Meet Elena Stele | Retail Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Elena Stele and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Elena, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
Too often we forget to connect with people and nature around us, as well as with our inner self. We forget to look around for solutions to our problems and we forget to look at things we already have from a creative perspective. To just throw away and replace has become so easy that it does not even cross our minds where the items we discard go and how long will they lay in the giant pile of trash polluting our planet. Too often we do not connect with the products we buy so we do not think that someone’s hands and mind created it. At Ben & Giules we strive to help people bring back that natural connection, to look within ourselves, and to allow yourself to be creative again. We work with small local artisans and makers who are like-minded in helping the planet heal and thrive by using natural materials and processes with the least footprint on our environment. As a community we promote sustainable living and mindful consumption.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I believe that what we do in life is only as hard as what we make it to be. I am not suggesting life is always easy but it is the little things that we too often overthink and give too much importance to. We often struggle with appropriating attention to the important matters and dedicating the right amount of time to steps that bring us forward. My personal enemy is procrastination and occasionally getting trapped in my fears. And so I always have to remind myself that it is only as hard as I make it to be. It is essential to make time for yourself to sit back and to feel instead of think, as our intuition and the universe will guide us in the right direction and what was never meant to be yours cannot be lost. I make time to connect with my makers and artisans as well as with my team, because only when we are in-tune can we move forward together towards a common goal.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Miami is full of beautiful spots and corners away from the shiny and loud nightlife. On the top of my happy spots is by far the deck of the Standard hotel . It is tucked away in the heart of South Beach in the bay of the Venetian Islands. Breakfast, lunch, dinner or drinks watching the sunset by the water, cozy up in front of the fire pit on a chilly night or lounge on a hammock in the garden – what more can one want. Swizzle Rum Bar, Mezcalista or Sweet Liberty make the most amazing cocktails in town, and W Hotel and Nicki Beach for the best beach time. Burgers & Shakes for the best burgers and beer and Tequiztlan for the best tacos and margaritas with ocean view!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
All the small artisans around the world who saw my passion, believed in my project and trusted me to be the right ambassador for their creations.

Website: www.benandgiules.com

Instagram: ben_and_giules

Image Credits
Milagro, Wanderlust, Jitana