Today we’d like to introduce you to Isabella Diaz-Borrello.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
In 2020 during the first quarantine my father handed me money and told me to make something out of it. He told me “try to double what I gave you and make more.” At the time I had seen many Tik Toks on making earrings out of random silly toys and I thought I could do that too. This is where Dusk Shoppe started as an earring business. I was in high school selling earrings to friends or online through Depop but never considered it a business fully.
2022 rolled around an I tried expanding my audience by creating an Instagram and Tik Tok. You can actually see some of the earrings I sold if you scroll all the way down on my Instagram page! My first summer of running this small business I did about 6 art markets and had so much fun. I didn’t sell a crazy amount but I still kept coming out with new designs and products like bracelets, necklaces, and eventually ceramics that I made during my time at West Michigan Center for Arts and Technology or WMCAT.
WMCAT is a nonprofit organization that has an afterschool teen program where you can explore different art forms like drawing and photography or learn how to edit videos and create music. I of course joined the ceramic classroom! This is where I truly fell in love with pottery and making things out of clay. I discovered my passion for this art form and I learned that I actually quite enjoy teaching others how to work with clay as well.
In 2023 I graduated high school and went on to start earning a bachelors degree in secondary education. During this time is also when Dusk Shoppe came to a halt. I no longer had interest in making jewelry as well as selling the things I made at markets or on Depop. The stress from school got to me and for the next 2 years I couldn’t find any joy in even making art. How could I call ceramics my passion if I no longer even worked with clay in my free time? I came to this realization in 2025 when I was in my beginner ceramic class in college. That summer I took the time to reconnect with clay and found my love for the medium again. I decided to also start posting videos on instagram and Tik Tok of the things I was making for myself and friends. A video of mine got hundreds of thousands of views and that showed me the potential of where Dusk Shoppe could go and what it could be.
And that brings us to today. Within the past year I’ve had many videos and posts gain attention which encourages me to keep going and making the things I like. Just recently I was even able to open up my own website! I hope to keep working on my business and eventually be able to live off of the thing I truly love.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Of course things weren’t smooth sailing, especially when it comes to putting your art online. Social media is a difficult obstacle to get around as you need to cater yourself to millions of people. Lots of artists understand this struggle. Why do I need to always be filming content? Why can’t I just make my art, take a picture of it, post it, and be done? The way social media is today really pushes for creators to create short form content. But with that also comes the questions of what audio do I use? How do I format my video? How do I even edit a video? Working with the algorithm and seeing what does and doesn’t work takes time. Sometimes when I post I’m still not sure if anyone will show interest in it or not. My current goal right now when it comes to social media is trying to get in the habit of posting more consistently which I’ve been doing better with lately!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I create handmade ceramic mugs thrown on the wheel! Currently I cater to a few different fandoms of animated tv shows like Adventure Time and Bojack Horseman. My swirly handle Jake mugs are the most popular! I’m slowly stepping foot into other shows as I get more commissions from customers. A piece I did within the past few months that I really enjoyed making was a Beserk mug because it had me step out of my comfort zone and do a more detailed paining on it.
What were you like growing up?
Since I was a child, I was always known as the artistic one. Other kids would come to me to help them in art class or draw their self portrait. It’s the one thing that stuck with me for years, it’s where I found the most interest and happiness in. Whenever asked what I wanted to do when I was older I would say “I want to be an artist.” That was always paired with the comment of “Oh well you can’t make money that way” or “What about a real job?” And because of that, I was unsure what I wanted to do with my life. I’m at the point now though where I think I can make this dream happen.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://duskshoppe.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dusk_shoppe?igsh=MTFjNGpkYTlteGw5bg==
- Other: https://linktr.ee/DuskShoppe?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=358f361f-1ad4-4f74-bfa0-91faee17667b
