then make sure that it leaves the warehouse the same way it arrived by packaging order and making sure it leaves our warehouse on time.
Favorite Product? Telar Woven Multipurpose Pouch
Why? I have a special love for Oaxaca and its people an the way it is made impacted me, especially how they used telar to create modern, colorful products. This multipurpose pouch is perfect when traveling or you can even use it to store your makeup. I love the combination of colors it has. It adds a unique and fashionable touch to it! The “telar” technique they use to make them is so fascinating and is what makes this product even more special. What I like the most is that it's not an ordinary bag that you can find anywhere and it was made by talented Oaxaca Artisans. Oh, also their program for neutering stray dogs, I love that we get to support this!
Natyeli
What do you do at Lolo? I take photos of the products so that they look as beautiful as they are, or close as a photo can get, on the web and customers can appreciate their details before buying them.
Favorite Product? All Huipiles
Why? I like that although it may seem that the embroidery is similar you can appreciate the difference between the patterns; I feel that the artisans have fun when making each one of them. I also appreciate the fact that they are made of fresh cotton, it is the most comfortable for this Texas heat. I love to own clothing that can be styled in different ways and the Huipil is definitely one of them.
Lineas Long Huipil de Telar Dress
Manuel
What do you do at Lolo? Oof... I am directly in charge of giving attention to our clients with anything I can help with. Also, I am in charge of the entire product purchasing process, from placing the order, shipping the merchandise, importing process, reception in our warehouse, and until the product is available on our website. Moreover, I am in charge of maintaining relationships with artisans and looking for new artisans to work with and products to handle. I am also in charge of the financial and accounting administration of the business. In addition to the things that I do directly, it is my responsibility to ensure that all business operations are carried out and that everything goes in the best possible way, I am the point of contact between all the different members of our team and therefore I have direct or indirect participation in everything that is done in Lolo. Hope I am not forgetting anything, but in short, hago de todo.
Favorite Product? Sophia Blouses
Why? The work that goes into making just one blouse is spectacular and breathtaking. They have different styles and techniques of work, especially the "Make me if you can" that not just any artisan can do it, they take years of experience to achieve it. I have special love for this because of the San Antonino cooperative, that has a very special meaning for me since they were the first group of artisans with whom we started working a year ago and the excellence and quality of their work was reflected in the fact that their face masks became our product. #1. For me it's a pleasure to be able to work with them and to be able to offer the different products that they manufacture to our clients.
Luis
What do you do at Lolo? I’m in charge of the logistics of the shipping and packaging area. At the moment you place your order, I take care of receiving it, organizing it to see what packaging the merchandise will arrive in, then proceed to stocking it and wrapping it up, after that it goes to the shipment where it is sent through USPS or UPS which are the ones we trust the most.
Favorite Product? Loteria Shot Glasses
Why? I like that you can have a good drink in a glass that goes with your personality such as “la dama” or “el borracho”, they are pieces that give life to the meetings because they are different and apart from how they look good they make you laugh too! Brings back good memories of when we would play Lotería with the family.
Lotería Hand-Painted Clay Shot Glass
Although we have many more different favorite products, this are the ones that are dearest to our heart an, of course, the ones you can see us buying. However, we are constantly in a quest to find more one-of-a-kind products from our Mexico Lindo y Querido and this will definitely make a change in what our favorite products.
Now that you know our favorite products, what are yours? Is there something you would like to know about us? Let us know in the comment section down below, we love reading about you two, let's make it a two way street!
