Business Owner: Emily Ospina Ruiz

We start this series featuring Emily Ospina Ruiz, the founder and creative director of Vibras Creative Studio and wellness community, House of Vibras.

Tell  me a bit about your heritage.  Were you born in the UK?

Both of my parents were born in Colombia and came to London in the seventies as young children, so they’ve been in the UK since primary school. My family from both sides were some of the first Colombians to migrate to London – we’ve been here a long time. I was born in London and grew up in Ladbroke Grove (West London) until I was thirteen when we moved to South East London. 

What motivated you to set up your own creative studio?

I studied  Graphic Design at City and Islington Sixth Form College when I was sixteen. I’m a very creative person and have always loved learning the history and skills behind a good design. I decided to complete my degree in this field and was lucky enough to get accepted into Central Saint Martins, an incredible place that forms a part of University of the Arts London. 

While I was there I found  my passion for editorial design: I was obsessed with designing printed material and publications and was heavily inspired by high fashion magazines. I used my three years at CSM to learn as much as I could about layouts, typography, photography, printing, binding and anything else that could help me start a career in the fashion world as an editorial designer. 

A couple of months after graduating, I was scouted to do an internship with ELLE UK. Funnily enough, they had approached one of my coursemates who wasn’t able to take on the role and when they asked her if they knew anyone else who would be a good fit, she recommended the one person she knew who was obsessed with magazines: me!

After finishing my internship, I knew that this kind of job was exactly what I had dreamed of for the past few years and what I wanted to do permanently. Sadly, the magazine industry isn’t somewhere that has an abundance of opportunities available, as the employees tend to work there for many years so the vacancies are limited. However, I was determined to start my design career as soon as possible, so I had a look elsewhere, and that’s what led me to my first in-house design role as a Digital Designer for Monsoon Accessorize. I was there for a year or so before moving on to a couple of other similar roles, still within fashion. I was satisfied, but I  always felt like something was missing. 

While doing all of this, I had also set up a charity called Wellness Kits which created care packages for homeless people in London. I’ve always loved helping others but I was keeping my professional life and my personal passions separate and this wasn’t something that felt right to me. I wanted to find a path that would allow me to be creative, showcase my expertise, help others, and make money. This is how the idea to quit my job and start my own studio came about. 

I understand that you have a wellbeing community as well.  Why did you decide to set this up in addition to your creative studio?

Wellbeing is one of my personal passions and  it was always something I wanted to combine with my work. I set up my studio with the name “Vibras”, meaning vibes in Spanish to embody the good energy and feelings  that I want in my business, and also to attract the type of clients I want to work with. 

The core values and day-to-day operations of my studio are all heavily influenced by my love for and interest in wellbeing, which I have explored through practices such as  meditation, journaling, and spending time in nature. I believe in being present, switching off, not overworking, and prioritising self-development. These beliefs have had a profound impact on me and my life, and since I have experienced how powerful these tools are, I wanted to share them with as many people as possible so that they too could feel the benefits. 

The project started  in September 2021, a time when I felt like I had fallen out of my wellbeing practices,  so I decided to do a mind, body and soul reset. I put a message out on my personal Instagram stories to see if anyone wanted to join me and had an overwhelming response. Over forty of us came together to do “The September Reset” where I led everyone through daily practices and accountability to getting back on track to feeling like their best selves.

The twenty-one days ended on such a high note.  It was honestly one of the most heart-warming and  energising things I had ever done. Instead of losing momentum and coming back to the House of Vibras idea further down the line, I decided it was time to bite the bullet. I designed the entire brand and a month later, launched it . I currently have thirty members signed up which are a mix of OG’s from “The September Reset” and some other people who have stumbled across us and love what we stand for. My goal is to create a huge community for people on their journey of self-discovery – providing tools, resources and support. 

I’m someone who has a lot of different interests and I personally won’t feel fulfilled unless I'm doing a bit of everything. Sometimes,  it’s a lot to manage, but I see Vibras as the umbrella business that will allow me to tap into lots of separate projects. So far we have Vibras Creative Studio and House of Vibras. Let’s see what else the future holds!

Do you think your sense of identity has influenced your decision to start these businesses? If so, in what way?

I think my personality, interests and skills are what have led me down the path I’m on. I’m not someone who settles. I like to ask questions and really think for myself about what really works for me and what I want my life to be like. I realised very early on in my in-house designer days that unfortunately, the income tied to those roles is extremely limiting and to be quite honest, won’t allow me to live the life I want for myself. 

Instead of accepting that as a fact and staying in a role that required me to “work my way up” to earn a half decent salary, I took an alternative route. Since I was a child, I’ve been a great leader. Oftentimes I’ve been referred to as “bossy”, but I really dislike that term:  Do men ever get called “bossy”? I am also extremely well organised and confident in my abilities. I didn’t know it when I was younger, but now I know that these traits lend themselves very nicely to being a business owner. It’s not for everyone and it does involve risk, but the positive side is that when you run a business, there is no cap on how much you can earn and that is something I find very attractive.

How do you balance your  businesses with your personal life?

I make my business work around my personal life instead of the other way around. To be successful in this, I have boundaries set in place to ensure I don’t work weekends or late into the night. 

One of the perks of running an online business is being able to work remotely, and that doesn’t just mean from home. I’m actually going to Colombia for the whole of March and taking my work with me. While I’m there I'll be able to explore, enjoy, relax and also make sure things are taken care of for my clients and members.

My priority is that I feel refreshed at the start of every work day and I do that by ensuring I get enough rest and down time to just relax and enjoy my life. Work-life balance is one of my core values so although my days may be super busy during working hours, I rest as hard as I work.

What does a typical day look like for you?

I try my best to wake up between 6-7AM to have a slow morning to myself. I usually send a good morning message to my House Of Vibras members, read a few pages of a book, do a meditation based on how I’m feeling, make myself something tasty (breakfast is my favourite meal of the day!), then I’ll put something on Netflix before getting dressed and ready for the day. My work day starts at 10AM so those few hours to myself are a real treat and totally worth the earlier wake ups – sometimes I do work on a few personal projects in that time too. 

Once 10AM comes, I start with client work. I manage the social media accounts for a few different businesses so I’ll check in on all of that and create or post any content that needs to go up. The rest of my to-do list varies day to day. On Mondays and Tuesdays I have calls with my design assistant Carolina so we can divide our workload, on other days I have meetings to arrange events for House of Vibras or discovery calls for new design projects. I also spend time on admin which is mostly emailing clients and new enquiries. 

There’s a lot of content creation happening throughout the day both for my own businesses and for my clients, although I’ve just hired a second team member to help me with social media specifically so my day-to-day tasks will be changing soon. I’m looking forward to the extra help so that I can focus on strategy and ideas for Vibras overall. There are lots of exciting changes happening in 2022. 

What do you find most empowering about working for yourself?

Running a business in a way that works for me and the life I want. There will be people who may think working 10AM-6PM, Monday to Friday isn’t enough, as your own business shouldn’t run on office hours alone. Some people would prefer to work around the clock and constantly sign on new projects but that isn’t for me. From my experience, it is possible to have boundaries and make very good money at the same time, so that’s how I plan to continue. It’s empowering to follow your intuition, set your own rules and see it pay off. 

What do good vibes mean to you?

It’s all about energy! You can tell a lot about a person from the energy they give out. I like to be surrounded by people, clients and members who bring joy, calm, inspiration and light to my life. It’s a feeling of being in the right place and your mind, body and soul being at peace. This is something I consider when choosing what projects to take on and who I spend time with.

You can follow Emily on Instagram or check out her website.