The Creative Workforce : Inspired By Above Paper Goods


Inspired By Above Paper Goods was founded in 2012 when husband and wife team, Erica + Gabriel Diaz, decided to take a leap of faith and design their own wedding invitations. Since then, Inspired By Above Paper Goods has blossomed into a thriving homegrown invitation business that serves clients worldwide.

I first heard of IBA Paper Goods because of a mutual friend so I started following their business on Instagram and I fell in love with the beautiful and creative products they were making. I wanted to feature their business on my blog because I am a firm supporter of excellent, creative businesses that are making beautiful products for us to enjoy.

How did IBA Paper Goods begin?

IBA Paper Goods started back in 2012, when Gabriel and I were trying to plan our own wedding. Since our theme, Vintage Cuba, was so near and dear to our hearts, we knew we wanted our invitations to reflect our style as it was the very first thing our guests would receive in regards to our blessed day.

Fast forward a few months + a big dream later, we took a leap of faith and put our wedding invitations on our Etsy shop. From there, slowly but surely, our paper co. began to grow through online buyers and local word of mouth.

What prompted you to start your own business?

Since I was a little girl, I'd always dreamed of being able to be a stay at home with my children. When we first got married, I didn't know how we would make it work... Insert a huge passion for creativity, trust and a lot of prayer later. At the time, I didn't know God was in the process of molding and constructing our path in the direction of starting our own business.

Dragging Gabriel along with my dream came easy. With a passion for both numbers and art, Gabriel is our in house artist and financial guru. We joke sometimes how perfect God is. Mix a dreamer and a realist together and you've got yourself a pretty balanced business.

What are some challenges you have encountered along the way?

If I can be completely open with you, the hardest part at times comes to play with our different personalities. When it comes to navigating a business together, our ideologies tend to clash. But there is always beauty in the ashes. Over the past two years, our differing work attitudes have molded and shaped us to be a better version of the person we were. We find that our differences balance us. I couldn't imagine trudging these waters without my best friend by my side.

What has been your biggest success?

For us, our biggest success has been defined by overcoming our fear. I think most business owners starts with a fear of failure. The second we decided let go and let God, we began to see everything else come together.

Success, to us at least, is defined by the people we positively affect and those who we get to interact with.

Some advice you can give to other creative business owners.

Put yourself out there. By nature, I've always been a shy gal. But I quickly learned, being shy wouldn't get our company where we wanted it to be. Get out of your comfort zone. You'll never know what could have been if you don't take the first step.

You can find more about IBA Paper Goods at www.ibapapergoods.com
Contact: erica@inspiredbyabove.com
Instagram:@ibapapergoods
Facebook: IBA Paper Goods
Pinterest: IBA Paper Goods