Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura and Amanda Ernst.
Laura and Amanda, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
We started Sunshine Tienda after years of traveling and shopping markets. We both have a background in the fashion and retail world and decided to do our own spin on things and try our hand at an online business. We always wanted create something special together and even though, we’re identical twins and a lot alike we have different skill sets and are able to divide and conquer and create something we’re very proud of.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It’s generally been a pretty smooth road luckily! I’d say the only struggle has been the distance and being able to work when we’re together. Amanda lives in Austin and I live in Dallas so, when we get together we want to hang out and drink margaritas. So, sometimes work gets pushed to the side… and also, I had a baby this year so it’s made traveling a lot more difficult but we’re figuring it out!
Please tell us about Sunshine Tienda.
We travel the world and shop their markets. We look for unique, beautiful items that we know our customers will love. We work with artisans that we meet while on our trips and continue to develop products with them once we’re back home. It’s so much fun working directly with the artisans because we know that the money goes to them and their communities. We also LOVE vacation so everything we carry has a vacation vibe to it. Lots and lots of color! I think our affordable prices set us apart in addition to the colorful assortment that we carry.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Hmmm….great question. It’s been 3 years now since we launched our business and I’d say most of the bigger mistakes we made were in the first year. We had no clue what we were doing in the shipping department! We overpaid big time for shipping and didn’t know any better… we were buying things of all sizes for the shop not realizing how many different size boxes we’d need and what that would mean for our shipping costs… we lost money on so many things because of that… woops! Although, we are still learning ALL THE TIME, I think we have a better handle on the logistics of things now. Thank goodness!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sunshinetienda.com
- Email: howdy@sunshinetienda.com
- Instagram: Sunshinetiendashop
- Facebook: Sunshinetiendashop
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