Return to site

Interview with Martha and Catarina - founders of @alecrim.berlin

· Handmade,Design,wood

Life journey can take so many surprising turns. Our todays #heroine_of_the_week is a creative duo Martha and Catarina from @alecrim.berlin. Their life paths have not been straightforward, which makes it so much more exciting and worth living.
Martha is Brazilian and a mom of a 5-year-old. An engineer, with a career in investment banking, four years ago, she moved to Germany in search for a better life for her family. Around three years ago Martha started painting and her works were exhibited in Berlin.
Two month ago Martha met Catarina, who is Portuguese and a Sound and Image studies graduate, with extensive work experience in media and event industry. Just two month of knowing each other was enough for these two inspirational ladies to start a new creative challenge: the brand Alecrim was born.
Read Catarina’s and Martha’s interview in the next posts.

broken image

@ichselbstaendig: Martha, Catarina can you tell us more about Alecrim (@alecrim.berlin)? It is a very young project, how was it born? Is this your first entrepreneurial project?
Martha & Catarina: Alecrim is our first entrepreneurial project and it was born because of our passion for design and handmade objects. Catarina and I met each other 2 months ago, because of my 5 year old daughter Katarina and we immediately connected and started sharing ideas and concepts.


@ichselbstaendig: Alecrim means Rosemary in Portuguese, why did you choose this name?
Martha & Catarina: We were looking for a name that were popular in Portugal and Brazil as well…. Out of a few names Alecrim came up and we agreed immediately. Besides being a delicious spice, commonly used in both countries, Alecrim sounds really good in Portuguese. So for us, is like having a little of home in our products.


@ichselbstaendig: You work with different materials: wood, leather, concrete - do you have a favorite and why?
Martha & Catarina: Very hard to chose…. We like all materials the same way and we try to fit our design to the best material. Each of them responds in a different way and give us different liberties to work with.

broken image

@ichselbstaendig: What is the most rewarding part of your job? Which one is the most challenging?
Martha & Catarina: The satisfaction of having ours designs turn into reality, no doubt is the most rewarding part, along with having positive reviews of our clients. Since this entrepreneurial adventure is new for both of us, making our brand known can be a challenge.

 

@ichselbstaendig: What is the most important lesson you've learned since you started Alecrim?
Martha & Catarina: We truly believe in our work and learning to be patient to achieve our goals is the best lesson so far.


@ichselbstaendig: Apart from social media and Etsy where can your customer find Alecrim products?
Martha & Catarina: So far our distribution channels are only online. Facebook: alecrim.berlin Instagram: @alecrim.berlin Etsy: alecrimberlin


@ichselbstaendig: Martha, Catarina, which women inspire you?
Martha & Catarina: All women have a story to tell, but we are inspired by those who at same point decided to change their lives, to accomplish something different, something that would make them happy.

broken image