Meet the Mind Behind: Tara Chial

Hola!!!! I'm about to introduce a new segment on this blog/journal!

I have always enjoyed reading interviews with creatives, founder, entrepreneurs etc... so I decided to make "Meet the mind behind:......" to interview my peers and friends. I'm going to start with myself just to set the tone for these little interviews :) Hope you enjoy it!

Tell us your name and what you do:

Tara Chial! I design and make small batch handmade jewelry :)

What’s your founder story and how you got started?

I was working in a jewelry design house in NY for a couple years, then moved back to Panama. There were no jewelry design jobs in Panama, so I worked in marketing for sporting goods and later for pharmaceuticals… to my surprise I didn’t love it jeje. I then decided that I would start my own jewelry business. This was def not an easy task, still to this day! But here I am, very happy with my progress and growth! And I love it …most days jaja.

What’s your favorite thing about what you do? 

I love the process of creating new collections, having my own schedule, and meeting new people. Oh and the most rewarding thing is hearing back from people that enjoy and appreciate my work, that’s priceless.

Tell us a fun fact about your day to day or creative process.

My coffee / email time is sacred to me. I absolutely enjoy it. Another one would be keeping a sketch book with ideas, its not a daily thing but I like to revisit this every once in a a while. Ah! I also love researching and thinking about packaging. Spending money on packaging is my weakness.

What’s one memory of your journey that makes you proud?

Making it to trade shows in the US. Seeing my work at the Museum of Art and Design in NY. That made me really proud and happy. 

If you could spend a day with a creative/ designer / business founder… an interesting person!! Who would it be and why?

There are lots of people I follow on instagram that I admire their work and how they manage their days/ life. Rami Kim from @ramikimstudio is a very talented ceramist who I really enjoy seeing on my instagram feed. Her work is beautiful, her studio BTS is so calm to watch as well. 

What little nugget of knowledge would you give to an aspiring creative/entrepreneur?

1. Keep your finances organized. Knowing your business financial health is necessary to keep doing what you love. 
2. Establish a good routine for your days that really fit your lifestyle. I find that routine helps me be more productive. For example, I know that I work best at night. So I have accepted that my days don’t necessarily have to begin at 7am. Although I am a frustrated morning person. In my perfect dream life I would be one.
3. Have your year planned out. Roughly if you can. I sit down the first two weeks of the year and figure out my yearly budget, goals and a little calendar of things I have to do throughout the year in order to meet the prior two.
4. Take a break. Don’t burn yourself out. It’s not worth it. Listen to your mind and body. Cheesy I know, but it’s true. Take time to do the things you love outside of your work. This also fuels your creativity and want to keep going at it!

Let me know in the comments below whose interview you'd like to read next!

xx

Tara

photo taken by Javier Ortega