Welcome To Arte Formosa HN!

We hope you can join us and be part of this projects that strives to promote the love for our local art and crafts!

Hello! Whether you are here out of curiosity or by chance, welcome! I am Daniela Armijo, creator of this small project called Arte Formosa HN. And in this first post, I want to tell you a little about myself and how this idea was born.

Some quick facts about me: 30 years old, born and raised in Tegucigalpa, Honduras; Bachelor's Degree in Finance from UNICAH and Master in Business Administration from The National Chengchi University, I worked in finance for a company in Manila, Philippines from 2015-2017. In 2018, thanks to God and many efforts, I obtained a scholarship to travel to Taiwan and study for my Master's degree.

After two years, in 2020, while I was scratching my head, thinking about what to present as a graduation project (I decided to make a business plan). An idea related to art supplies/stationery made in Taiwan emerged; at that time, I didn't want my project to be something done for the sole purpose of being down with it. I wanted something with more meaning that went beyond just being a profitable business; I was looking to build a sustainable business that combines two areas that interest me: mental health and education.

And that's how the days of sleepless nights, surveys, researching, asking questions began. In the process, I started to meet people who became interested in my project (some really thought I was about to set up a store in Honduras). Many things happened in between (one day, I will tell them to all of you over a cup of coffee), and I decided to start by creating the Instagram account with the idea of ​​testing people's interests.

This is how my desk looked during my graduation project, the guy above is an actual representation of my mental state in those days.

After all the sleepless nights and several "mini heart attacks" (partly due to various scares and others due to the amount of Redbull I consumed), I managed to do my oral defense! And I graduated…

It was more or less around this time that one day I received this message:

I'm not going to lie to you all, that message made me cry, but it also helped me understand that there was something more extraordinary and bigger here than what I thought. Thus, despite the fear, the pandemic, and my personal situation, I decided to try to create a real business. Again, the sleepless nights began by doing more research, contacting people, asking questions, finding investors, and although there were moments when everything seemed to fit together and there was hope of making that dream come true... It didn't happen.

In January 2021, I had to make a decision. I could no longer continue with the business idea; I became extremely sad. Like anyone who works hard on a project and still fails, I felt like I had failed. For a while, I left the Instagram account thinking that it no longer made sense to continue. It is here that I received a necessary push from my closest friends, who reminded me that although it had not turned out as expected, something beautiful could still be created from this project.

That's how I told myself: "Well, don't let it be said that you didn't try. Let's see what happens!" I was experimenting, thinking of ideas, consulting with friends, and even with the many artists who showed interest. They have really been a big part of my motivation, with their messages, support and contributions. I realized that this was something I could not do alone and gradually learned to ask for help.

With all this, we've arrived at this day! The first post on this humble page. I'm still not sure what direction this project will take, and the truth is that I'm a little scared of doing something so out of my comfort zone. However, I hope that something good can come from here that contributes positively to the Honduran artistic entrepreneurs/fans and even more to provide an informative space not only in academics but also in the awareness of emotional well-being. Maybe I'm dreaming too much, but I think this kind of dreams are what keep us wanting to move on.

Welcome all, and thank you for coming here. I hope you can continue this journey with me and be part of this project.

Thanks

- Daniela Armijo

PS: This is where I want to thank my Chinese translator: Cathy! Thank you for helping me in this great project, for your support and the motivation you give me (and for letting me pay you back with baleadas). Also, thank you to those people who have selflessly helped me by giving me guidance, advice and encouragement: Mr. A, Anita, Marilyn, Andrea, Elena, Gina, Joan, Carol, Leslye, Sarah (who helped me design the logo and lifesaving digital editor) and Corrie.