Ángela Sarmiento (Jyoko Kids): “It is in times of crisis that ideas and opportunities hatch”

It's rare that renting a space brings us as much satisfaction as when the business in question carries a strong story of overcoming and sacrifice. We recently saw this with Rosa Estrella Tasty House and we find it again in the case of Jyoko Kids, a company that makes baby covers and is succeeding on Amazon with sales exceeding three million euros. Such is their success that CEO Ángela Sarmiento has gone from being an unemployed mother to a successful businesswoman who participates in congresses, fairs, and conferences as a testimony of reinvention and entrepreneurship. Her success story has also been covered by major newspapers: El País, El Periódico, La Vanguardia... Everyone wants to know the secret of her success.

Us too. That's why we couldn't resist having a chat with her and learning her story firsthand. The interview did not touch on architecture or photography, usual topics of this blog. But it did cover people, dreams, and also a little bit about Barcelona, which is what brings us together. This is the result.

Angela, where did the idea for Jyoko Kids come from?

For Jana, my daughter. I lost my job when I was seven months pregnant and then I started making things for the baby at home. I had the idea of starting something of my own, so this came about. I thought: I'm going to make something for babies. Since I had some machines at home and a lot of time, I began to produce things and my husband suggested selling them on Amazon. After reading all the quality parameters they required, we started to distribute there with quite a good reception. Since then, the project began to take shape.

Let's say then that it was a coincidence that the birth of your daughter coincided with the inception of the project. Perhaps if it hadn't been for your pregnancy, the idea might not have been conceived?

I have worked in design and fashion all my life. In quality, production, design, technical support... I really enjoyed making clothes, jackets, everything. I made my own clothes, but mainly because I liked it. Then Jana's thing came along and I thought, 'look, I'm going to do this.' And of course, it has taken off in a career in which we grew very very quickly, and, fortunately, we are proud to say, without any loans, reinvesting and reinvesting. So we can say that Jyoko Kids has been feeding itself and growing on its own.

Can it be purchased from any other place besides Amazon?

Yes, you can also find us at Carrefour, FNAC, Intermarché, and of course, on our website, jyoko.com. Amazon has made us what we are, so now what we are doing is paying for placement. We are working with a team of SEO and SEM professionals to position the website in the markets where we currently operate: Spain, Italy, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

Which country has the product been most successful in?

In Spain we sell a lot. In Italy as well: then comes Germany, France, and finally the United Kingdom. On the other hand, the United States is a platform we entered about a year and a half ago. There, the product enters and has a maturation period, during which people get to know it, you invest in advertising, the public becomes familiar with it and starts to consume. Then comes the time for reviews, comments, organic positioning, paid... At that point, the product starts to rotate more and more references are opened, so we are expanding the market. Now, for example, we are opening up in Canada, Australia, Japan... We still see the ceiling as far away but without a doubt, opening more markets makes us stronger.

Before Amazon, was it tried on another sales channel?

No, the first one was Amazon. Then, yes. We felt 'compelled' to create a website because in some way it acts as a support. It's like the brand's business card, because if I look for a product and can't find the website, it makes me distrustful. That's why we started to work in parallel with selling through the website and we are improving over time.

So much so that on the web we can find even a blog dedicated to maternity topics…

Indeed. We started with the blog because we had, for lack of a better term, 'brand disciples.' People who were there all the time wanting to know more about us and we were creating a community. It's surprising and also rewarding.

Have you considered the possibility of opening a physical store in Barcelona?

We have all thought about it at some point: “what if…” but it's very complicated. A brick-and-mortar store doesn't yield the returns that a website can, plus the expenses multiply. With that money, you sacrifice the opportunity to enter another market.

What are the challenges that Jyoko Kids faces in 2019?

I wouldn't be able to pinpoint a challenge in itself. Growth is already a challenge. Managing it well. I don't know if it's as much for the brand as it is for us. It's difficult to manage staff when you're growing so quickly because you have to be training constantly and you need skilled people. The product is so specific that you need to know the market very well. It takes about seven months to a year to master it. There are so many things, so much information, that perhaps the challenge is to be able to maintain the growth.

What is the production process?

We buy the yarn, send it out to be woven, have it printed, then it's sent back to us, we store it, cut it, and it goes straight to the plant to be made into garments, it undergoes quality control, and then it's stored again. Finally, it's packed in boxes and sent to Amazon's logistics centers, because to sell the volume that we do, we need to have floating stock all over the world. Right now, we have about 30,000 garments worldwide.

How many employees do you currently have?

Between 30-35. We are also currently working with foundations such as Ared or Fundación Esperanza, from La Caixa. They offer sewing courses and are sending people to us for training with our product. We have hired some of them. This also helps with staff turnover and allows them to make contact with companies. These are individuals coming from employment integration issues or similar situations. People who, due to various circumstances, have ended up in this situation and at least here have learned to overcome their fear. To handle the machines. We have state-of-the-art industrial machines, so they are constantly updating their skills.

And who is in charge of product design?

I take care of product design myself. We also have a pattern designer and we work on it as a team. It's the people who say what they want, and based on search criteria, you have all the information available. You can know the trends. We handle a basic color palette, we look for patterns that can work and we keep releasing them. We don't have a constant design curve because that would affect our positioning.

What effect does the “made in Barcelona” have on consumers?

The local people like it. They like knowing that their money stays here and they also appreciate knowing it goes into their economy, and outsiders like it too. Barcelona is trendy.

It seems that the best thing that could have happened to you five years ago was losing your job…

Yes, definitely. Because if not, maybe I wouldn't have tried. Perhaps I would have made the case: But to sell in production would have been more difficult. But it came like this. And in times of crisis is when ideas and opportunities hatch.