It feels like an eternity has passed since I wrote a post, and in a way, it has. I haven't had enough time to update you on my personal and professional situation, as everything has changed so much in just a year.
To start with the most recent development, I decided to switch web providers. I've been selling online since 2019 and have used BigCartel, PrestaShop, WordPress, and Shopify, in that order. I generally try to avoid giving more money to large companies, and I was very reluctant to use Shopify, which is why I mostly used open-source platforms. I'd like to make a disclaimer about this:
Why, if we avoid buying from Shein, Amazon, and other similar platforms, do we not hesitate to use Shopify as small business owners and creators? From my point of view, it's part of the same problem: globalization and putting a service in our hands for a modest price (and depending on them forever), which is more affordable than hiring our own team of programmers and web designers. But that's precisely where the trap lies.
New Website
After many headaches using other platforms, I decided to switch to Shopify because of its ease of use. For someone like me who manages their own business, what I want is to be able to sleep soundly at night, and unfortunately, that wasn't the case for the last few months. ''Was my website not working for someone? Had the server crashed again? Would it work well on all search engines? Had someone been unable to process a payment?'' It got to the point where, managing so many things like design, production, social media, brand shipping, and so much more, I couldn't afford not to have a functional website, and that's when I had to decide to switch to my arch-nemesis, Shopify.
Having people around me dedicated to web development felt like a stab in the back, like when AI is used to create images for your business instead of hiring a team of people to do it. But I simply couldn't offer that work to anyone else, firstly because they have their own lives and it takes time, and secondly because I couldn't afford it. Shopify doesn't solve all my problems, but at least it solves the most serious ones for me, although in terms of design it's quite limited and that bothers me amongst other things.
I imagine it's not something anyone cares about more than me, but I feel hypocritical. Still, it's all I can do right now.
Currently, this was the decision I had to make. The biggest problem with WordPress was email delivery and notifications (which is probably more of a problem on my end than a problem with the platform). Customers weren't receiving their order confirmations or being able to contact me, and this caused me a lot of anxiety. No matter how hard I tried to fix it, there was no way to do so, and on top of that, I had to manage all the people worried about where their money was, which was completely understandable.
Since I work on demand, I also can't ship the garments immediately, and in fact, after the closure of the old website, I'm still only about 45% of the total orders. I imagine I'll be able to finish everything in March. I'm very sorry for the wait; it's been a unique situation in the brand's history since I decided to close my catalog, and this brings us to the next point.
YNHOIA's New Future
Why did I decide to make this change? The short answer is that I was burned out.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, in 2024, but especially in 2025, everything changed for me in many ways. But to understand this, I need to go back to the beginning of the brand in 2019. I started by selling mostly unique and one-of-a-kind pieces. I launched my first collection, but it didn't perform as I expected, so I went back to making unique items.
In 2022, I decided that it would be best to have permanent pieces within collections that would always be available on the website to order (like the Black Staples collection). Everything was going very well, and I even sought help. I managed to find a seamstress to whom I will always be grateful for her help, as it allowed the brand to expand and grow significantly over the next three years.
There came a point where having help was keeping me up at night instead of relaxing me. Suddenly, someone's livelihood depended on me, and I realized I didn't have as much work for her as I would have liked, so I had to make another difficult decision. At the end of 2024 she stopped working with me and then everything changed.
I no longer felt like I was creating from within; I was simply keeping us afloat by producing pieces that worked within the established collections in the store. Suddenly, I found myself alone facing a catalog of over 100 garments, each with its own complexity, and managing everything on my own again.
Among other challenges, 2024 and 2025 were quite difficult years for me. I no longer felt the brand represented me, I was overwhelmed because I didn't know how to promote all those products, and creating anything new no longer made sense. So I decided to stop and give myself some time to recover.
It was another tough decision, especially financially, but I'm grateful for that break; it was the right time.
Now that I'm recovered, I see the brand as what it's always been: an extension of myself. I'm eager to bring back capsule collections, unique pieces, and other items already familiar to those who have followed YNHOIA for a while, in a more flexible and manageable way, more creative and enjoyable. In short, another evolution.
Who knows if things will go well or badly in the future, but it doesn't matter; I'll always be willing to evolve.
Thank you for reading if you've made it this far. I felt I owed you an explanation all this time, and I finally felt free to do so.
Ainhoa
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