EP 362: What If Your Logo Could Carry Your Journey

What makes Alexander Machado with Custom Vibes a good neighbor?

 Alexander believes a sticker can carry more than a logo—it can carry a story. At Custom Vibes, he transforms simple designs into meaningful pieces that express a brand’s identity, a creator’s personality, or a small business’s journey. From first sketch to final peel, he shows how design, material choice, and message blend together to create a sticker people actually want to place where others will see it.

Alexander shares how Custom Vibes began with creative ideas that wouldn’t stay bottled up, leading him to take a leap into solo entrepreneurship. He opens up about the real behind-the-scenes work: mastering design tools, growing a marketing engine across Instagram, Facebook, and Nextdoor, and balancing digital reach with old-school community connection. We talk about why younger customers often drive the personalization trend, how their influence spreads to older audiences, and how a single custom order can evolve into an ongoing relationship. He also breaks down the practical side of the craft—die-cut vs. kiss-cut, matte vs. gloss, UV protection, adhesive strength—and why those tiny decisions determine whether a sticker becomes a keepsake or ends up forgotten.

What stands out most is Alexander’s belief that stickers are physical stories. Each one reflects hours of work, bold ideas, and a personal point of view—traveling through the world on laptops, water bottles, and storefronts as mini billboards for the people and brands behind them. If you’re a business, creator, or startup looking for high-impact, low-cost marketing, this conversation gives you clear tactics: start with small test runs, pair designs with simple CTAs, and let your community become your distribution network.

Custom Vibes isn’t just about stickers — it’s about capturing a small story in each design. Every piece may be just a bit of paper, but it’s created to carry meaning, personality, and a moment you can place somewhere special.

To learn more about Custom Vibes go to: www.instagram.com/customvibes.shop

Custom Vibes
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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Sophia Yvel.

SPEAKER_02 (00:10):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Are you in need of a custom logostickers company?
Well, one might be closer thanyou think.
Today I have the pleasure ofintroducing your good neighbor,
Alexander Machados, with CustomVibes.
Alexander, how are you today?

SPEAKER_00 (00:28):
Pretty good, pretty good.
Kind of sick, but it's stillgood to go.

SPEAKER_02 (00:32):
Okay.
Awesome.
Well, we're excited to learn allabout you and your business
today.
Can you start off by telling usjust a little bit about your
company?

SPEAKER_00 (00:42):
Well, I make custom seekers for small business,
personal ears, or special bands.
My goal is to bring those areasthat you have in mind to
something that you can actuallytouch and feel, and that help
express their style and helpbusiness to stand out.

SPEAKER_02 (01:00):
Amazing.
Now, how did you originally getinto this business?

SPEAKER_00 (01:05):
Well, I've been employed for years and I
consider myself a very creativeperson.
So, you know, like always haveideas.
I always like to propose to myto my bows, to my managers.
But I think because egocentrism,they don't want to hear like
those ideas of people that arejust coming in.
So I said, you know what?
I think it's a good time to useall those ideas for myself, and

(01:31):
here I am.

SPEAKER_02 (01:33):
And the idea for the custom stickers, how in the
world did you come up with thatbeing your business?

SPEAKER_00 (01:41):
Well, the same thing.
I'm a creative person too, and Ilove marketing.
So I said, like, how can Icombine these two together?
And well, I think it's a goodidea to make stickers, you know?
Because so I'm make the name ofthe company was kind of hard.
So I'm trying to be general andadd my touch on that.

(02:04):
So uh I decided to go for customvibes.
And you know, I really lovethis.
I like to make the designs, makea unique touch to combine the
ideas from other people withmine and make one unique result.
That's the thing that I lack.

SPEAKER_02 (02:21):
Now, Alexander, what is the most common myth or
misconception in your industry?

SPEAKER_00 (02:28):
Well, I think like every other business, um, being
stressed most of the time, Ithink it can be a myth, at least
for me, in my opinion.
Like um, it can be stressfulbecause you don't know like how
to do most of the things byyourself.
So I think you have to beindependent, be the in my case,

(02:51):
I'm the designer, I'm thecustomer service, I'm the sales
representative, I'm themarketing guy.
So um it was hard, of course,because behind all this, um,
behind the scenes, I have totake like all the courses,
invest in myself, invest in myown education.
Um because if you don't knowlike uh all the stuff and you

(03:14):
just wanna swim in the oceanwithout know how to swim, what
happens that you wanna die.
So I have to invest those hoursum for myself.
It was stressful.
Uh I have to sacrifice time withmy friends, family, but it's
worth it at the end.
You get disciplined and so youget independent and you have an

(03:38):
open mindset that you can workand achieve better goals.

SPEAKER_02 (03:43):
So, to sum things up, the misconception is that
it's easy to have a business.

SPEAKER_00 (03:49):
If you do know how to deal with all that all the
stuff around you and change badhabits for good habits that are
really, really hard, really,really hard, especially if
you're a younger, a youngerperson, I think it's worth it at
the end of the day.

SPEAKER_02 (04:10):
Now we know marketing is the heart of every
business.
Who are your target customers oraudience?
And in terms of marketing, yousaid you love marketing.
How do you attract them today?

SPEAKER_00 (04:23):
Well, I think I would like to focus on the on
the young people, uh, because Ithink uh the younger ones like
to express themselves in a very,very special way.
So they always like to dopersonification, and I'm
included on that.
Um, I always like to add mytouch.

(04:44):
I think for the older people,I'm not talking for everyone, of
course, but most of them Iconsider that are more
conservative.
Of course, not all of them havebeen working with other
customers that they really wantto add their touch.
And sometimes uh when they seelike those young people aren't
their own touch, they're theysay, like, you know what?
That doesn't look that bad.

(05:05):
I would like to to try it too.
So at the end of the day, it'sbasically all the people is
welcome here.
If if you add your own touch,something that you like to
something that you can actuallyfeel and touch.
So why you don't want to likeit?
It's it's your idea, it'ssomething that you want.

(05:25):
So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (05:27):
Yes, and um, what social media platforms are you
currently marketing on?

SPEAKER_00 (05:32):
Uh right now I have uh Facebook, I have Instagram,
and I'm trying to be localfirst.
So I was also next door to.
And sometimes I I'm old schooltoo, so I'm working around and
check some businesses, smallbusinesses, and I say, you know

(05:52):
what?
I think you're gonna love this.
Let me let me talk to you aboutthis.
If you have one minute, youwanna love this.
So yeah, sometimes old schoolwith new school, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (06:05):
Now, have you ever thought about having your own
branded podcast before?

SPEAKER_00 (06:11):
No, no, no, no, no.
I I never thought about that.
So it's it's really really funto say right here.
I never imagined being a podcasttalking about something that I
just made.
Uh, it's just incredible, youknow.
Like you never expect things,you that things come to you just
because the things that you do.

SPEAKER_02 (06:32):
Amen to that.
Now, please tell the listenersone thing they should remember
about custom vibes.

SPEAKER_00 (06:39):
Um, well, if you check custom vibes like in a
very superficial way, um they'rejust stickers, right?
But if you want to check itdeeply, it's not just stickers.
It all those checkers have astory behind like every small
business, um they have to workhours uh just like me to have

(07:04):
ideas and all that.
And all that hard work behindscenes is just represented in
one logo, in one thing, in oneseeker.
So yeah, you wanna you aresuperficial, they're just
seekers.
You wanna check deeply, there'sa story behind every seeker.
Every person has a story, and Iwould like to represent that

(07:25):
your story with one sticker.
Um I make stories in a physical,uh in a physical paper that you
can peel and place it in aspecial location for you.
So I think um I'm not I'm notgiving you stickers, I'm giving

(07:46):
you stories in a physical waythat you can touch and feel.

SPEAKER_02 (07:50):
So, Alexander, what our listeners really want to
know today is where can they goto learn more about custom
vibes?

SPEAKER_00 (07:59):
Well, you can check my Instagram there.
I I post really, really coolpictures um every week.
Uh, do collaborations with thebrands I've been working on, and
you can text me there or in mypersonal account in Alecito
Machado or even in my uhbusiness account, uh CustomVibes
Lab Shop.

SPEAKER_02 (08:21):
Well, Alexander, I really appreciate you being on
the show today, and we wish youand your business the best
moving forward.

SPEAKER_00 (08:28):
Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 (08:29):
Really appreciate it.
Thank you for listening to theGood Neighbor Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on the
show, go to gmpfrisco.com.
That's gmpfrisco.com or call469-221-9345.