We were lucky to catch up with Saraí Balderrama recently and have shared our conversation below.
Saraí, so many exciting things to discuss, we can’t wait. Thanks for joining us and we appreciate you sharing your wisdom with our readers. So, maybe we can start by discussing optimism and where your optimism comes from?
Agencia de Arte is a project space focused on contemporary art, representing emerging to mid-career artists. I started Agencia de Arte alongside with my sister Lara and we were both very naive regarding what starting a company meant, but we were very clear about what we wanted to do and what we wanted to accomplish. So clear about it, that 12 years later, full of changes, ups and downs, beautiful surprises and others not that pretty, we are still on the same path, with the same goal on our minds, becoming a reference in emergent side of the contemporary art world in México. Not only a reference within collectors, Agencia de Arte being the most important and credible art platform regarding emergent artists, but a reference with artists as well, being known as a company that works professionally, taking care of the interests of the artist, the dealers (us) and the clients.
In Agencia de Arte, I am the one responsable of sales, 99% of the total sales are due by me, so having your paycheck depend on how many sales you do per month, you have to get into a positive mind set, there is no other way to do it, this, if you want to enjoy your work and your life.
So every day of the year I try to wake up with happiness, being grateful for the opportunity life and God granted me of spending my time on my dearest passion and hobby, making it my job. I think it works a little bit as fake it til you make it, I make my mind and body pretend sales are going great, even though sometimes this is nothing aligned to reality, and literally trust that by the end of the month I am going to make it to my goal or even break it. Sometimes I do, sometimes I dont, and there have been rough times when we dont even have the capacity to cover fixed costs. When this happens, I try to make myself sure that the sales next month, are going to take care of the prior one, and guess what? it has happened!
So, being optimistic, is the story of my life, is something that I apply every single day in every part of my life, within my personal goals, my relationship with my partner, my family, my job.
The most important thing that helps me being an optimistic person, is that I am 100% sure that there is someone, something, personally I call it God, that is always providing for me, taking care of me, guiding me, helping me take the best decisions, and if at some point a decision wasnt the right one for a good business, I know I took the decision in order to learn something, and I know that if we had a rough couple of months, couple of years, we had to go through that in order to learn something. So, the good and the bad, at the end of the day we had to live it, it was the way it was supposed to be, so it is good!
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
My name is Saraí Balderrama and I am from Sinaloa, México. I grew up with 3 sisters, 1 brother, and my two parents. My mom was a house wife, and had a beautiful hobby, selling art on her spare time, which years later became my inspiration for what I wanted to do with my life professionally. My dad on the other side worked in his family business, two hundred percent committed to his job and expanding the business, this is where I learned what working hard meant, never surrendering and having no fears toward accomplishing your dreams. They gave me everything I could ask for, the best life, values, and the best education, for these and more, will be forever grateful with them!
Since I was young, I was exposed to changes, we moved to different cities, even to a different country. This led my personality to be curious of different cultures, exploring different scenarios, people, traveling.
So, after moving with my family to different places, I moved by myself to Monterrey to start my college degree in International Relations. While there, I decided to do a year abroad Paris. After finishing college, I did a masters in International Business, in México, Milano, Sidney and New York. After my masters, I decided to move back to México City in order to start working, started in a textile company, and a year and a half later I quit and started with my sister our dream job Agencia de Arte. Years later I did a masters in Arte Contemporáneo, mercado y negocios at Centro in collaboration with Sothebys.
Agencia de Arte works as a platform in which we represent the work of different artists, emergent and mid career. Some of the emergent artists we work with are not yet represented by a gallery, so we are the trampoline of the artist to a formal gallery, that at the moment they are signed, their prices incur a significant price increase.
In Agencia de Arte I am the person in charge of the relationship with artists, clients, and sales. It is very exciting and ever changing the role I play, since there is no day similar to the other one. One day I might be visiting an artist studio in order to give feedback, the other day I might be at a clients house, the other day at the office, the other day visiting a gallery to see their new show, visiting a museum to view its latest exhibit its also part of the job, traveling to do an auction, to deliver a piece, see a client, an artist or even visiting an art fair at the other side of the world. This is all part of the job, and I find it wonderful, exciting and inspiring. As the owner of Agencia de Arte, I am extremely grateful that I can play with my time, and I can turn a business trip into a vacation as well, or even have the opportunity to take time off whenever I need it or want to.
Another thing that I love about our company, is that we can get creative and do whatever event, dynamic that pop into our minds, so, at the end of the day, even though we are not the artists, we are demanded to be creative in order to get new clients through different events, such as: dinners inspired in the work of an artist, auctions, live auctions through instagram, (we implemented this during lockdown), art fais, art sales, exhibits in museums, collaboration with other galleries, and so on.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
determination, resilience, optimism.
Believe in yourself and in your project, invest in yourself, be grateful for the opportunity, keep on going, keep shinning!
Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?
My dad, and not because I have ever talked to him about my challenges with my business, because I have actually never had a real conversation with him about it, but because of example, because what I have seen in him, being up and being low. Facing all kinds of challenged and yet having to sustain and family of 7 persons, giving each of his kids the best education and opportunities he could ever give us. Seeing his values, his ethical way of doing business, and being 71 years old working as if he was 40. Not minding times, sicknesses, limitations, always looking for the next big opportunity and working towards it. Enjoying life and being very generous!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.agenciadearte.mx
- Instagram: agenciadearte.mx
- Linkedin: Sarai Balderrama
Image Credits
no credits needed
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
