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A little about me and Mustkies Journey
I’m an entrepreneur with a background in design and luxury retail, living in White Plains with my husband Robi, our daughters Amelie and Chiara, and our rescue dogs Ginger and Coco.
I was born in France but grew up in Brazil and Taiwan as my father’s job took us around the world. After high school, I moved to London to study interior design, and have since spent most of my career working for high—end brands like Oilily, Louis Vuitton — and most recently, Shinola Detroit.
I started my first business, a multi—lingual family daycare called ‘The Boutchkies’, to address a need I saw when I was having trouble balancing young children with a corporate career. It was hard to find safe, affordable and reliable day care close to my home. So when my position was made redundant during the global financial crisis, and I still had a toddler at home, I decided to fill the gap. I created the Boutchkies Family Day Care in March 2009, and it ran successfully until 2017, when I went back to work in luxury retail, managing Shinola Detroit.
When the store closed in 2020 and the country was forced into Covid—19 isolation, I decided this was the perfect time to put my second business into action and created a unique dog bed idea called ‘The Poochkies’.
The Poochkies is a redefined dog bed that is easy to clean, hard wearing, comfortable and supremely stylish customizable for the discerning pet owner. To address the issues of cheap, poorly designed detailing, stinky inserts and fabric that was neither water resistant nor fabulous, I establish a line of niche pooch cushions using the highest quality exterior fabric, customizable in a range of stylish patterns - with a zip off top to make cleaning easy and quick! While one bed surface is drying in the sun, another can be zipped on to replace it - so your best buddy doesn’t have to resort to the cold hard floor - or your freshly washed sheets - while he’s waiting. This project combined all my passions — interior design, cratmanship, quality production — with one of my latest loves, dogs!
My creativity had been matched with the perfect project and so naturally, I got inspired to launch another product after talking to a friend about the convenience and need for the perfect cross body bag. Thus, my third business was born, ‘Mustkies’ and the Tina Crossbody Shoulder Bag launched and immediately became a huge hit due to its signature buckle, waterproof canvas and camouflage strap and lining.
With a background in design and luxury retail with well-known brands such as Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, Shinola Detroit, and Oilily - I have an eye for detail and a passion for well—made products, which is why it’s important to me to make sure these handbags and dog beds are the best in the market.
In my professional experience in luxury design, I learned not to compromise on quality in order to create a durable, versatile, and stylish product. My mother's sense of style and her eye for detail, having traveled so much herself, has also influenced my sense of design.
Mustkies is customizable, versatile in both design and function,with the highest quality of construction, fabric, and hardware. I live by my favorite quote from Audrey Hepburn that “Nothing is impossible the word itself says I am possible”. So if you have an idea, run it by me. I will make sure to create it for you!
