We spoke with Reyna about her shop, Quiero Prints and the feeling of home that she is bringing her customers through cultural designs. Reyna originally started Quiero as a quinceañera invitation shop on Etsy in 2016. As her business grew she knew she wanted to design products that were inspired by her cultural background. She hopes her designs give you a sense of nostalgia through products like funny Spanglish stickers or empowering shirts. Read below to learn more about what inspires Reyna and her designs.
These answers have been lightly edited for clarity and flow.
Reyna, tell us a little bit about yourself and your business.
My name is Reyna, I am a graphic designer from East Los Angeles, California. As I found myself unemployed during the pandemic, I decided to open up my stationery and gift shop called Quiero Prints. Most of my products are inspired by my Latinx, Spanglish-speaking roots.
Like many of us during the pandemic, you had to pivot. Tell us about that experience.
I started selling quinceañera invitations on Etsy as a side hustle because at the time there weren’t many people making them, so it was an easy and familiar niche I could fill. But once the pandemic started and people stopped having events that they needed invitations for, I shifted to designing stickers and greeting cards while keeping those same customers in mind.
You’re running this business on your own and we know that must take a lot from you, so we have to ask, how do you manage it all?!
I honestly feel like I’ve been training for this my whole career! For about nine years, I worked as an in-house graphic designer for small teams with even smaller budgets. Because of that, I had to learn a lot of skills to get tasks done quickly and efficiently. This included photography, project management, art direction, social media, web design, communicating with multiple vendors and print shops, and so much more. I took all those skills I learned from my previous jobs and applied them when building Quiero Prints.
What do you like the most about running your own business?
I love that in designing and selling relatable products, I’ve slowly created a community of people with similar backgrounds but very different personalities. My business has become a lot less about selling stickers and more about knowing I’ve tapped into individual people’s hearts and memories through these products.
You have the cutest designs, what inspires them?
I grew up being woken up every Saturday morning with cumbias blasting, the scent of Fabuloso filling the air, and my mom shouting “ponte a limpiar!” I founded Quiero Prints to transform these memories into fun, relatable products that reflect the shared experience of growing up with latinx immigrant parents.
Interested in prints and designs from Quiero Prints? Give her website a visit!