Meet Vanessa Suarez | Owner of Cositas 305 Co.

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

Hi Vanessa, other than deciding to work for yourself, what else do you think played a pivotal role in your story?
The single most important decision I have made that contributed to my success was simply to follow my instinct. I have never owned a business before. I had no idea the amount of work and dedication that goes into building and establishing a business from scratch, but I knew I wanted to and so I did it. Now looking back, I am so grateful that I did. Every time there is a big decision to make within my business I always overthink, but then I remind myself to just go with the flow and follow my instinct, and most of the time I am happy with the outcome. When I decided to rebrand, I had so many people telling me not to. They kept telling me all the things that could go wrong. I listened, but then one day I woke up and decided “Nope, I am rebranding”. It was one of the best decisions I have made. As a female entrepreneur, I feel like there is no one out there who is going to support my business like myself.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My story begins right smack in the middle of the pandemic. I was living in Seattle, Washington with none of my family or friends around. I was feeling very depressed staying home and having to work from home too. My solution was to pick up new hobbies. At the time, I came across some videos on digital illustrations using Procreate and thought, “Why not?”. With the days, I became better and better. I started by creating digital portraits of friends and family. One day I decided to create an illustration for the saying “Tranquila y Tropical”. I posted it and from that moment my drawings changed to representations of my Miami and Cuban culture. After posting many of my designs and seeing how popular they were, the idea to make the designs into actual merchandise came easily. Fast forward two years, and now I have my small shop called Cositas 305 Co. My shop is my way of showing love to my city and mi cultura. It was a way of having a piece of home when I was away from home.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Miami, FL- I am a total foodie so get ready for more food recommendations than things to do.

Places to Visit:
-Wynwood
-Little Havana/Calle Ocho
-Miami Beach
-Matheson Hammock Park & Marina
-Everglades National Park
-Biscayne National Park
-Key West

Places to Eat:
-Lung Yai Thai Tapas
-Chug’s Diner
-El Rey de las Fritas
-Any Cuban Ventanita (La Carreta/ Versailles)
-Palacio de los Jugos
-Azucar Ice-Cream
-Night Owl Cookies
-Brewing Buddha Cafe
-Caja Caliente

Places to Drink:
-Doral Yard
-Oasis Wynwood
-Terra Rooftop Bar
-1-800-Lucky

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?
I cannot think of one shoutout to give because I am so grateful for so many people who have supported my business and me. I want to dedicate my shoutout to my customers from day one–you know who you are. You have stuck with my business from the first day we opened through all the changes and growth. You probably own every sticker I have ever designed, but you don’t stop adding to your collection. Cositas 305 Co. would not be here if it wasn’t for every SINGLE one of you.

Website: https://cositas305co.square.site

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/accounts/login/?next=%2Fcositas305co%2F

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=N3P-erAPe4pLKjD0yIKRnA&utm_source=ishare

Image Credits
All the images belong to Vanessa Suarez Cositas 305 Co. Customer featured has given consent and is named Idorka Suarez