Meet Alex Antonio | CEO & Co-Founder

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

Hi Alex, every day, we about how much execution matters, but we think ideas matter as well. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I (Alex) stumbled upon tufting videos on social media mid-2020, at the height of the pandemic, and became obsessed. I followed every creator I could find and the interest just kept growing. At some point, I did the research for what it would cost to get started and it was pretty complex. The frame had to be built, the gun was expensive, and the materials weren’t cheap or super accessible. I didn’t have the space or the patience to invest, just to try it out and potentially hate it. So I searched for rug tufting classes and workshops, but I couldn’t find one to save my life.

While chatting with my wife, Amanda, and longtime best friend, Jorge, he mentioned he had a friend who had just taken a rug tufting class – but the classes were all booked up. I ended up stalking the website and finding a class with one space left and booked it immediately. The class was always meant to be a test. But I loved it enough that as soon as I got home, I bought a full tufting kit and started tufting in our garage – and never stopped. The more we fell in love with tufting, the more we talked about sharing this with the community. We’ve always wanted to start our own business, and the more we talked about the feasibility of it, the more it just made sense!

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?

Tufting House is in its infancy. We started the conversation about a year ago, and within 6 months rented a retail space. 2 months later, we opened our doors for the first time. We’ve been open to the public for just over 4 months now. In the short time we’ve been in business, we’ve already learned so much, but we know we’re just barely scratching the surface of our potential.

I have a professional background with experience in HR, supply chain, customer service and recruiting, Jorge brings supply chain and project management experience, and Amanda has experience in sales & marketing. All of these different skill sets coming together have helped give us the knowledge to start our business on the right foot. I believe that making sure we were doing things right from the beginning when it was just the three of us, has really contributed to our early success. It has most certainly not been easy. Our biggest challenge has likely been the time investment and commitment, as we all still lead corporate jobs, but we’ve been able to grow quickly enough to hire staff. I think when we hired our first employee, it was out of need because one of us was sick. But by the time we needed to hire more, we hired three more people. Now we have a staff of 6 people and I think that’s been our proudest moment, building a team and having a business that’s able to meet a need and help people provide for their families.

If I could share anything with the world about our brand, the brand we are building, it’s that we are all about the experience. We want to make sure that everyone that steps foot through our doors feels welcomed and comfortable to step outside of their comfort zone and try something new. We’ll be there to guide you of course, but we want people to know that they can totally do this! There’s nothing more satisfying for us than when a customer leaves with a sense of accomplishment of what they’ve created.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Our little pocket of Fort Lauderdale is right outside Victoria Park and there are some gems nearby. First and foremost, we’re minutes from Fort Lauderdale beach, so we’d definitely spend our stay there at a boutique hotel. The Kimpton Shorebreak is one of our favorites. It’s reasonably priced and walking distance to the sand and dining. Of course there’s all the best hotel restaurants right on the water, like S3 and Steak 954. Once we’ve had our fill of the beach glam, we’d make sure to make a reservation at Tufting House for a crafty evening out. The rug tufting class we’ll take let’s us go home with a custom-made souvenir that no one else will have. I’d be sure to check out Il Mulino’s, Padrino’s, or Gastrothèque for dinner depending on what you’re in the mood for, and Razzleberry’s Ice Cream for dessert. I’d round out the week by exploring Fat Village and Las Olas, with plenty of shopping and dining. Our favorites: Casa Sensei, Sistrunk Marketplace, Wells Coffee, & Mitch’s Downtown Bagels.

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?
My business partners, Jorge & Amanda. When I had the crazy idea to start a tufting studio, they believed in me from the start. They brought their professional expertise to the table and immediately wanted to roll up their sleeves and get started. What I thought was just a pipe dream became a reality because of their support to dedication to making it happen. Jorge has handled everything from building our tables, frames, and parts of our space, to sourcing and managing our inventory. Amanda has ensured we have built a viable web & social media presence that has been at the core of our popularity and early success.

Website: https://www.tuftinghouse.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tuftinghouse/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tufting-house-llc

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tuftinghouse

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/tufting-house-fort-lauderdale

Image Credits
Samantha Thornton, Pear & Thorn.