I remember when I had Zeeka. I wanted to frame and keep everything — from how little her hands were, to hair from her first haircut, etc. As parents, we want to preserve these things to show our children when they grow up and for us to preserve the happy memories. This is the mission of Cast for Keeps, a small business in the Philippines. I had a chance to interview Andrea. Andrea Aranas is the Managing Director of Cast For Keeps and this is her story.
Andrea: I am a spontaneous person. I love random things depending on my mood and as of now I am into crafts and vlogging. But the things I like that will never change is public speaking, hosting, playing sports, and trying new things. I have a small family – it’s just my husband, my daughter and me. My husband and I have been married for over a year. We love travelling by car, but we don’t really go to specific destinations. We just love to go on joyrides. I never had the chance to work as I started crafting my own business, but I want to work with public schools and help the less fortunate as this has been my advocacy since I was in grade school. I have a passion for helping the needy, especially children from to broken families.
Interview with Andrea Aranas
Ginger: What is your Startup/brand/business? What is it about? How long have you been in business?
Andrea: I do lifecasting. Where I use molds and casting techniques to capture 3D copies of the hands and feet of my clients and turn them into rare memorabilia. I only started this year.
Ginger: Who is your target market? Why did you choose this market? Can you give us the insight behind this market?
Andrea: The first lifecasts I did were for infants’ hands and feet. Then, I realized other members of the family deserve to have their own keepsakes. Lifecasting preserves the memories of my clients’ their babies and children as they grow. Then, beginning this month, I am trying out a product to cater to corporate clients.
Ginger: How did you come up with this idea? What made you decide to start this kind of business?
Andrea: I saw it randomly on the internet and thought it was cute, then I got curious and wanted to try it out.
Ginger: Were there any obstacles that you faced when you decided to pursue becoming an entrepreneur? What are these?
Andrea: It was hard to find Suppliers of the materials. I had to look for high quality items, so all
my ingredients are shipped from Australia.
Ginger: What are the greatest challenges in putting up and maintaining a business in your country?
Andrea: Well, many Filipinos are hesitant to splurge on memories. They’d be more practical.
Ginger: What are three traits that you think an entrepreneur/startup founder should have when
starting their own business?
Andrea: Willingness to take risks. Patience. Perseverance.
Ginger: What are some unforgettable moments or lessons that you learned as an entrepreneur/startup founder?
Andrea: You will always lose money in the beginning, so you should really work on capital first if you do not want to take too big a risk.
Ginger: What advice can you give to other entrepreneurs?
Andrea: Do what you love to do, but be creative.
Ginger: Do you believe that everyone should become entrepreneurs?
Andrea: Yes.
Ginger: What are ways that you can do to raise capital?
Andrea: Personally, I resell. Then, I declutter and try selling things I son’t need or making something out of them that will easily be sold.
Ginger: How do you market your products? What’s your growth strategy?
Andrea: Facebook, of course. Also advertisements, tie-ups, sponsorships, and, most importantly, word of mouth.
Ginger: What are tech tools that you use for your business?
Andrea: Nothing much. Just my smartphone.
Ginger: Thank you so much, Andrea, for sharing some tips and your experiences 🙂 And we have good news for my dear readers! Andrea will be giving away 1000 off for any services.
Mechanics to join the raffle (these are just 3 easy steps!):
- Like the Cast For Keeps Facebook page: www.facebook.com/castforkeeps
- Follow them on Instagram: @castforkeeps
- Tell us why you want to win on the comment section below!
Contact information about your business:
Email address: castforkeeps@gmail.com
Mobile Number: 09174344671
Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/castforkeeps
Instagram account: @castforkeeps
Being a mother of two young boys (3 year old toddler and an 8-month old baby) and realizing that time flies too fast, I would like to document the growing up years of my children. Apart from writing letters to them (which I will give as a gift when they’re old enough to read), and collecting tons and tons of pictures, I also would like to “immortalize” their chubby hands and feet. 🙂
Hopefully, I will win this raffle contest as it ‘s been my dream to have their hands and feet casted. I’m sure that my children will also appreciate it once they grow up, something to show to their future wives and kids as well.
Thank yo very much, Mommy Ginger and Mommy Andrea 🙂
Having diagnosed with peripartum cardiomyopathy, life has become different. Even more when my heart baby who’s turning 6 soon has been diagnosed to be in the Autism Spectrum. As much as I can, I would like to document everything, but because of my condition, I’ve been limited to do stuff. Just before he becomes a full grown child, I would like to remember those tiny hands and feet that I get to kiss almost every minute since I wasn’t able to carry him around as much. It would be good memento to remind me of a kid I fought my life for.