Today we’d like to introduce you to Celia Garcia and Olga Martinez.
Celia and Olga, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Olga: I’ve always loved to sew. I loved making my own clothes and after I had kids I loved making clothes for my kids. My daughters would always get compliments on their clothes, their costumes and I started to get requests from people asking me to make them unique pieces as well! Besides working my full-time job as an executive assistant, I would sew on my off time slowly building a clientele over the next 30+ years!
Celia: I’ve always loved dogs! I STILL love dogs!! Every dog is the BEST dog in the world!! My husband and I moved to Virginia from California with our tiny little Chihuahua, Luke Skywalker (yes, we are a Star Wars Family). In 2013 we adopted a shy little chihuahua mix and named him Obiwan Kenobi! He was six years old and was given up by a soldier who was soon being deployed to Iraq and could no longer take care of him. We welcomed Obi into our home and we never looked back!
Olga: I don’t have any grandchildren. I only have grand-doggies and I spoil them to death! At first, I would make them little t-shirts or bandanas. When Celia was living in Virginia I would send her little doggy coats for Luke and Obi for the wintertime.
Celia: In 2016 my husband and I moved back to California. Obi was about nine going on ten and he started to show signs of his age. He would have accidents on his doggy bed, peeing in his sleep, and I was constantly washing his dog bed in the washing machine. I was always replacing his bed because the beds I would buy him would never turn out right after they came out of the dryer.
Olga: I was talking to Celia one day and she was telling me about Obi having accidents on his dog bed. I had retired from executive assistant life and was sewing full time as a professional seamstress/tailor. I had some material laying around and told Celia I would make Obi a bed. I had an idea to make a bed for Obi that could be washable. But how can a bed be washable and STILL come out right out of the dryer? I created a bed that had a water-repellent inner pillow with a removable outer cover. When Obi had an accident, all Celia would need to do is take off the outer cover, wash THAT and replace it! It worked perfect! The inner pillow never needed to be washed because the shell is water-repellent! The only thing Celia needed to wash was the cover!
Celia: HOLY COW was this an awesome idea!! This bed was so awesome that I asked my mom to make one for Luke as well! After several months these beds were still in GREAT condition! I started brainstorming with my mom about selling these beds! But how to get started?
Olga: We started small. Making beds with basic colors. We would showcase our beds at local craft fairs. Coming up against your typical objections: “My dog is too big”, “My dog will chew that up”. So we expanded and started carrying multiple size beds to accommodate all size dogs…. which of course meant more work for me!
Celia: I don’t sew. My mom tried to teach me when I was younger but I had no interest in learning. As we got more popular we teamed up, both working full-time jobs and developing our business on the side. We decided to name our unique, one-of-a-kind bed after my lovely 4-legged Jedi…. Obi and low and behold…. our company was named “The ObiBed”!! Our names slowly started to get around as our social media presence was getting stronger. My mom would make everything herself and I would handle all of the financial and administrative aspects of our growing business.
Olga: I started doing little craft fairs at my local mall. Celia living in LA, and I in Modesto (Northern California) we worked long distance to prepare for our largest show yet: LA COMIC-CON!! We prepared for 1 year… and we couldn’t have been happier with the experience. Seeing all of the fans… loving all of the things I had made really made me happy! Our popularity got the attention of my local Vintage Faire Mall. Coupled with our popularity and the quality of my work, we were offered our very own kiosk!
Celia: I was cutting fabric like a madwoman. Our demand became so high that I had to step in and help my mom by cutting fabric and shipping it to her from LA. I managed all of our financial aspects, networking and posting to all of our social media and shipping cut t-shirts, coats, bandanas and ObiBed Covers to my mom for her to sew. LA COMIC CON was amazing! I’m so proud to tell people that my mom makes everything by hand! It’s what makes us unique! It’s the story we tell when people ask us about our dog beds! When I tell people that my dog is the face of our brand…. it’s what connects us to our customers. The kiosk was just a bonus!! We opened our kiosk on October 16th, 2019 (just a week and half ago as I’m typing this!!) And I’m already looking into a second location here in LA!! AND we were invited to sell on Amazon’s new division called “Amazon Handmade”!!!
Olga: My daughter and I are the perfect teams! She always tells people “She’s the money and I’m the muscle”! I love what I do! I love seeing people’s pictures of their doggies! AND their cats!! The first question we always ask as people approach us is….”What kind of doggy do you have?” It’s the question that I myself LOVE to answer! I LOVE talking about my doggy! And people love talking to people who love dogs also! Which is why what we do is not work! It’s a joy!
Celia: I’ve worked in retail for over 20 years. And in those 20 years, I’ve learned a few things about selling. It’s all about connecting with your customers! However, you can create a bond with a random stranger gets you one step closer to closing the sale. With us though…. it’s different. It’s personal. It’s asking people about their families. Listening to their stories about how they adopted an abused pit bull, or how they found a tiny chihuahua on the side of the road. Hearing each unique story strikes a chord with my mom and me. We love our dogs as much as anybody loves theirs… and it shows in our passion for what we do!
Olga and Celia: We know we can’t reach every dog in the world… but that’s the dream! We both have worked so hard for other people, other corporations and it has NEVER fulfilled us in the slightest as much as The ObiBed has! We smile every day… with every interaction we have brings us so much joy! The fact that our handmade merchandise makes people smile is just icing on the 4-legged cake!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
One of the definite struggles happens when trying to market ourselves to the public. We do it all ourselves: marketing, operations, finance, production, etc. It’s been a slow uphill battle but we take one step at a time.
The Obibed – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We are a mother-daughter team making products for the furry babies that we love so much!
We are the creators of a patent-pending dog bed that has a water-repellent inner pillow with a washable outer cover. The inner pillow never needs washing as the only thing that needs to be cleaned is the outer cover.
Everything we make is made with love and by hand right here in California!
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Our proudest moment is opening our very first location!!! We’ve opened our first kiosk inside the Vintage Faire Mall in Modesto, Ca. The success has been so great that we are already looking into opening our 2nd location in Los Angeles!!
Pricing:
- Our new Obibed prices range from $59.99 to $99.99
- Our t-shirts now range from $12.99 to $22.99
- Our coats now range from $19.99 to $29.99
Contact Info:
- Website: www.theobibed.com
- Phone: 310.562.1042
- Email: theobibed@gmail.com
- Instagram: @theobibed
- Facebook: @theobibed
- Other: amazon.com/handmade/the-obibed
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