Meet Diana Leutenegger | Co-founder of MomoDesigns

We had the good fortune of connecting with Diana Leutenegger and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Diana, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
My best friend from College (Naty) and I always dreamt of starting a business together doing something we are passionate about. One thing we are passionate about is our Colombian roots and heritage. We are proud of our values, family traditions and artisanal goods.

We are also passionate about fashion, high-quality products and helping others. Over the years, every time I have returned from my home-country visits, people would ask where did you buy the purses, jewelry or shoes? I would proudly say: COLOMBIA!. So, I asked my friend, wouldn’t be great to showcase Colombian handcrafted leather goods? I know many people (like me) appreciate small-batched, ethically-produced items and why not share with my fellow Coloradans that Colombia is a LOT more than bad news in the media.

This is how we launched MomoDesigns. I wasn’t wrong, I have been surprised by people’s response to our initiatives and mission. We are happy in providing jobs and job security to small community of hard-working Colombian women that are the primary income earners for their families. They are proud in their trade, using traditional handcrafting techniques in making leather goods. The goods are labor-intensive and made the majority by hand.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Prior to finishing my major in Business and getting my Bachelor’s degree from EAFIT University in Medellin, Colombia, I entered a student exchange program in Indiana University – best experience ever! It expanded my horizons and it gave me wings. I learned more about life than anything else (I also fell more in love with English). Right after Indiana, I got a job at a Private Medical Company and my career in the medical industry started. I am grateful because I’ve had the opportunity to meet wonderful people, I studied like crazy, pushed myself hard and I’ve travel both domestically and internationally extensively. After twenty years working in the medical industry, my best friend and I decided to take an alternate, creative route.

With MomoDesigns we love designing purses, choosing the leather, working with local tanneries, suppliers and learning from the wonderful group of skilled women who carefully cut, stitch, hand paint and assemble each piece. Their process of making a handmade purse involves a high level of attention to detail and craftsmanship, resulting in a unique and high-quality product.

We also want to contribute to reducing waste during the production of our leather bags, that’s why at MomoDesigns we make the effort to utilize entire leather sheets and remaining leftovers or scraps that we use for designing small wallets, bag charms and other small items. By doing this, we are reducing the amount of waste that would otherwise end up in landfills.

In the future, we are working to launch tribal jewelry made by Indigenous women from the Southwest region of Colombia. We had the opportunity to meet some amazing women part of the two ethnic groups: Inga and Kamentsa. What is inspiring about their story (and other indigenous groups as well) is  that despite much inequality and injustices, they have embarked on a remarkable path of self-determination to strengthen their indigenous identities and practices to their ancestral way of life and traditions, their art is a way to express to share it with the world.

Whatever I am doing from now on, I want to do it with my whole heart while helping out other women and having lots of fun along the way. I have come to believe that life isn’t about the destination, it’s about the journey and I want to enjoy every bit of my journey for as long as it lasts!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If a friend was visiting during the summer- Day 1. I would take her for paddle boarding in Carter Lake and spend all day there with picnic included. Day 2. I would take her for a hard-core hiking on Mount Sanitas Trial in Boulder. Day 3.- We would go to Boulder downtown browsing some of the cutest shops in Pearl Street – I love Bliss Boutique, Two Hands paperie, Lush and Ku Cha House of Tea. Dinner, I would go to Jax for seafood or if the mood for Italian I’d go to Pasta’s Jays or Sforno Tratoria Romana. Day 4 -I’d take her to do a small road trip to Eldora and Nederland to start experiencing the foot hills  and at end the day at St Julien for a nice, relaxing massage. Day 5-7. we’d head for a gorgeous, scenery trip through the Rocky Mountains: Vail and Glenwood Springs. In Glenwood I would take her to the caverns, the hot springs and to the amusement park on top of the mountain, our way back stopping at Vail and have a wonderful Cosmopolitan followed by a decadent dinner at Lancelot.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Our lives are an amalgamation of cultures, experiences and people. So many people have left a mark in my life, I give thanks for the life I have lived and for all the people that have come (some to stay and some to leave). For all those that have touched my heart with their kindness, words of encouragement, advice and their experiences. The list is too long to add here, but in a nutshell I am grateful for the support/love from my mom, my faith, my husband, my furry-babies, my family, my best friend Naty, my friends, my neighbors, even strangers and new acquaintances I meet every day.

We are not self-made, we are a product of our environment and our communities, we are more interconnected than we’d like to acknowledge. Regarding books, I love them – they are my great friends. I have read all of Brene Brown’s books (Gifts of Imperfection woke me up) as well as Dr. Edith Eger (“The Gift” will change your life) and Pema Chodron (“The Places that Scare You” empowered me). I also loved reading “The Psychology of Money”, “Grit”, “You Are Your Best Thing” and “Finding Me” (again the list is too long!)

Website: www.momodesignsllc.com

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Image Credits
Diana Leutenegger Natalia Saldarriaga