Building AndBloom: A Creative Life, a Growing Shop, and Everything In Between

Nothing major, just a handful of treasures that had been part of my wardrobe for years. To my surprise, they sold almost immediately. Around the same time, when I published my first book AndBloom – The Art of Aging Unapologetically, I designed a signature T-shirt to celebrate the launch. Suddenly, one package a week turned into ten, and from there, everything began to grow organically.

In 2023, I designed a teddy cardigan made in Italy, purely for fun. I had no experience and honestly no expectations. Yet that cardigan became a turning point. From that moment forward, the shop evolved from a quiet side project into a daily, thriving business. From day one, I selected, packed, and shipped every order myself, wrapped in my signature colorful wrappings and scent, always with love.

Those early years were intense. I was managing AndBloom the Instagram account with its rapidly growing community while simultaneously building a shop that kept expanding. I was learning, failing, doubting myself, almost wanting to quit (many times) but somehow continuing anyway. It was a full-time balancing act. Earlier this year, I finally admitted something to myself: I wasn’t running one company. I was running two. And that’s without counting the fact that I also published a second book this summer, The Guide, a passion project I photographed entirely at home. You can imagine the chaos at home… hahaha. Both companies operated from my house, which made the experience even more intense and, at the same time, unforgettable.

Fortunately, the shop now has a wonderful team of women supporting the day-to-day work and packing orders with the same care, warmth, and joy I put into every package from the start. I never imagined I would run an online shop or an Instagram community, but life has a way of nudging you exactly where you’re meant to be.

Since moving the shop out of the house on September 1st, I finally feel more balanced between my two favourite things to do each day. I now keep the house as my creative space for Instagram and the blog. In fact, I am writing this from my kitchen table right now. The house is empty, it’s beautifully quiet, and I finally have the space to think.

Instagram remains my creative home. At heart, I am a content creator and a photographer. I love storytelling, visuals, fashion, beauty, and the magic of creating something meaningful. Because I’ve always been surrounded by style, it felt natural to begin designing small collections. I started cautiously in 2023 with one-size items, then expanded to two sizes, and today several pieces, including our jeans, wool sweaters, and basic T-shirts, are available in multiple sizes. Soon we’ll introduce a signature tracksuit, and we’re already working on some beautiful pieces for spring.

I know that over the past two years many women have felt disappointed by the limited sizing, and I completely understand that. I’m proud to say that we’re finally able to expand into more sizes for several items. The truth is that offering more sizes also means carrying larger inventories, and the financial risk simply felt too big for me in the beginning. I needed to grow slowly and responsibly, step by step. But we are getting there, and it feels incredibly good to be able to include more women in the pieces we create with so much love.

Designing, developing, finding producers, and collaborating with partners, mainly in Italy and Portugal, was all new to me and still is. It has been incredibly time-consuming but absolutely worth it. Nothing is more rewarding than inspiring women over 40, a group most fashion brands overlook, with clothing made with care, thoughtfulness, and love. And nothing makes me happier than knowing a woman feels beautiful in something we created.

My business philosophy has stayed the same, and I apply it to both Instagram and the shop: grow slowly, intentionally, and without outside investment. In my view, there is no point in forcing fast growth or pretending you are growing, especially on Instagram, where so many people buy followers. They are always fake and harm your account in the long run. I prefer steady, thoughtful, meaningful growth. Better small and personal than big and impersonal. Even with an Instagram community of almost 1.4 million women worldwide, I still try to maintain personal contact whenever I can, even though answering every DM has become impossible. In the early years, I answered everything, every comment and every message. Because to me, social media should be social, and the most rewarding part of it is real, honest connection.

I am both an entrepreneur and a creative, and over the years I’ve learned to lean into the strengths of both worlds.

And now something very exciting is coming: our first AndBloom lipstick. After years of being asked which shade I wear, I decided to create