Episode 182: Maria Lopez

On this episode of The Brad and Taylor Show, we sat down with Maria Lopez of Kindest!

To watch the full episode, check it out on YouTube below. In the meantime, here’s a transcript of the conversation…

Here’s what you missed from Maria Lopez…

00:00:00:17 –> 00:00:14:09

Taylor: Welcome to The Brad and Taylor Show. Today, we have Maria Lopez. 

Brad: You’re listening to The Brad and Taylor Show, a podcast that inspires entrepreneurs to pursue their passions. We’re sitting down with some of the best to learn how they got started and some lessons they learned along the way.

Taylor: Hey Maria.

00:00:16:01 –> 00:00:18:26

Maria: Hi Taylor, how are you? Thank you so much for having me.

00:00:19:01 –> 00:00:23:26

Taylor: Yeah, of course. 

Brad: Yeah, no problem at all. Well, let’s get this show started. Tell us a little bit about you. What do you do?

00:00:24:27 –> 00:01:27:01

Maria: Yeah, thank you. I am actually the business owner and founder of Kindest and we are a gifting company for modern consumers is how I would like to put it. This business idea started actually when COVID kind of hit our world. We actually started working from home because of the pandemic and I’ve always wanted to start my own business. I never really knew what exactly I wanted to do, but I knew that I wanted my creative side to come out as I love creating, designing, painting, anything to do with creativity. And last year, I missed a lot of milestones. I missed my son’s first birthday. I mean, we had it together, but I missed doing the first mom thing and celebrating his birthday. I missed a lot of friends’ weddings, a lot of unfortunate funerals and that’s usually not the happy side of celebrations, but I was not able to be there.

00:01:27:01 –> 00:02:20:20

I have friends all over the country, especially back home and family in Chicago. And I really struggled to find meaningful and personal gifts for them that would really touch them, especially in a time where we weren’t seeing each other face to face. And I decided to create gift boxes. And some of those items in the gift boxes I created by hand or handcrafted or I painted, or I designed, and I really wanted to source products that are not easily found at Target or on Amazon. Don’t get me wrong, I completely support those companies. I’ve shopped there myself, but I really wanted to do something that would touch somebody, whether it was my friend or a family member. And I went out there and sourced products from local makers, from farmer’s markets, crafters all over the country.

00:02:20:20 –> 00:03:29:27

I really wanted it to stay in-house in the USA and really dug deep into sourcing those products and putting them together in gift boxes and really getting to know who I was gifting it to, what do they like, what are they interested in? And something that would be very meaningful. The fact that mail is still working and that I’m able to ship it, even if I can’t see someone in person. I think that’s what really made me realize that the need for gifting in a different way, more than what we’re accustomed to, was a great need. I think as COVID is still with us, I think that it’s going to stay around even beyond. Also, the fact that if we can create a special gift for someone and be able to send that directly to them and have them open their door and get that awesome gift or even people in the hospital getting gifts or nursing homes and being able to get something very touching is what I’m striving for.

00:03:30:24 –> 00:03:36:26

Taylor: I know you mentioned that you were a nurse prior to this. Are you still a nurse? Are you doing this on the side or did you just jump right in?

00:03:37:05 –> 00:04:16:13

Maria: Yeah. So I’m still a nurse. I work for an insurance company and so I’m kind of like a house cat nurse. I’m no longer working with patients. I was a nurse for 11 years and I did a little bit of everything on the patient bedside and different practices with patients. And I’ve kind of done a little bit of everything in my life. I had a lot of jobs when I was a teenager. Then once I found nursing, I stuck with that since I was 18 up until now that I’m starting to transition into wanting to build something of my own and transitioned to that. 

00:04:16:28 –> 00:04:27:16

Taylor: Yeah, that’s really cool. I love that you’re able to create all these different types of guests. I was on your website and I kinda want to talk about that a little bit. It’s laid out beautifully, by the way. Did you design that yourself?

00:04:28:01 –> 00:05:42:20

Maria: I did actually. That was all last year. When I first decided to be one of the crazy people that started a business during the pandemic, after my son went to bed, he was seven, eight months at the time when COVID hit. And then the daycare also closed down. So I was working and taking care of a baby. At night I was still working because I was working on my own thing, you know, at night after full-time work and after baby work. I was working on my website and designing it and trying to see, you know, finding a logo, creating a logo, putting it together, what kind of color schemes that I want, what did I want my brand to look like, represent. And I created all that from scratch and put it together. I really probably could have used the help of a website designer to not spend so many hours, but when you’re first starting out, your budget’s a little tight, so you have to get a little creative and I love doing that. So it really didn’t feel like work. I would lose track of time. And before I knew it, it was two in the morning and I’m like, oh, I have to get up. He’s crying. So, yeah.

00:05:42:27 –> 00:06:12:29

Taylor: Nice. Yeah, no, you did a really good job, I was looking at it. I was like, wow, this looks, it’s simple, but all the colors you chose go together really well. And it just looks modern and clean. And I just really, liked how you did the site. That looks really good. Thank you. Thank you. For the gifts, I have a question for everybody who’s listening, what kind of gifts are on your site? I know there’s a huge range of like you had swaddles on there to wedding gifts. Can you talk a little bit about that range in what all you focus on?

00:06:13:01 –> 00:07:05:00

Maria: Yeah. Yeah. So all those products that are on there, we’re kind of like, you would say that the beginning of my business and what I was adding to the site to buy as purchasable gifts. That was in the transition of last year and this year. And I think this year and beyond, I’m really trying to restrategize as far as what gifts and products I’m adding to the side by still also incorporating makers and local crafters and anybody that makes products at home. I want to help other small businesses like myself. I’m still sourcing products to add to the website, to be able to give those inputs, put them in a box, and for people to find those and give those special. I would say one of a kind, but also very rare to find.

00:07:05:07 –> 00:07:52:00

So a lot of the gifts that I have put together and there’s some examples on our Instagram are these bridesmaid boxes that I’m creating like bridesmaid proposals or groomsmen proposals and all that is changing as I’m diving a little bit more into the wedding industry. I can touch on that in just a moment, but really sitting down with the client who wants these custom gift boxes and sourcing the products for them. It’s kind of like, you know, Instacart, you sometimes don’t have a chance to go out and get your groceries. So you have someone else do them for you. So it’s kind of a little bit the same. It’s Hey, I want a gift and I want a gift box and I want it custom. I want to incorporate all the colors or things that my loved ones love, but I don’t know how to put that together.

00:07:52:10 –> 00:08:58:16

I don’t have the creativity to do that the way that they would love or Hey, I am looking for this product, but I really don’t know where to find that. And that’s where my passion is. Hey, tell me about your loved one or your bridesmaids. What do they love, let’s incorporate your wedding colors or anything that you wanted to be personal to you or to your event, or to your loved one, and being able to source that for them and create it, design it, all of those components is what I’m really passionate about. So sometimes it can take a consultation, like if it’s a bigger event or if someone who’s really wanting to create something super unique for a client or for a loved one, and if it’s not on our site, then we can find it for them and create that for them. So, yeah, we’re still re-strategizing that, but I think that’s where I want my vision to go. And being able to do that for people who are not able to or have the time to do it or need a little bit of help with that.

00:08:59:08 –> 00:09:05:05

Taylor: Nice. Yeah, it’s kind of like Christmas shopping, but you do the shopping for them and then they just pay for it, and then that’s it.

00:09:05:15 –> 00:09:54:24

Maria: I’m putting it to good and that’s it. And if they’re local, we deliver it. If they are out of state, then we ship them directly to the recipient. And a great segue to that is red telling you that I recently partnered with to be able to even take their gift up a notch. So I don’t know if you guys have heard a little bit about Red Telly and if not, I would love to explain that, so Red Telly is a company based in the bay area in San Francisco, and they have created such an amazing product that I think is, I’m just so blessed to be able to be working alongside them because I think it’s really going to change, not just gifting, but businesses and interactions as a whole. So 

Red Telly and I have actually a few examples here.

00:09:55:07 –> 00:11:18:21

So they have created this amazing little red TV. So it’s called Telly. Yeah. And they have different car designs. They have tags that you can add to products and stickers. So we all know what a QR code is. We’ve probably been using it a lot more often in the past, you know, two years. And so with this QR code, people can actually just literally scan, upload video, or take a video even at that moment. And then when that person receives the sticker or the tag or the card, they’re able to see that video and they can save it, or every time they scan the QR code, they can see that video. So when we think about gifting is, Hey, I want to give this gift, but let me record a special video message for them. And they can see that. Now with a video, just being so popular now, if you know, the TikTok and the reels, it’s bringing your message or your gift to life more than just like a voice memo or a text message. For businesses, I mean, there are so many different campaigns and thank you’s and introductions and referrals that you can record and give these to your clients, your customers. So I think it’s a complete game-changer going forward.

00:11:19:08 –> 00:11:41:18

Taylor: Yeah. I love that. I’ve never heard of that. And that’s a genius idea. They did a really good job creating that. Especially, with the pandemic and stuff, I know you mentioned gifts or people who are maybe at the hospital or nursing home where you can’t go and see them because of the limitations right now that are still going on, you could record something with that gift and then send it. I love that.

00:11:42:06 –> 00:12:13:03

Maria: Yeah. I know. I have a lot of friends who have had babies and I’m not able to go see them and it hurts or you know, dads are in the parking lot waiting for their baby to be born. If we can create a little video for dad and maybe say, Hey, let’s put a video and have the nurse give it to mom and say, Hey, I’m waiting. And they can do that with a regular phone, but like, if they, we can put that together as a gift or something, it’s a lot more meaningful. 

00:12:14:16 –> 00:12:18:21

Brad: I like it. So what do you have planned for your business for the next couple of years?

00:12:20:05 –> 00:13:24:17

Maria: Wow. I have a lot of visuals I want to do, but not enough time. I think where I would love my business to go is, it really changed the way that people give gifts and that for, for our regular consumers and even businesses. But, I really wanted to start working with other businesses to change the way they do marketing. I know that right now, a lot of agencies, including real estate, which I’m sure you’re familiar with, a lot of realtors do their own marketing. And they still have to spend those assets on marketing products. But I really want to combine my business and Red Telly into bringing something unique and original to their agencies and their businesses. I want to focus on that. I know that we’re already allocating all these funds to marketing and that’s great, we get the pens on the shirts and all this, but how about we change that?

00:13:24:17 –> 00:14:36:04

And when you give something meaningful, like a custom gift box for a client or for a realtor agency and create something custom for them, and every time they have success with closings and brokerage companies, they’re able to give that and say, Hey, this is our agency. This is what we do, meet our team, you know, alongside Red Telly and give these videos across the board. Also, consulting with realtors. I’m working with an insurance agent right now and being able to create something specific to them, maybe into their agency and being able to say, Hey, this is what sets us apart from another realtor or from another agency. I know here in the DFW area that the real estate market is quite competitive. My passion is how can you differentiate yourself from others in such a competitive state and be able to be a part of that and see their success through my work.

00:14:36:26 –> 00:14:53:16

Taylor: Yeah. That’s awesome. And no, closing gifts are still a thing. People still do those. So even something like that, where you can meet with that client, or even just like touching up with a client, sending them like a little reminder that you’re thinking about them, wondering how their holiday’s going, anything along those lines that would be perfect.

00:14:53:20 –> 00:15:57:10

Maria: Anything along those lines. Yeah, exactly. And then you gain referrals, you gain that trustworthiness with that realtor and say, Hey, they still think about me even though they closed, you know, a year ago or whenever. Another need that I see with even insurance agents, like the one I’m currently working with, and realtors are a lot of them working with clients that are out of state. I know we have a lot of people moving from California and realtors are meeting those customers and those clients and doing zoom meetings. And I’ve read up on the industry and people are buying houses without even being in the state. Hey, can you give me a tour? Yep. Here’s my offer. But being able to send them something and a little video message and gift and saying, Hey, we’re ready for you when you get home. We’re out of state. We can’t wait to welcome you to Texas or to whichever state they’re moving to, and gain that trustworthiness again with that client even if it’s out of state.

00:15:57:28 –> 00:16:06:03

Taylor: Absolutely. I definitely see where I’m going with this. And I think it’s a great idea. I love it. I love everything, all of it together. Even the Red Telly, everything is perfect.

00:16:06:28 –> 00:16:45:09

Maria: Yeah. And with Red Telly, the awesome part of that too, If you’re a business and you want to even create your own custom Red Telly and your own custom card with your logo, we can do that. So that’s even taking it up a notch, like, Hey, it doesn’t have to be the flowery card. It could have your logo, your agency’s name, anything. I absolutely, I am just, I am so beyond excited to be a part of this and for people to really start to get to know Red Telly and get to know the services and so many more things that are coming, especially for the holidays. I am just so excited about that.

00:16:45:28 –> 00:16:53:29

Taylor: Speaking of the holidays coming up. What kind of gifts do you see most often that you’re packaging for people? What is something that people tend to go to most?

00:16:55:10 –> 00:18:05:22

Maria: I would say cozy and familiar. People are really missing the gatherings and the something that makes them feel warm inside that reminds them of their family members. So I’m not really seeing a lot of requests for techie stuff or things that we normally shop for on Black Friday. It’s more of really what I have seen an increase on is more personalization, more custom stuff. A lot of people are looking for that in different areas, whether it’s on Etsy or they go to the farmer’s market and I’m across the board, I’m really seeing that even with other competitors as well, they want to give something that is meaningful to their loved one and even create. I’m currently creating these little gifts for kids that are like art crafts to put together for the holidays, but with Red Telly and a video message from grandma to send to the kiddos.

00:18:06:00 –> 00:18:45:02

And instead of like I said, anything tech and stuff, it’s like, Hey, grandma’s thinking of you. I can’t come to see you, but here’s a little gift. And they’re really wanting that connection. I think a lot of that stems from what we have been through as a collective with the pandemic. I think it’s a great thing. That’s what I’m seeing the most right now, the most requests for orders that I’m getting is, Hey, this is what I want. And it’s, it’s not something that I would normally expect, you know on a yearly basis for gifting. 

00:18:45:14 –> 00:18:56:24

Taylor: Awesome. Before we go today, how can people get a hold of you? How can they shop in your shop? I know you have your links, we’re going to post as well, but you go ahead and tell everybody how they can get ahold of you.

00:18:57:10 –> 00:19:52:01

Maria: Yes, absolutely. So they have my Instagram, which is @shopkindest. Our email is, [email protected]. And then for any custom orders, when they go on our website, they can go towards the bottom of the homepage. There’s a custom order form that they can fill out. And again, anything from real estate or insurance, or just even regular consumers, if they want a custom order, like, Hey, this is the kind of gift I want. These are the ideas. I don’t know where to get them. I need help. I need to put this together. They can fill out that form and tell us when they need it, the quantity, what they’re really looking for. And then I can source that for them and put that together. We walk through that step, every single step with them to make sure that we create that perfect product in that perfect gift.

00:19:52:18 –> 00:20:00:06

Brad: Nice. I like it. Well, perfect. Hey, thanks for coming on and sharing your story with us today.

00:20:00:08 –> 00:20:04:02

Maria: No, thank you all for having me. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

00:20:04:09 –> 00:20:27:27

Hello. Hello. Are you there? Are there, are there, Hey guys, we just wanted to thank you for listening on either a podcast or on the YouTube video here. If you guys wanted to subscribe, that would be awesome. That would mean a lot to us. If you guys could give us a five-star review as well, that would be amazing. And we’ll see you on the next one.

Check out Maria Lopez:

www.shopkindest.com 

Instagram: @shopkindest

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