Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexandra Zepeda.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Alexandra. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My name is Alexandra Zepeda and I am the founder of FAKAP. Ever since I was a child, I discovered that I am creative, independent, visionary person. I have always liked to draw, create and experiment. As I grew older, I continued to develop a great vision of everything related to design and a great desire to sell whatever I could make, find or upcycle. It all started when I was ten years old and a relative gave me a box with beads and thread to make jewelry. I don’t know how or when I had the idea to start selling the bracelets that I started making, but I did.
The feeling of producing and having the opportunity to earn money from something I enjoyed doing opened my mind and left me with the need to want to get ahead and thrive for more. Months later, I continued to sell jewelry, but with higher quality materials and made a bigger profit. I was ten years old when I started making my own money.
At 12, I entered middle school. My classmates weren’t interested in buying my jewelry so I thought of another way to make money. It occurred to me that it was a good idea to do my classmates’ homework. I admit that it was wrong, but after all, I was making money and it was what I wanted in the end. I didn’t do it for long, as it seemed very repetitive and did not boost my creative side.
At 16, I was a compulsive shopper. Because of that, I had a lot of clothes and the ones I never wore piled up. So I started a Facebook account to sell my wardrobe. I remember that in less than a month, I sold all my clothes and ended up with almost nothing to sell so I started buying pre-loved clothes. I cut it, sewed it, bleached it and added applications such as studs or sequins to give it a cooler look. Days passed and I kept receiving more and more friend requests and the demand for my hand-picked items increased. I was freaking out as there were very few places where I could get affordable garments for resale, so I started making screen printed shirts to have a wider variety of products to sell.
When I was 20 years old, I moved to Los Angeles. It was 2014 and I was going to fashion school and working for an e-commerce company. Since I was gaining more experience at my job, I decided that it was necessary to give it a twist and change the name of my business and that is how FAKAP emerged. When I changed the name and began offering brand new merchandise like see-through jackets, chunky boots, holographic accessories, chokers, off-the-wall sunglasses, and eye-patterned rings, the results and demand were outrageous. I could not believe it! I went to sleep at three in the morning every day because I had to search for new products, take photos, upload content to social networks and reply to messages.
My social media increased incredibly fast. The demand was so great and many people asked me if I had a physical store, but I must admit that opening one was never in my plans. I had to return to Tijuana for reasons beyond my reach. At first, I was sad because I liked living in Los Angeles and my income was secure. Being within my comfort zone has never been my thing, so I took the opportunity to open the brick and mortar store. Fast forward to 2020, FAKAP is a business that in seven years, has grown mostly organically with a customer base of over 100,000 people on social media around the world.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
In my opinion, challenges are subjective. I think it depends on the kind of person you are and how you perceive them. When I decided to open the brick and mortar store it was more of an impulsive decision so I was rejected and questioned about the profitability of my project by supervisors, tenants, family members. However, their words never discouraged me and decided to trust my instinct like I always have. With those being one of my first obstacles, I obviously have had many others along the way but I have learned to keep my eye open and focus on a way to resolve it immediately rather than letting it get in to my head.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
FAKAP is a women led Mexican store founded in 2014 that specializes in edgy and joyful clothing and accessories for customers in Tijuana and around the world. I have always believed being different is a gift so I am always on the look to offer the most current trends at an reasonable price for those who rather express themselves through clothing. We offers personalized customer service in a detailed oriented atmosphere whether you visit our physical store or shop online.
What were you like growing up?
I think I haven’t changed completely because I can still describe myself as a rebel, creative, independent, visionary, passionate, honest, curious and stubborn person. I like meeting new people but I have always enjoyed being on my own a little bit more and I believe that makes me an omnivert.
My interests revolve around art because I love its different kinds of expressions. I enjoy fashion, reading, drawing, traveling, visiting museums, photography, learning different activities and appreciating what the world has to offer.
Pricing:
- Clothing price range $5 – $50 USD
- Accessories price range $2 – $25 USD
- Footwear price range $15 – $50 USD
Contact Info:
- Address: 942 Avenida Revolucion 211 Tijuana, BC 22000
- Website: fakapstore.com
- Phone: 6646852312
- Email: hello@fakapstore.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/fakap
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fakapstore/
Image Credit:
Walter Montalvo
Suggest a story: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
