Marcia Rocha passed away in March 2012. Her life was an inspiration to many, including myself. She created an association to encourage organ donation in Brazil, and you can learn about it at http://avido.org.br/
Here is our interview with Marcia Rocha, published in March 2006, about her journey as an artist and entrepreneur:
Marcia Rocha
For an artist, finding the opportunities to transform art into a profitable business can be a challenge. But Marcia Rocha, owner of Funny Sculptures, is a great example of an artist who has great business sense, which has helped her start and grow her company. Marcia was born in Brazil and she has been a painter, sculptor and cartoonist since childhood. Seven years ago she decided to establish Funny Sculptures, designing and creating fun jewelry and character sculptures as well as customized and collectable items.
Marcia demonstrates strength and resilience, and I admire her courage and determination. She has been using her networking skills and following her intuition to be successful, to meet the right people at the right time and move ahead professionally. I believe her journey will inspire you to take action and turn your idea or hobby into a business.
Marcia got involved with art at age 14, when she went to a technical school of arts. Marcia was soon able to land her first job as an intern at her hometown’s City Hall by networking with a friend who worked there. Marcia has worked for several different organizations and these experiences have helped her develop talent and perfect her skills.
At the age of 19, while going to college, Marcia had her first entrepreneurial experience, opening a store to sell her artwork and the work of other artists as well. When the business was not doing so well, she decided to get a job and a partner to help manage the store. Marcia later found out her partner was stealing from her and the business. The partner ran away and Marcia was left in debt. Without enough merchandise or money to prepare for Christmas sales, which was only two months ahead, Marcia used her business- saviness and negotiated a payment plan with her suppliers. With the holiday season over and her debts paid, Marcia sold the store.
Marcia went into a deep depression for almost a year. But while traveling with a friend to the beach, she ran into an old friend who was also an artist. When Marcia told him she wanted to work with movies and movie sets, he told her that the organization he was working for had a huge movie project and they were hiring interns. Marcia got the job and started working the next day. Through her talents and skills Marcia was soon promoted to art assistant and she continued to shine. After that project was over, the company hired her full time to work on smaller projects developing scenarios for television commercials.
Marcia has always been able to trust her intuition in such a way that the right opportunities would emerge. When she was thinking about working in special effects, she met the right person in the same company, and started working with him as a prop/model maker. Two years later, in search for new opportunities, Marcia decided to move to Toronto, Canada. With no prospects or contacts, Marcia packed her bags and moved. Within a week, she had a job and a place to live. While living in Canada, Marcia met her husband and moved back to Brazil where she worked for the same company. A few years later they returned to Canada, this time to Montreal, where Marcia soon got a job working with the largest special effects company there. Marcia’s husband is a musician and he wanted to move to New York. They moved to the United States and she kept going back and forth to Canada, but she got sick with a chronic disease and they moved back to Brazil once again.
Marcia and her husband returned to New York in 1999. Soon after, Marcia realized she wanted to work for herself. To help improve her health, Marcia started creating artwork and custom jewelry and earrings, establishing Funny Sculptures. A friend offered her a booth space at a Brazilian Street Fair in New York City where she sold her earrings. Marcia then started participating in street fairs, sharing the costs with another artist.
By not only taking action and running her business, but also by communicating her needs with others and asking questions, Marcia was learning valuable business skills and the arts and crafts business trade. Marcia learned which products were bestsellers and also the best fairs to attend. Following her intuition and her colleagues’ advice, she started attending arts and crafts fairs. In 2000, Marcia participated in the Grand Central Christmas Fair. The business kept growing, but in 2004 her disease worsened and she could not attend the Grand Central Christmas Fair. In 2005 she did several fairs throughout the year and the Bryant Park Fair during the Christmas season.
When I asked how was the experience of having a home-based business, Marcia joked that at some point, they actually had a bed in the office instead. She explains that she started using the extra bedroom as her studio, but soon the whole house became a storage room and creation space. Marcia still has a home-based office, but she also rents a studio.
Marcia wants to grow her business beyond attending arts and craft fairs, and has been teaching art classes to children and adults at her studio. In addition, she has recently started providing entertainment at parties by making jewelry at the event and also bringing items to sell. Her plans for the future include licensing her characters to other companies. Marcia also looks forward to hiring a taskforce that will produce her fun art jewelry on a larger scale and attending gift fairs to sell her products wholesale.
Marcia considers the ability to be self-sufficient through her own work very rewarding. She would like to continuously grow her business and improve her quality of life. Marcia advises aspiring entrepreneurs to focus on the three Ps: Perseverance, Persistence and Patience – “Even when you feel there is no hope and nowhere to go, you have to believe it is going to happen”. Marcia also suggests you take other people’s advice seriously, but always take in consideration your own experiences and feelings to make a decision, as only you know what works the best for you and your business.