We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Gabby & Eric Trujillo. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Gabby & Eric below.
Hi Gabby & Eric, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
Eric – I can say I get my work ethic from both of my grandfathers. My fraternal grandfather has worked in several different fields throughout his lifetime. He started working at a grocery store for about 2 years. Then at the age of 18 he decided to play the accordion with different bands as a side gig. His love for music inspired him to continue to thrive and work hard at everything he did. He’s never read a music sheet in his life, but he can definitely play a song without missing a beat. My grandfather made a name for himself, and everyone knows Sonny Trujillo the accordion player. While working as a musician part-time he also served 2yrs. in the United States Army. After serving his country he worked for the State of Texas for 35yrs. My maternal grandfather has been working since he was 10yrs. old out in the fields with his parents. As he grew older, he started working at Pepsi for 15 years. Afterwards, he decided to have his own business and opened a small shack that served food for about 2 years. Then he moved on to work at Coke Cola for 10 years. He decided to take the risk of owning his own business again. He opened a restaurant in Austin, TX called Alonzo’s Tacos which stayed open for 27 years until he retired. Everyone in the Austin – Montopolis area knew my grandfather and that’s how he built his name. Both of my grandfathers have managed to push forward and strive for a life they dreamt of and despite every obstacle they faced they managed to overcome it. I try to always look forward and be at least a few steps ahead; because I know that despite what life may give me, I’ll manage to take it with pride.
Gabby – I get my work ethic from both of my parents. My mom started working when she was out of High School at a grocery store. She worked until she was 26 yrs. old; she married my father when she was 25yrs. and a year later I came along. She became a stay-at-home mom until I went to High School where she worked three jobs. I would see how tired she was and despite the exhaustion she still managed to do all of the housework and cook for us. My mom never stopped moving, she was constantly on her feet and made sure everyone had what they needed. My father started working as a carpenter at 9yrs old. During the summer he would go with his father to work at different job sites where he was able to learn the trade. At the age of 14 he started working as a carpenter full-time to help his parents financially and put his siblings through school. The house my brother and I grew up in was literally built from the ground up by my father who had help from both of my grandfathers, my uncle, and my father’s best friends. After he married my mother, he started working in the oil field & uranium plant for about 5yrs. and decided to take a risk and change his career to carpentry. He wanted to do something that he loved and like his father, carpentry called him. He’s been a carpenter for over 30yrs, and everyone knows him as Joe and if you need something done, just call Joe! Regardless of how tired I can be or if I want to throw in the towel; I can’t. The two people who raised me never gave up and called it quits, they just worked smarter and harder. I model my work ethic off my parents’ lifestyle. I try to find a solution for the problem, resolve it, work harder, be better, and keep moving forward. Despite how many roadblocks may be set in my path I know how to knock it down and overcome.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
We make coasters, pins, pop sockets, and wood art. We sell trading cards (Pokémon, Yugioh, Digimon, & Magic the Gathering) and occasionally Funko Pops. We wanted to bring something different into the market, especially at conventions. At first, we tried experimenting with pop sockets and pins [yes, we know they have these items at conventions especially pins, but we hardly saw pop sockets] since we had a cricut machine. Eric wanted to try a few of my designs on wood so we brainstormed together and since we had just moved into our house, we tried to think of household items. That’s when we decided to make coasters because we had coasters, but they would always discolor, or the covering would break off and then the picture would get ruined. We tried to find a way to make coasters better and last longer than just a few months, which the answer was clear, resin, no pun intended. And that’s how we came up with our products. All our coasters, pins, and pop sockets are coated in resin to make it last longer. We’re adding new designs to shows we already have and of course we’re adding new shows to put on our products. So, if you have any recommendations on shows that you would like to see on our products let us know on our social platforms. We’ve upgraded some of our products to have durability and quality. Our pins have screws in them now so they can’t break easily, and the pin backs have locks on them, so they don’t fall off. All our woodwork has a higher quality design. We’ve upgraded our laser machine, which gives our designs a higher quality and resolution. So, any wood art piece that we create has intricate details now compared to where we were two years ago. We’ve recently launched a few new products: bento boxes, bottle openers, and charcuterie boards. Again, sticking with the household items because we don’t see enough household items for the geeks, otakus, and weebs. We cater to the fans of anime, comics, movies, etc. Even though we only have anime products it doesn’t mean we don’t do custom orders. We’re hoping to launch our website soon but we’re still discussing the theme and how we want the site to appear as well as making it easy to navigate through.
We have several events coming up this year and we’re super excited. We also have a few pending and we’re still applying for more conventions throughout the year so keep an eye on our social media for event updates.
April 15th – 16th : Riverwalk Anime in San Antonio, TX
April 22nd – 23rd : Anime Las Vegas in Las Vegas, NV
June 2nd – 3rd : YumiCon in San Antonio, TX
July 15th – 16th : 8-Bit Block Party in New Braunfels, TX
July 28th – 30th : Corpus Christi Comic Con in Corpus Christi, TX
August 26th – 27th : RGV Super Anime Fest in Harlingen, TX
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?
I believe we got this far due to perseverance, hard work, and networking. Honestly, perseverance and hard work come hand in hand. We weren’t positive if we could do this on our own, but despite our doubts we decided to test how our products would do at our first convention, Anime Fiesta. Our first convention taught us a lot: what we needed to work on, how to improve our business skills, and how to communicate with people, being ourselves. Even though we doubted ourselves we managed to brush off the doubt and take that big step and see where our journey would lead us. I’m still working on my networking skills, but I can say Eric has that in the bag. He’s a natural and people person; he’s definitely an extrovert and I on the other hand, not so much. I think that’s why we compliment each other so well. Where I falter at, he excels and vice versa. We’ve faced several roadblocks throughout our business venture but somehow, we’ve managed to come out on top even with a few “battle wounds.”
For those who are starting out their business journey don’t be scared. We know that it is scary at first and risky but despite all the fears and doubts it’s worth everything. Having a business career and doing what you love is worthwhile especially when you make your first sale, your first big sale, when you get your first compliment, and your first fan. It’s all worth it because you’re pushing yourself to go beyond what you had perceived your limits to be and by pushing forward you have an understanding that the only limits you have are what you put on yourself. If you’re an introvert like me take steps to talk to people and network yourself out. Have premade questions for yourself and when you’re ready to discuss them with someone ask them those questions. Sooner or later networking will become natural to you. If you ever come across a roadblock don’t be afraid to talk about the issue at hand with your partner and if you don’t have a partner, then don’t be afraid to discuss it with someone you trust. There’s only so much a single person can do on their own but with a teammate, anything can be accomplished. Always remember that not everything is easy or comes easily, it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to make something happen. Keep your head up and move forward; embrace what life gives you and take it head-on with a smile.
What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?
Eric – My woodworking skills have improved within the past 12 months. Despite having a 5-watt laser engraver I was able to improve my artwork by redesigning and coding my work. By redesigning and coding each individual design I was able to improve the resolution of each piece. I’m happy to say that I designed my first big piece, called, “The Big Three.” The Big Three is a reference for anime and only three shows were coined “The Big Three,” which is One Piece, Bleach, and Naruto. The design also has Goku on it as a reference for passing on the torch to the new generation of anime or the “grandfather” of anime. I’m currently on the venture of getting the piece signed by the voice actors. Currently, I have Maile Flanagan’s autograph who voices Naruto and Sean Schemmel’s autograph who voices Goku from the DBZ Series. Our next autograph will be Colleen Clinkenbeard who voices Luffy; we’ll be seeing her at Riverwalk Anime on April 15th – 16th. We’re hoping to have Johnny Yong Bosch sign the wood piece at Anime Las Vegas on April 22nd – 23rd or at Corpus Christi Comic Con on July 28th – 30th . The wood piece is also JSA as well and we’ve been updating it after every signature. I’m fortunate enough that I started off with my X-Tool and was able to learn and improve my skills. Now that I’ve upgraded my laser to a 40-watt I’ve seen a huge difference in my work. My wood art pieces are detailed, and the resolution is ten times better than before. I’m forever grateful to be able to meet others who work with a laser and have coached me and continue to coach me on how to improve my work.
Gabby – I’ve tried improving my work as much as I can. For starters all my pins and pop socket prints are no longer on card stock but on sticker paper. I found that sticker paper is easier to use, and the designs are brighter; so, it makes each design pop and shiner! We’re slowly shifting over to a newer and improved product. As for our coasters we need to do more tests to see how stable the sticker paper is as of right now it needs improvement. I’ve been watching several How To videos so I can learn different skills using my Adobe Creative Cloud. I’ve found that my design skills are slowly improving which is nice. I’ve also been taking several business seminars so that I can improve and help our business grow. I’ve also been discussing business improvements with other vendors which has been a tremendous help.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/getspropshop
- Instagram: @getspropshop
- Facebook: GET’s Prop Shop & More
- TikTok: @getspropshop
