Meet Margarita Bravo | Founder & Chief Creative Officer

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

Hi Margarita, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Several factors come to mind when answering this question. First, I always wanted to control of my own schedule, the time I spend with my family. I didn’t want to rely on someone else to decide when I could be with my kids and my husband. Also, I always wanted to have my own business. And particularly, I always wanted to do something I really care about. This is not to say that I didn’t care for the jobs I had in the past but I always saw them as jobs. Owning your business is not a career. It is a life style that you attempt to adapt in the pursuit of personal freedom. All these factors came into my decision making process of starting my own business. Plenty of mistakes along the way with many more to come. But I would not change the opportunity to have my own company for anything else in the world. 

What should our readers know about your business?
MARGARITA BRAVO, LLC is a boutique interior design studio based out of Denver, Colorado and we have been in business for over five years. The company was founded by me and I manage it along side with my sister, Maria Bravo. We both have an engineering background. I am an industrial engineer and Maria is a Mechanical Engineer with decades of experience in design, product development and project management. Being engineers have an impact on the way we approach our family business. Essentially, we interact with local and out of state clients in four ways: 1.- We provide full cycle – end to end – interior designer services. That is, we get involved in the design phase of a project (new builds or full scope home renovations), we execute the projects – we have our own trades of GC and sub-contractors, and we provide decorating services (paint consultation, styling, furniture selection, sourcing and installation, art work sourcing and commissioning, among other many other things) so clients can have one focal point through the entire process of having their home exactly how they envision it. We have found our clients appreciate the synergy and the level of efficiencies a one-stop approach can bring to this process. 2.- We design our very own furniture line. Designed in Denver and hand made in Porto, Portugal, SORELLA (sister in Italian) furniture is designed and manufactured as a way to express our artistic views. These are made to order, one of a kind pieces tailored for clients with appreciation for unique, exclusive pieces of furniture. We are so blessed with the SORELLA initiative because we sold all of the pieces of our first collection before we went live with our website. Now our that our website is up and running we plan to add more designS to our furniture collection. 3.- We sell our own line of home decor accessories and unique items. Being engineers with a strong passion for design we can easily design unique pieces for specific client needs. We source for local craftmanship and provide one of a kind hand-made pillows, masks, home decor metal mobile, unique vanity pieces – all designed by us and made by American vendors and local artisans. 4.- LOUIS AND ROCCO. I developed an online platform for interior designers to rent styling decor accessories for short-term use (rent) for their own projects and professional photoshoots. All items are sorted by collection, room and decor type. When done with the photoshoot, they return the items in a prepaid box. Simple and efficient. We go live with louis + rocco the end of Q1 2021. We provide these offerings not only as a way to differentiate ourselves but also as a way to create more value to our clients and to provide more opportunities for the community we live in. We are two women who happen to be mothers, wives, sisters, engineers and entrepreneurs who are looking for ways to express themselves while helping along the way. A percentage of our proceeds go to charities focused on women empowerment and education.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
The Denver Art Museum is one of my top recommendations. Union Station and all the restaurants around that part of downtown. RiNo has great spots for food, drinks and fun. I particularly like Barcelona on Larimer St in the RiNo area. Cherry Creek is always a good area to walk around shop and eat. Matsuhisa is a great restaurant in that area. Denver and its outdoor parks, trails – high line canal, cherry creek, etc. Boulder, Golden, Evergreen, and the mountains of course. I can go on forever. Denver is an amazing place for family and friends.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Great question! I really appreciate that you guys are asking this. My success is not mine alone. I have never ever accomplished anything without the support of a close and extended network so I am glad you asked about them. I have to start with my family. My husband and my two boys have been with me through thick and thin. It is simply incredible to see how they have adapted to my reality and really how much they have sacrificed to make sure I do what I love. My brother-in-law for lending a hand when I needed his expertise. I also have to recognize my sister for her infinite patience. As you growth your business, you develop stronger relationships with partners and providers of products and services. Today, I have to say that the people at Circa Lighting, Pulga, Urban Lights, Tallgrass Kitchen and Bath, Ultra Design Center, Adam Lumbers, Shades and Such, Total Floor, Denver Life Magazine, Tia Lorae Story Telling, American Marble and Granite, The Tile Shop, Schumacher, and Jaipur Living just to name a few are an incredible group of professionals who are always ready to assist and go above and beyond their call of duty. I really do appreciate their support and what they do for us day in and day out. Then I have my Mom and my Dad. Their endless love is fuel to my soul. No matter what they always support me, no questions asked, providing words of comfort and wisdom.

Website: www.margaritabravo.com
Instagram: margaritabravo__
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/margarita-bravo-87b47414a
Twitter: https://twitter.com/margaritabravo_
Facebook: MARGARITA BRAVO
Yelp: MARGARITA BRAVO
Youtube: Margarita Bravo

Image Credits
Zachary Cornwell and Tia Curran