5 Questions with Hilo de Amor
What started out as a small pop-up in Kendall Whittier and The Vault has grown into a popular retail kiosk inside Mother Road Market. We sat down with Esther Wright, owner of Hilo de Amor, to talk about her retail journey and how she ultimately started her business to help others.
What’s the story behind Hilo de Amor?
All my life I have been involved in the community by helping others. How? By feeding the homeless, supporting pastors and ministries, translating in hospitals and courts, helping other businesses and friends, and volunteering at Asbury Second Saturday. One day, I was helping prisoners through the church ministry and they asked for help. I purchased 35 bags that they made with the idea of giving them away, but I decided to sell them and donate money back to the pastor and the prisoners. We started the business to sell the 35 totes. People loved the bags and began asking for more. So here we are after 3 years!
How has Hilo de Amor grown over the past few years?
Everything started in the Kendall Whittier District. We are thankful for Jessica and to Pancho Anaya Bakery for being such a large part of our journey! When Covid started, I took the time to build our website and I learned about pixels, platforms, and everything needed to create it. We launched the website in May 2020! Our first wonderful customer was Samantha Extance and we are forever grateful to her! Mother Road Market has been a great step in our journey.
What’s your favorite part about being part of the Mother Road Market family?
We used to be a frequent event vendor in The Vault and enjoyed setting up for the day, but we LOVE to tell our customers that we now have a permanent location inside the Mother Road Market! All the people are trained to help us be successful and give us the tools and the path to open our wings and fly. I love everything about MRM and it is a great place to be.
Where else is Hilo de Amor sold?
Our bags are currently in 32 boutiques around the United States: Tulsa, Grove, Edmond, Oklahoma City, Stillwater, Neptune Beach (FL), Sewickley (PA), Oregon (OH), Fort Worth (TX), Beeville (TX), Floresville (TX), Salem (OR), Atlanta (GA), Portsmouth (VA), Holliday (TX), Sarasota (FL), Orlando (FL), Quebec (Canada) Van nuys (CA), Floresville (TX), Lafayette (LA), Camden (AL) and Lubbock (TX).
“Hilo de Amor has given me the opportunity to help many people from different backgrounds, ages, and ethnicities from Oaxaca to Oklahoma!”
What has been your favorite part about opening Hilo de Amor?
I love that we are able to give work to college students and help the community through San Miguel and the Scholarship Association. Hilo de Amor puts money directly into the hands of an original craft person. We are empowering Oaxacan families, and bringing long term solutions to an impoverished region. The Mexican state of Oaxaca is renowned for its artisans, and each one has a different story to tell. Not only do artisans put their hearts and soul into their work, but each finished product is engraved with a piece of their culture just waiting to be shared with others. These items resonate with the culture and individualism of the artisan and their families who have inherited the skills and been taught the traditions that have been used for many generations before.
