Vanessa Barletta – A passion turned into a business

Art & Décor is the name of Vanessa Barletta´s home décor and art business. You can see her work on Instagram at barletta.art. Vanessa had always a passion for arts. She has a natural talent for creating beautiful arrangements and an exquisite taste for interior design. She is a creative and hard-working woman. She always dreamed of owning an art shop. When the pandemic hit back in 2020, Vanessa lost her second job. This situation gave her the push she needed to create home décor pieces and paintings for sale. She also participated in bazars and expo events to promote her art. Her work was well accepted and soon she was making sales. Her project was turning into a business! She soon realized she was an art expert but had little knowledge on business practices. She had a hard time setting prices, calculating her costs and marketing on social media. Added to all these, she knew she needed formal licenses and permits.

Vanessa sought information and help from the NEW Women’s Business Center and found out about the “Crece tu Negocio” program for swap meet sellers and vendors. She decided to register in and search for business education. With the help of the NEW WBC team, she persevered in attending all of her classes. She received information about financial resources to expand her business and much need strategies for marketing and sales, and  participated on two expo events as a vendor. Vanessa completed the training  program and received a logo design for her business, personalized business consultations and the help to acquire the licenses and permits she needed to operate as a formal business in California.

Vanessa is now ready to expand her business, and in this second phase, she will not only create her beautiful arrangements, but also teach courses and share her talents with the community.

by Lilian C. Alger

Libia Berbesi

Spanish Program Manager

818-630-9067