by Ashleigh Lackey

In honor of Women’s History Month, we have a series of interviews with female entrepreneurs and artists. First up is our Q&A with Studio Luu, a female owned, sustainable small business from San Francisco that sells the cutest accessories and home wear!

CUFS: What inspired you to start Studio Luu? 

Studio Luu: Instagram accounts in Europe, shipping too high or unavailable, I figured if I knew what I liked I could design and make some stuff for me, and maybe a couple of my friends would like it too. Also transitioning to working from home and realising I didn’t have any hobbies pushed me. 

C: What was the experience of starting a female owned business like? 

SL: Scary, lonely and expensive at first, but then it was and still is so insanely rewarding. Meeting this community irl and online all these insanely talented artists and makers has been amazing. Seeing our stuff in peoples homes is something I’ll never get over, and this sense of like? Oh fuck yeah I did that, gets me up in the mornings.

C: What were your greatest obstacles in founding Studio Luu?

SL: Space, my bf and I were living in a studio apartment and logistically did not have the room, the packing station was our bed, it wasn’t healthy for either of us and i’m so glad we have a slightly bigger space now. And also platform, it wasn’t like I could do IRL events and popups when I first started to get the name out there, and I don’t have a big personal instagram so just finding ways to get this IG account with 0 followers in front of people was the most difficult thing.

C: Have you found that there is a supportive community for female owned brands and small businesses?

SL: Yes!! I think with the pandemic and so many people losing their jobs, it has created this space for small businesses to flourish. People want to support the “little guys” or “underdogs” and I think that people are sticking with their people. I have never met a more supportive community than I have amongst our female customers, followers and friends. 

C: What advice would you give to aspiring female entrepreneurs?

SL: To be selfish and only listen to advice that benefits you. You’ll never know if something will work if you don’t try. Seriously, find, surround and support yourself with people that are ONLY directly supportive of you, and just mute everyone else while you do it. “Make friends with people who would mention your name in a room”

C: Tell us a bit about your efforts for sustainability.

SL: We plant a tree for every order placed with a company called One Tree Planted, and then every quarter I personally match 10% of sales and donate it to a cause of the Studio Luu communities choice! We also try to use US businesses wherever possible, this means shipping with USPS, buying our packaging from brands like Sticker Mule and Noissue, and using recyclable or Biodegradable materials as much as is feasible. It’s definitely hard to be sustainable as a small business, but as we grow we’ve been able to offer more and more. For instance our first 6 months we were only offering a yearly 10% match of sales to a charity and bulk buying a lot of our mailers etc from China. But I also think this needs to be addressed, to be sustainable whether that’s in your personal life or business is such a privilege and is something that definitely makes costs higher. Let’s support the small businesses who are doing their best and make an effort to call out the big corporations who aren’t doing anything. 

C: What do you look for when finding new items for your shop?

SL: If they’re female founded, and if I’d put it in my home. If it’s something I wouldn’t 110% buy for myself I’m not going to stock it.

C: What are your current favorite items in your shop?

SL: Our prints, candles and rugs! No joke, every single item has a place in our house so I’m biased.

C: What should we expect next from Studio Luu?

SL: Merch! Working on finding a US stockist to make the sets of my dreams