Written By botanica team - October 26 2020
Los Angeles, CA
Occupation or current life status: social media manager for @everybodylosangeles and @ponysweat and freelance consultant working with artists and small businesses to develop digital content and community. I founded Queer Mall in 2019, which is a pop-up event series in Los Angeles. And occasionally I sell vintage and/or re-worked/painted clothes via my IG!
Where have you found inspiration in 2020?
By the ocean - I've felt most activated during my two weeks with my parents and grandma in Zihuatanejo, Mexico in February, a pandemic ritual of taking one day off a week to spend the day on the sand in Santa Monica or Malibu with my partner, and a blissful vacation at the Oregon Coast in October. Time and space away from home means less phone/computer and more making, reading, and just playing. When I am tapped into my fullest self and can access my own weird ideas and aesthetic preferences AND have the energy to pursue new projects, I feel excited and hopeful.
What does sustainability mean to you or your business? What systems have you implemented to prioritize sustainability?
Sustainability to me involves an active awareness of the systems and processes by which items come into and out of our lives. It means rejecting Amazon, fast fashion, and exploitative big businesses that normalize cheap prices, minimum wage labor, and free shipping. Taking each dollar that I spend really seriously - what am I investing in? Where is this money going? What am I getting back? Looking closely at how, where, and by whom the things I consume are made. Supporting small businesses whose values align with my own, where the money I spend makes a difference in my local community. Always searching Craigslist, OfferUp, @noihsaf.home and eBay (or in pre-Covid times, avidly scouring thrift stores) before buying new. And building monthly investments in BIPOC-led initiatives into my budget.
What would you like to share with others in your community this week?
In this pre-election anxiety, I'd like to recommend The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio which was released this spring. Karla is a brilliant writer and thinker, she just became the first undocumented person to be nominated for the National Book Award. And she's queer! I savored her book. Please buy it from your locally-owned bookstore!
