Episode Transcript
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Jeff (00:06):
Welcome back to Art Supply
Insiders.
My name is Jeff Morrow andtoday we're talking with Victor
Vélez.
Victor is the founder and CEOof Hobby Art International
Supply.
Some people know them as HAISupply.
Victor, how are you doing today?
Victor (00:24):
I'm doing all right,
Jeff.
How are you?
Jeff (00:26):
Fine, did I butcher your
last name?
Did I get it right, vélez?
Victor (00:30):
Yes, that's correct.
Jeff (00:31):
Oh, you guys, I'm terrible
with people's last names, so
thanks so much for coming ontoday.
Can you tell us a little bitabout HAI, who you are?
What is it that you do?
Victor (00:42):
Sure.
So HAI is short for Hobby ArtInternational Supply, and we are
a company that is focused onmostly embellishments.
We started with washi tapes, wefound a really big audience
(01:03):
with our sequins, jewels andgems, and we've been around
since 2016.
So we're approaching sevenyears.
I think this year if I'mcounting that correctly, october
we will be is when we celebrateour anniversary, and what's so
(01:26):
cool about October is that wehave every year a scrapbook expo
.
Comes by my hometown and itjust works out so perfect
because every time that theywould be in town, we're partying
anyway.
Jeff (01:44):
So you say your hometown.
Where is that at?
Victor (01:47):
It's in Sacramento,
California, Northern California.
Jeff (01:51):
Oh, a scrapbook expo.
Is that a big show that comesto town?
Victor (01:56):
Oh, they come to town,
they go all over the country.
I think they may also do Canada, I'm not quite sure.
But yeah, they are quite acircuit that people are part of,
and I only have a small Prius.
I can't load all of my thingsin there.
(02:17):
So I'm very fortunate that thishappens to be one of their
stops.
Jeff (02:23):
That's great.
You said a word that I'm notreal sure I understand.
You said washi tapes.
What is washi tapes?
What is that?
Victor (02:37):
Well, washi.
So these are like two separatethings.
So you have the washi paper andthen the washi paper you turn
into whatever.
So the washi paper the mostcommon form that we see it, as
is rice paper.
So rather you're talking aboutjust straight rice paper that
(03:00):
you can decorate and somethingthat would have a print already
on it.
People use it for journaling,to highlight things in their
calendars, assembling stufftogether.
Some people use a morelightweight form, and when I say
lightweight I'm talking aboutthe pack, when it comes to the
(03:20):
tape to hold things down onthere, the tools for stamping,
you know, or you want to holdthe magnets in place.
I forget what those tools arecalled.
And washi traditional washi hasbeen around for ages,
(03:41):
traditionally made from the barktrees of what is it called In
Japan it's Kozo, Gampi andMitsu-mata trees and the factory
.
They grow the trees in theirfacility, in their yard, and
(04:01):
they're not huge trees like howwe're used to seeing, like big
trees in California, red woodstuff like that.
These are literally small treesthat are probably as big as any
given forearm.
By the time they get to acertain height, they're chopped
down, steamed to loosen the bark, ripped by hand, beaten to a
(04:21):
pulp, to the finest shreds, andthen they make paper out of that
.
It's quite a process.
Jeff (04:26):
Wow, have you actually
seen the process being made?
Victor (04:32):
I have, and it's
incredible the process.
It does take a long time from Ato Z, but because those trees
are growing year round and thiscompany's getting that stuff
year round, all handmade, mindyou, there is no electronic
machinery.
(04:52):
When it comes to thetraditional paper and the
traditional paper, it's verystrong fibers, some of the
strongest that I've seen.
I believe they're industrialgrade.
Well, one of the products thatwe offer would be considered
industrial grade.
Jeff (05:07):
Wow, and it's all done by
hand.
Victor (05:11):
For the traditional
washi tapes.
Well, of course, excuse me forthe traditional washi papers,
yeah, they're all done by hand.
Now there are plenty that aredone by machine.
There's no shortage of that.
The ones that are done by hand,those are more true to
(05:31):
tradition processes, and you canreally feel the difference in
the quality of the paper.
Rather, you're rubbing it withyour hands or just the sound of
the paper carrying and is that?
Jeff (05:47):
do you sell exclusively
the handmade paper?
Victor (05:51):
I don't sell them
exclusively.
I do have one set which iscalled.
It's a six by six Japanesehandmade paper.
I believe that's the title.
I couldn't make that any moreforward than that.
But when you have it in hand,that's when you actually feel
(06:16):
the difference betweencommercial washi and this kind
of washi.
Jeff (06:23):
Okay, so there's washi
paper and there's washi tape.
Is that?
Did I get that right?
Victor (06:30):
That's correct.
So there's adhesive versions ofwashi, so it basically would go
through the same process.
The tapes are typically donewith the rice paper as opposed
to the bark, and what happens isyou run it through the machine
and you print your style onthere.
(06:51):
That same machine applies theadhesive at whatever grade,
turns into a roll and then youcut that however you see fit.
Or one of our newer products isa six by six adhesive washi
(07:13):
sheets, and those are made fromrice paper and the adhesive on
that is just as great a qualityas all of the other tapes that
we apparently offer.
Jeff (07:26):
So you said an adhesive
washi sheet, and why would you
need an adhesive washi sheet asopposed to tape?
Victor (07:39):
Well, they basically
they don't exactly serve the
same function.
So, when it comes to the tapes,you have a roll and the roll is
going to be continuous.
And when it comes to the sheets, when we introduced the washi
sheets initially, they were usedto easily decorate a card.
(08:02):
So it takes up so much morespace or, excuse me, it utilizes
so much more space on a card todesign, decorate, and you have
a whole sheet that you canreally play with.
You can run it through punchesso seamlessly and die cuts as
(08:22):
well.
Jeff (08:23):
Wow, there's a whole lot
of this stuff that I have
absolutely no knowledge of atall, and I was looking on your
website and I saw these words atwashi pool.
What is a washi pool?
Victor (08:39):
Yeah, so a washi pool is
a system that we had
implemented a little over a yearago and what it is?
It is a program that targetsparticularly small businesses or
independent artists orcreatives that are looking for a
(09:01):
new avenue for offering theirproducts, whether it's a drawing
or something that complementswhatever they have in house, and
they don't want to have a hugerisk of purchasing hundreds of
tapes at a time if they don'tknow how it's going to work out
(09:22):
for them.
And I had worked out a deal witha few people when I first
started this, which is if thisselect group of accounts or
clients that I've had greatrelationships with are
(09:45):
interested in doing some kind ofcustom tapes that would work
well with their audience,because every region is
different, with their styles andwhat they're fans of.
So rather, we're talking aboutMichigan.
You know, with the Great Lakes,great Lake designs are super
(10:08):
popular there.
Those same designs may not workwell in Arizona, but in Arizona
, you know, they may be more hipto cacti, you know type of
succulents.
They would be able to opt thoseoriginals for their stores as
well.
So, with the WashiPool is acollective of individuals,
(10:33):
businesses, artists that we puttogether and a huge order to our
facilities to meet the demand,to make a product as top tier as
anybody you can compete with inthe big stores.
Jeff (10:52):
It sounds like you take a
when you say pool a group of
people from the same area thatall have interest in the same
type of design.
Did I get that kind of right?
Victor (11:05):
Not the same area, maybe
the same industry.
So if you stay safe, forexample, you are in Southern
California and Holly I don'tknow how far you are from LA,
but you know Hollywood bigtourist thing, and you have the
Michigan's with the Great Lakesand Arizona with the cacti, and
(11:30):
you have a particular design.
But you don't want to do athousand units of a particular
product, because what if youonly sell a hundred?
What if you just sell 50?
And when it comes to the pool,your minimums are low, your
(11:50):
discounts are high, which yieldsyou a much larger profit margin
.
And if the items that you havewhere you just you know pretty
much for under a hundred bucks,you can get quite a few rolls of
tape per design, just to getyour feet wet and see how well
(12:11):
the stuff performs in your shop.
Jeff (12:15):
So what would be the
process for requesting a custom
design for a washi tape?
Victor (12:22):
So if you have a design
in mind, you would come to us
and say, hey, I'm looking for aservice to put this design
whether it's hand drawn orcomputer drawn, you know.
If it's yours, you know I wantto try and sell this thing as a
(12:42):
tape.
You know what does that looklike.
And then, based on that, we saythis is our minimum under a
hundred dollars.
That includes the shipping inmost cases.
For a, the most popular size isa 15 millimeter length by 32
feet of hate, and I believe thatis one, believe that's 150 or
(13:08):
100 rolls.
I believe it's known as 50rolls.
Jeff (13:11):
When will the next custom
washi tape pool be open for
submission?
Is there a certain times theycan do it?
Victor (13:19):
Yes, so we have the pool
open quarterly.
If you wanted to just go aheadof the line, and you know, say
you have, say you did join thepool and you know you started
seeing success with your tapesto the point where now you don't
, now you need tapes by by thehundreds.
(13:42):
You know you can.
You can do that directly.
Your pricing will be a littlebit different, but you can go
ahead of the line.
Otherwise, every quarter iswhen we open the pool and in
this particular case, the nextopening will be for the entire
month of August.
So, starting in August, you canreach out to us.
(14:05):
You can check out, subscribe toour news letters or our link
tree.
In our link tree you getupdates when we put in a change
on there or when something popsup that says washi pool open.
You fill out a form, we get incontact with you and, depending
on on your needs, we see if wecan do something.
Jeff (14:28):
Now you said link tree.
I'm assuming that that you'rereferring to your, your website,
is that right?
Victor (14:35):
Yes, so a link tree.
We have our newsletter from ourwebsite and we also have a link
tree to.
So a link tree is a web pagewhere is just a bunch of
shortcuts, so the shortcuts toour retail site, shortcuts to
our social media's YouTube,facebook, tiktok and then the
(15:01):
business links at the bottom andeverything else like that.
The link tree is like a sitemap type of thing.
Jeff (15:11):
And what is your website
address?
Victor (15:14):
So our consumer website
is haisupplydirectcom, our
business to business ishaisupplycom, and there's also
links on both pages to get youwhere you need to go.
Jeff (15:34):
Let's go back to the
beginning a little bit.
What prompted you to get intothis washi paper and washi tape
business?
I mean, go back to 2015 andyou're thinking about what
should we be doing and all of asudden, you come up and said, ah
, washi tape.
How did all that happen?
Victor (15:54):
Well, I used to work for
a company called Kurataki Zig,
which they're very popular fortheir Wink of Stella's
Ganjaitambi.
It's a ink factory for the mostpart.
They do lots of varieties ofwriting utensils, markers, art
(16:19):
supplies and stuff like that.
That's how I got introduced tothis business and I gotta tell
you I fell in love with so manypeople and the industry itself.
It's wonderful that people aregreat and everybody has just
this energy that I can feed offof.
(16:40):
You're talking with nothing butentrepreneurs in this industry
at least how I run my businessand I love feeding off of the
energy of people.
They have their own businesses,they own their own calendars
and they're doing great, andthat's something that I just
(17:03):
fell in love with.
When it came time to depart fromthe company, I didn't realize
how much I would actually missall those people, because we had
at least a little over 100accounts and I had managed about
50, and a couple of them werein my backyard, where I was able
(17:25):
to create a much strongerrelationship with.
And when I found myself missingthe business, I went back to one
of my older clients, stephanieNishikawa, who owns the Paper
Garden Paper Garden boutiquehere in Sacramento, and I just
(17:47):
was picking her brain and shewas really happy to throw some
suggestions my way.
And washi tape is where Iactually got started and in my
very first batch of washi tape Igot to say was one heck of a
learning experience, because itwas a but.
And the reason why I say thatis because that's when I learned
(18:09):
about there are a variety ofquality of tapes that you can
come across and when you ask forsomething, you'll get what you
ask for.
You have to be really specificon what it is and I learned that
the hard way.
And, yes, they're going to giveyou the tape.
(18:29):
I don't like the way thisperforms, yeah, but you want it
to take there.
Jeff (18:34):
They're very literal.
Victor (18:35):
Yes, absolutely.
So.
I mean, I couldn't continuedoing that, because I have a
product that I'm putting my namebehind now and I have to be in
a position where you know whatkind.
Who do I want to be?
(18:57):
Do I want to be the discount orselling sub par products, you
know?
Or do I want to be the guy thatyou can rely on for a quality
product, you know, and somebodythat really pays attention to
the things that you have?
I want you to be happy with myproduct, you know, and if
(19:17):
something is wrong with it, I,you know I have to.
I have to hear about it anddecide that I want to continue
with it or how can I improve it,or you know what to do.
But quality products aresomething that is really
important to me, because I wantsomething in someone's hands
that I know when they use itIt'll be just as good.
(19:42):
You know, further down the line, as a thing ages and when they
look at it, it looks like youmade it not too long ago.
Jeff (19:52):
That's great.
Let me go back to the, to thewashi sheets, and you may have
covered this, but I've noticedthis this term a you Zen washi
as opposed to a washi sheet Arethey the same thing?
What's what's the difference,if there's anything different
between them?
Victor (20:11):
I believe they are the
Essentially the same.
I do believe that using reallyrefers more to the traditional
part of the Making of the paper.
So while both products ratherit comes from A tree bark or
(20:38):
another one that comes from ricethey're both considered washi.
I have found that the termusing is a key word that leans
towards Suggesting that theproduct is more traditional.
Jeff (20:55):
Tell me, is there any kind
of special techniques or tips
For using the six by six washisheets in in our audience?
Crafts.
Victor (21:05):
Yes, so when the new
items come out in August, when
the new items come out in August, rest assured, all the products
that you may already have,rather, you have dies from
tailored expressions, mama,elephant, all of these a
wonderful company you can useour, our product with their
(21:32):
product.
So you know, when you havethese dies of shapes that's just
laying around and you havethese new tapes, you'll be able
to cut out new designs of, youknow, flowers or Bugs or
whatever your flavor is when itcomes to Decorating, rather a
(21:54):
card, or or the house on, or thehouse that.
I know some people like puttingthis stuff on the wall, even
kids, hmm, hmm, really yes,butterflies and cutouts and
stuff like that.
Jeff (22:08):
Do you have a YouTube page
that shows your products being
used by certain artists?
Victor (22:17):
Absolutely so.
On YouTube I have a playlistwhere I, when, when somebody
uses my products there, I justadd it to that playlist so
You'll find it on the link tree.
Otherwise it's you to Dot comsfor flash ha I supply.
(22:39):
And then there is a tab thatsays playlists and and in that
playlist, the very first one, Ibelieve, is the only one that
says made with HAI, and thenyou'll see just Everybody that
has that I've ever found usingmy product in in their own way
(22:59):
there.
So rather, we're talking aboutLynn from healthy handcrafted,
or Carissa, carissa Wiley, orjust so, so many, so many people
that All, all their names Justnow just crashed into my head.
I like name all these people,of course, but yeah, a lot of
(23:23):
wonderful people.
Jeff (23:24):
So it is just kind of an
oddball question what's the most
unique thing You've ever seenused with washi tape or washi
paper?
Does anything just stand out inyour head?
Victor (23:39):
Yes, one particular
thing does stand out in my head.
I was visiting Stephanie atPaper Garden and she is located
next to Kaiser Permanente, so alot of the employees, when they
just want to break, they wouldcome by and stop at her shop and
they would just exercise theircreativity.
(23:59):
And I was there one day andthis lady took my rhinestones
and took some of my usedNahuashi paper and she folded it
together to make this littlepurse.
It's like a little tinyhandheld, you know, you can hold
it by hand.
It looked like a really nicepurse, miniature size.
(24:21):
It had the rhinestones on theside, she had the handle.
She made everything perfectwith my product and I'm just I'm
stunned.
You know how I love howcreative people can be with
things that I can only see somuch of.
And that's one thing that Ialso love about this business is
how people can be so creativewith your own things.
Jeff (24:45):
Yeah, it's amazing what
they can do.
So we're actually comingtowards the end here, but we
haven't talked at all about yourembellishments that you offer.
Talk a little bit about that.
Victor (24:57):
These embellishments.
So this was the second productthat I had introduced to my
business and the one that peoplereally responded to when I
first got into sequins, jewels,gems well, it started with
sequins and I only thought therewere maybe five different
shapes and a hundred differentcolors.
(25:18):
And it actually turns out thatthere are thousands of shapes in
so many different sizes andstill with the hundreds of
colors, which makes combinationsjust virtually infinite.
And when I started introducingthese iridescent pieces stars,
(25:42):
verses, blossoms, and the onlydifference is how the tips are
shaped, and just so manydifferent combinations that's
the stuff that really made mymind go wild, and everybody else
too, because you know, you cantake just a small piece of an
(26:05):
embellishment and it really putsa huge accent either on a card
or throw everything together andmake a shaker card, and it's a
wonderful way.
People use this as a finishingproduct for their own projects.
Jeff (26:25):
Well, if you are into card
making and if you've never used
washi paper or washi tape, haisupply is a place you absolutely
have to go to.
I've been to their website.
I'm going to do everything Ican to keep my wife away from it
(26:45):
so that I stay solvent anddon't lose a lot of money, but
it is an amazing website, notonly with the paper and the tape
, but your embellishments arewonderful.
Is there anything that I'veforgotten to ask you about that
(27:06):
you wanted to talk about?
Victor (27:09):
Not that I can think of
at the moment.
These new washi sheets thatcome out are, I will say it is,
a new product.
I haven't really seen much ofanything like it out there.
The quality of the paper isreally good.
(27:31):
I mean, I go as far as thetesting these things, like I
would take the adhesive to testthe adhesive, wrap it around a
glass for drinking and thenthrow it in the dishwasher and
see how well it stands.
It stands.
Jeff (27:50):
Well, it sounds like
you've got a lot of really cool
things coming out Again.
Give our audience the websiteaddress.
Victor (27:58):
Haisupplycom is the main
website B2B.
Haisupplydirectcom is the enduser website.
Both sites have the appropriatelinks to get you to where you
need to go to find what you'relooking for.
(28:18):
So if you are a business owner,an artist, looking to have
stuff in your shop, haisupply iswhere you want to go.
If you want to just get thestuff and play with it and have
at it, haisupplydirect is whereyou want to go.
Go there Every week.
(28:39):
We pick a random 20 items onsale for 20% off the entire week
.
No codes required.
These are literally at random.
Even new products can sometimesfind its way into the weekly
sale.
Jeff (28:58):
Wow, victor, thank you so
much.
This has been an absolutelywonderful interview.
I really appreciate you beingon.
Victor (29:06):
Jeff, I thank you so
much.
Thank you so much for having meon and I hope to be on here
again.
Jeff (29:11):
We would love to have you
come back whenever you come out
with new items.
Absolutely.
Victor (29:17):
Absolutely.
Thank you so much.
Jeff (29:18):
You're welcome.
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(29:40):
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