UnoEth: Crafting Handmade Leather Goods and Empowering Artisans in Addis Ababa – A Father-Daughter Journey

Inspired by her father’s gift of a bag from Ethiopia, Xiomara Rosa-Tedla ventured into the world of entrepreneurship and created UnoEth, a handmade leather bags and accessories company. While continuing to work full-time, Xiomara was dedicated to the development of high-quality samples and designs for her business. Despite having already secured funding through multiple avenues, this venture did not come without significant sacrifice on her part. One of the biggest obstacles that she faced was obtaining the necessary capital for production and operations. From the onset of establishing the brand, obtaining funds proved to be an expensive endeavor due to exorbitant interest rates and limited funding options. This hindered their initial growth projections and resulted in a slower pace than anticipated. When asked how her team managed while seeking capital, Xiomara stated, “as entrepreneurs, we’re resourceful and determined, so we kept pushing through the rejections and the no’s while keeping close tabs with our business community and finding alternative options for our brand growing.”

As her search continued, she discovered PCV through a networking resource, which connected her to a business mentorship program. Through this program, she was made aware of the Oakland Fund 0% interest loan, which she successfully secured in the summer of 2022. The additional capital from PCV assisted her with growing the UnoEth team, acquire additional inventory, and establish a more stable monthly budget. UnoEth products are currently available for purchase online, as well as in 65 retail stores.

At UnoEth, they are constantly working on new and exciting projects to expand their offerings and bring the best products possible to the market. While the UnoEth team has a few projects in progress, their current focus is growing the current collection and maintaining strong retail partnerships. Additionally, by working together new opportunities can be created, therefore the UnoEth team seeks to collaborate with brands and artisans to create innovative and unique products that can’t be found anywhere else. There are big plans for UnoEth in the future, to stay updated visit www.UnoEth.com.

Contact
Website: www.UnoEth.com
Email: hello@unoeth.com
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