Today we’d like to introduce you to Aluminé.
Hi Aluminé, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My story is one with many turns. The hospitality industry opened the doors for me to move to the US (San Francisco Bay Area, from Argentina) more than 10 years ago, it was just me and a suitcase, but with covid many hotels had issues being solvent, and regardless that mine wasn’t; it was at the expense of the managers and many other team members that were pulling all the weight even in the hardest situations. No company wanted to lose money. It was a hard decision, but leaving was the right choice, my partner at the time, was super supportive and we ended up moving together. It took me a lot of time to figure out who I was without being a hotel manager, it was my identity for a very long time. I started to find new words to define who I was and who I wanted to be, I did a lot of internal work while also forming myself in life coaching and starting to take clients that needed career guidance, with time I started to shift my focus to something that was scloser to my values, and dedicated to families of LGBTQ+ people. I also started volunteering. I found myself needing a creative outlet and a refocus on me; that is how I found my passion for furniture, but not any furniture- those that people were neglecting and leaving on the side of the road, destined for landfill, or the super ugly ducklings that nobody wanted. I was fighting trash and giving pieces a second chance. At the same time I was picking up new skills that came on so handy for our brand-new home in the outskirts of Dallas,
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
For those who are not adult migrants, it is very hard to conceive how hard it is to be alone- completely alone- and still find a way to make it through; we all need community. But I feel one of the hardest challenges of being a solo-preneur is that we become the admin, the hands-on labor, the social media manager, the sales rep, and the photographer. That is what made me stop coaching. Some days I had 1 client and 9 hours of sales calls or promoting; it was exhausting. The other thing I find hard for my particular side of the business is the scaling: how far can this go when it is just me? I want a store, a course, and an apprentice. But planning requires me to step out of the “making” to plan, and I also have a full-time job repairing furniture for a luxury brand.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I work as a furniture refinisher and redesigner, I proud myself in not only recuing pieces from the transh, but also on my ecofriendly practives at the moment of choosing products, materials and tools that more sustainable an less toxic for me and the environment. I reduce first, reuse as much as I can after, and sometimes, just fot the sake of the planet, I take the long road. I would choose a manual tool over chemical stripper; I would reuse the hardware the piece it already has, or make my own using scrap wood, instead of buying over fast shipping delivery. People don’t realize how contaminated everything we do daily is, like a delivery truck, for example. Everything i do. I try to share it, on social media and Youtube as well, I don’t like gatekeeping; training and development has always been my favorite part of being a Manager in Hotels.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
To do this, we have to be humble; we were not born knowing everything, and we can always find something in everyone, but it is also important to be curious. There is a lot of misinformation out there, and everyone has different methods. Being resilient and having patience go hand in hand; we see all these sped-up videos of people sanding in 10 seconds, and it is so discouraging; even worse are those that say they do something in 1 day. Some stains need 24 hours to recoat; some processes are slow but so worthwhile.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/just.keepsanding?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083218882185
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Just.KeepSanding
- Other: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/profile/642392055/?ref=share_attachment
