Why I’m Saying Bye to the Hey Maca Studio
How can I even start writing this story, when I already know the sad ending?
.. At least, I’ll try.
Back in 2012, I was pregnant with my first baby boy when I decided to start a creative blog, documenting my new life as a mama living in the city, my recipes, my passion for photography and all things pretty. In my mind, I was going to call it Hey Maca, because it’ll be hilarious to receive nice puns from people if I ever received an email, right?
Over these years, I learned everything from scratch: professional photography, produce stop motion videos, follow new trends, admire many big blogger names from los angeles following their leads, refine my eye for design and art, understand how the not-so-fun taxes world works as a self-employed immigrant, sign with talent agencies, work with brands, and so much more that a few years later, I could dedicate my days to this project full time.
In the meantime, we found my dream little pinterest shoe box house back in 2017, while my passion for content kept growing as well as my props collection, at a point I couldn’t even fit a new pencil in my teeny tiny home studio.
Scared but decided as the usual Maca-attitude since I left Venezuela, I knew renting something outside home was the right move. I adventured to sign my first studio one-year lease in November 2018 thinking “maybe I won’t be able to keep this for more than year, so I’ll have FUN these 12 months”.
I made those little square feet my creative haven, decorating every single corner, bringing magic and joy to the different areas I wanted to craft (I had my office area, workshop table and a living area serving as a photography studio set).
Plot twist: not only I finished the first year lease – but moved to a two bigger lofts just thinking “oh wow Maca, you really did this all by yourself, high-five”.
6 years later, 2024 economy happened: after a world pandemic that stopped every single corner of this planet, a recession that no one expected would last this long in a fast evolving media industry finally made me take the hard, heartbreaking decision to stop my final studio lease this December.
Not all stories have a happy ending, from my very personal experience, but this one, this one is going to have one. 2023 was the year where I built a second floor in my dearest shoebox house, bringing to reality all the ideas I had accumulated in my head and Pinterest boards, including a comfortable area to place my home studio with YES, enough room to bring in many props that I couldn’t fit before.
my heart says:
It will be strange waking up in the morning to stay home instead of taking my short, sweet drive to the studio.
It will be strange not having the dopamine rush of re-decorating a new area that needs love.
It will be strange not smelling the cookie-flavour scent across the hallways that made me spent my budget at Mckiernan every week.
It will be strange not hearing my loft neighbours making their usual calls to Bell asking why their internet service is so slow.
It will be sadly strange to miss the rush of how do I need to produce or work harder to maintain my studio, my new construction mortgage, my regular mortgage, my shoes taste and all the credit cards that need some TLC.
but deep down, my heart feels:
if there’s one lesson maybe strange for many, is that when you close a door, a new one opens, bringing many opportunities, challenges and exciting changes that we just need to embrace, to grow, even if it wasn’t in that bingo card you desperately wanted to win.
lastly, I’m strangely happy, relieved and whole I was lucky enough to have three magical spaces for so so long, teaching me resilience is the only thing you need in your pockets to write this story of yours.
I’ll be writing a new chapter at home, making the new corners feel like an extension of my Hey Maca studios and maybe who knows, building another floor because why not.
You are the magic, not the place, and you can bring it wherever you go.
Thanks for the endless support, you are the best community a girl could have, love you all.
You leave the studio but not our hearts
You are a sweetheart! Thank YOU
“You are the magic, not the place, and you can bring it wherever you go”… just loved it!
To love every step of the process in this flow called Life.
Big hug you are a sunshine!
Love love you!!! 🙂
Hola Maca! I just discovered you on WhatsApp a few weeks ago. Love your calm, colourful, sweet and beautiful designs.
Aw, acabo de descubrir que también eres Venezolana como yo.
Un fuerte abrazo! Suerte con todo lo que sigas creando en tu vida! 💖
Yvette in Vancouver
Aww! Yvette 🙂 Thank you SO much and welcome to this sweet family, happy to have you here xo