Meet Laleh Latini

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Laleh Latini. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Laleh, thank you so much for joining us and offering your lessons and wisdom for our readers. One of the things we most admire about you is your generosity and so we’d love if you could talk to us about where you think your generosity comes from.

I was born in Iran and although I moved to the states when I was 8 years old, I always feel that my heart and soul are Iranian. Those first formative years in Tehran shaped my sense of belonging, sense of self and deeply instilled in me one of the strongest traits of Iranian people: generosity of heart. Iranians love to give…and I don’t mean giving material goods (although they do that also)! Love, love, love. They exude it. In the Iranian culture, children and the elderly are considered gold and whether or not you know the child or older person in the room, you bestow upon them love, attention and especially to the older one in the room, so much respect and deference. I do that in my shop and it just comes naturally and it actually gives me so much joy! The moment someone enters pushing a stroller, I barely say hi to the adult and pretty much jump in front to say hi to the little one. Iranians love kids and give them so much love and attention. It is such a strong part of the culture. Kids and older people are treated like celebrities wherever they go! Isn’t that the way it should be? They feel special wherever they go and that is the most amazing gift you can give a child especially. That generosity of heart in the Iranian community goes a long way to helping ground children and give them a boost of self-esteem and confidence. And clearly, it is contagious!

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I worked as a freelance graphic designer for almost 20 years before the craving to be my own boss pushed me to take a risk and open my own design brand with my husband. We took the leap with a first collection of furniture designs in a small storefront in downtown Oakland. Fast forward 12 years and we now have a beautiful storefront in the thriving retail hub of Rockridge in Oakland, 6 amazing employees, 4 full-time customer support associates and thousands of customers across the states who have honored us with including our designs in their homes.

Our goal is to offer an alternative to the mass-made, soulless products being churned out by the big guys. We are the antithesis to the big guy. Just my husband and I, designing, marketing, developing the brand and working together with wonderful and talented creatives to bring great design that is meant to last. We are kind and generous people, and we strive to bring that to SOBU, our family-run business.

Customers visiting our shop are always so surprised when I let them know I am the co-owner of SOBU. “Wow, you’re here at the shop. That is so cool!”. We crave that human connection more than ever today after all of these years of technological anonymity. When was the last time you were in a shop and the owner was in front of you and promised you that the couch you just bought will definitely be delivered with care, assembled for you and that you will love it for many, many years to come? Oh, and gave you a hug before you left her shop? That’s me and that’s SOBU!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Start with what comes easily. What do you love to do? If you love it, it’s easy! I love creating. I studied film and photography and when that image started to slowly appear on the paper in the chemical bath of the darkroom, it made my heart race. Magic!

I landed a job at my college’s daily newspaper laying out the pages using a very early page layout software called Pagemaker. I exaggerating my computer skills just a bit during my interview, but I went in with confidence and learned on the job (nice co-workers took pity on me and helped me learn).

I certainly did not know it at the time, but that job was the seed for my graphic design career and ended up defining my professional career, and is at the heart of our brand SOBU. Actual experience goes above and beyond school often! I haven’t taken one graphic design course in my life, but was thrown into it and learned incredible skills on the job.

In building a business, you have to be patient and that’s why it is so important to love it as it will be the most demanding job you’ve ever had. Patience will allow you to deal with the stress and to take the slower months in stride. We never expected huge year-to-year growth and instead were so pleased when there was any small increase in sales and visits to our site and shop. Patience also allows you to grow slowly and strongly instead of pushing for big numbers that in turn cannot be supported with the same level of customer care and service that our brand is known for. We have stayed true to our brand’s mission by exercising patience.

I worked for really huge, professional and established companies before we launched our brand and that experience was just absolutely invaluable to what I ended up bringing to the table for my own company. I learned how to be a working professional. I learned how to meet deadlines and produce professional quality work. I also gained a clear understanding of what I didn’t want to emulate if I ever started my own company! Wow, that was almost even more invaluable to me. I didn’t want a huge company. I didn’t love cubicles and huge meetings. I wanted to stay small and cozy and personal. I wanted to run a small business. Going big and corporate was just not my vibe and soul. I want to connect with each of my employees on a personal level and know them well. I learned that big numbers and big money was not my motivator. Big heart and soul was! I take that to the SOBU table every day.

To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?

I give a lot of kudos to my parents for just letting me be in terms of my career choices and how I was going to lead my life. They never intervened and dropped hints explicit or otherwise, on what I should major in college, where I should live, when and if I should have kids, etc. They respected my choices and by not intervening and judging, they quietly and strongly communicated to me that they respected my choices and that they had confidence in my decision-making.

I credit my parents for my strong sense of self, calm, and self-esteem. I think they would have possibly steered me in a different direction than the arts and creativity had I asked them for their advice and thoughts on film and photography as a major! The arts are not the traditional and highly respected career paths for Iranians who tend to push their kids towards the medical world and careers in engineering and the law. Not for me and thank god! I would have been miserable and I would have failed. Here’s to parents who let their kids be and not force them into anything. In the long run, that never works out.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sobusobu.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sobuoakland/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/sobu-oakland