Ep. 220: Designing Belonging: Alma Jimenez Lopez on Art, Heritage, and Home

Alma Jimenez Lopez is a creative force — a designer, artist, and curator who builds bridges between cultures and communities. In this episode, she shares how growing up as a first-generation Mexican American shaped her superpower: empathy. From honing her skills as an interior designer and building bridges across sectors of the design industry, to curation and community-building with the co-founding Of Threads, which celebrates the richness of Mexican American stories through art, design, and fashion, Alma’s journey is one of vision, healing, and unstoppable drive. This conversation is bold, heartfelt, and full of light.

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Read the Transcript

Alma Lopez:  Representation matters and the storytelling and showing up. And showing up in places that we aren’t normally in. And being uncomfortable with being uncomfortable.

Amy Devers: Today I’m talking to Interior Designer, Fine artist and Curator, Alma Jimenez Lopez, a first generation Mexican American, Alma splits her time between her home town of Abilene Texas and San Franscisco - where she earned a BFA in Interior Architecture & Design from the Academy of Art University. Alma's career started in interior design at Studio O + A, she then took her talents to the furniture dealership MG West. During the pandemic, when everyone was out of work, she teamed up with Elizabeth Wert to co-found Aditions, an interior design studio focused on experiential design and community activations. Aditions did so well that within a year it was acquired by Canoa, where Alma took on the role of Head of Creative & Brands. This chapter includes a great story with Federico Negro, who you may remember from Clever episode 219. These days, Alma is the co-creator, along with Sergio Mondragon, of Of Threads, a new art and design curatorial collective. Their recent curated group show, El Liston Cafe (the brown ribbon), highlights a spectrum of personal narratives of Mexican-Americans in California through art, design, and fashion. As Of Threads states, “It is a way of saying–we are here, we belong, and our stories matter.” As you’ll hear - Alma's commitment to her community,  determination and creativity in the face of crises–whether that’s COVID, or the new administration's policies affecting immigrants and marginalized communities – is inspiring and deeply moving. She’s a force, a bridge builder, a voice for the voiceless, and a powerful ray of light… Here’s Alma…

Alma Jimenez Lopez:So my name is Alma Jimenez Lopez and I am from Abilene, Texas and I currently reside in Texas, but I also spend half my time here in San Francisco, which is really where I have my career. I’m an artist, a designer, I’m a culture curator and activist and I really love to just bridge between cultures, communities and disciplines. Really that’s who I am as a person and I think Alma as a brand, it’s really focusing on making the design accessible to everyone in the interiors design industry. 

Amy: Thank you for that, I love a good bridge builder. (Laughter) That’s my favorite!I think all of the really fertile and exciting stuff happens in the grey areas that haven’t had the bridges built yet. 

Alma: Yes.

Amy: I’d love to understand how you got to be the way you are, by going all the way back to Ground Zero. Can you talk to me about your childhood and your cultural background? 

Alma: Yeah, absolutely. As I mentioned I’m from Abilene, Texas, which is a small town outside of Dallas, Fort Worth, I’d say about two hours west of it. Both my parents are from Mexico, they’re from Guanajuato. But they came to the States in the late 70s, early 80s. Abilene is the first place that they had come to, so really again, born and raised there. It’s definitely a blend of a community there where predominantly white, but there obviously was a heavy presence of Mexicans there. So I feel like that whole upbringing was so special, just in general because it’s Texas, so I feel like I love the culture of Texas in essence of like the cowboy, like for Mexicans it’s very like the Tejano culture, which is a really deep part of my roots. A beautiful place to really grow up in, but small nonetheless, right? As I start to jump into how I got to San Francisco, as I mentioned I grew up there, around 18 years old I look back and I have no idea what made me pick San Francisco or California, I just knew that I always wanted to come to California. Decided to come to the Academy of Art here in San Francisco. And interestingly enough, I really didn’t grow up around art which is interesting to think of because I appreciated interior design, but I feel like I learned a skill. I think it’s just a testament to just the drive and I think the ambition that I had, of really trying to find something that I was really good at. I think with interior design, and in hindsight now that I look back at it, probably one of the upbringings of growing up as a first generation American for my family, is that early on I always just had to be the person that had to translate or go with my parents to their doctors’ appointments, as like a child you think about it like how was I five or six years old, this seven/eight year old age and having these full-blown conversations. 

I know I’m jumping around a bit because I’m trying to get to the point that it’s something that I never realized was a superpower because I have the capabilities to see people that don’t have voices or that need help in that form.  And I say that because no wonder I’m successful as an interior designer because I understand clients. I understand their needs. I can just intuitively and empathetically feel what they need and I think that’s why my career has been so successful in the design industry and why again, just something powerful that I just realized recently, that it’s actually not a painful thing, it’s actually the thing that makes me who I am, right? And I say that because as a child we’re supposed to be curious and kids and play around, but I definitely was really an adult at a young age because I had a lot of responsibilities, which I think is a common thread for a lot of first Americans, not just Mexican, but in general, first American generations. 

Amy: I’ve heard that before. I’m aware that there’s a lot of responsibility and that sometimes your childhood… because you have to become an adult so early, your childhood almost gets stretched out. Do you find now as an adult that you seek out childlike joys?

Alma: Absolutely! Yes! I think I’ve just always been a bright, like a child. I think even with my interior design, they’ve always been really bold colors. I remember designing a company’s headquarters and I had like hot pink in there, it was just these really eccentric colors, but I didn’t realize how much I was always in design and art, was always trying to get back to that sort of childhood that I didn’t really get to have. 

Amy: Thank you for sharing that. I really want to go back to this superpower that you developed, of being able to sense and intuit the needs of those who don’t have a voice. I think that’s really powerful, I understand that your translation is not just language, right? It’s translating unspoken into spoken, it’s translating materiality into the needs of an environment or the needs of a human into the materiality of an environment. You said early on that you’re a bridge builder and I think a lot of times when you become attuned to the gaps that need bridging, you also develop this really keen sense of what’s missing. Would you say that’s true? 

Alma: Absolutely! Absolutely. 

Amy: And then as a creator you take it upon yourself to design the thing that’s missing. 

Alma: Yeah, absolutely. 

Amy: And that is how the world gets made and that’s how the world gets shaped (laughter) and you’re a pioneer of that. (Laughter)

Alma: Yeah, it’s definitely, again, recognizing that common thread. I feel like I’ve always known it but I don’t think I really understood how powerful it was until recently and I think it had a lot to do with… I mentioned I moved to San Francisco when I was 18 and I just moved back to my home town last year, after spending half of my life here. I grew up in San Francisco, absolutely, and to go back, I bought my parents old home, so I got to go back into this childhood that I had existed in, which also is a lot of childhood healing that’s happening, right? My parents obviously were still living at the house, but they ended up moving back last year, late last year back to Mexico. So it was like so much movement, they were like done, they retired, they were leaving, we’d love for you to buy the house, so it was just like, so much growth that happened, so much healing, so much conversations of just… it explains why I also did Of Threads. We can talk about it… there’s just so many things that are so connecting at the moment.What does it mean to inherit heritage? And I think with that talking with my parents, really getting to know them as individuals and then getting to know me, I think just was so powerful and being an adult around them. I know it’s a privilege to do that, yeah. 

Amy: It is a privilege and it’s also a brand-new relationship in a lot of ways. And the adult-adult, parent-child relationship can be very essential to understanding who you are and healing. The baggage of childhood, none of us escape it and it’s all relative. But the job of adulthood, I think, is reconciling with all of that. And understanding your maladaptive coping mechanisms. (Laughter)

Alma: Yes!

Amy: Trying to redesign those so that they serve everyone a little better. (Laughter) But I want to know specifically about you. What type of healing occurred in this last year with your parents and with this inheritance of heritage? And I also want to know how you connect to Mexico?

Alma: I think with my parents, the healing that happened was existing in the childhood home that I grew up in, that obviously has amazing memories, but also has that… what I used to feel was a burden of okay, I’m back here and I was such an adult as a child here, and reconnecting with them and having dialogues of… I think it’s not just a first generational thing, but I think when you have immigrant parents, it’s like you have a hard time setting up boundaries. And I think for me, I was really setting boundaries within them and I always thought we couldn’t understand each other because they speak heavy Spanish, they can speak English to a degree, but they can’t read or write in English. So there’s already a disconnect there in that form. Because I moved away when I was 18, it’s almost like I also remove myself a little bit from speaking Spanish. You know what I’m saying? There’s so much of the simulation that with really being Mexican American, I’m Mexican when I’m with my family, but then I’m American when I’m not around them. I think for the first time in my life, moving back to Texas, I had the space to really get in tune with myself. I think that’s a lot of the healing that happened, where again, I didn’t think I could talk to my parents about certain things, but when I did start talking to them about… just a bit of the trauma that I’ve experienced with them, they were so open. They wanted to know more. They were so curious…

Amy: That’s really wonderful, that’s not always the case. (Laughter)

Alma: No, it really blew me away because I just, for whatever reason, I thought in my mind they couldn’t understand me. But we just found a common thread to have a dialogue. 

Amy: That’s glorious. I love to hear that. I can imagine… I’m going to rely on you to tell me because I don’t have the same lived experience. [0.15.00] But cultural duality is a theme that you explore in your work, in your curatorial work and in your fine art practice and in your life. And this idea of being Mexican with your family and when you’re in San Francisco you’re not. Is there a part of you overlapping, bringing together the Mexican and the American of Alma?

Alma: Absolutely! Yeah, I think within Mexican culture, it’s clearly not a part of a Mexican family, but there’s a lot of machismo that exists within our culture. And I say that because that was really a lot of the experience that I had. My dad worked on an oil rig, which that’s already hard in itself, right? And my mom worked at a cleaner, so they both had these hard labor jobs that were just very hard in the summers and especially in the winter. Obviously very tired from working those jobs and then to come home and to really rely on… I’m not the oldest, which is really surprising, because everyone thinks I’m the oldest. I have an older sister. I have two little brothers, but for whatever reason, I think I was just the one that was more in tune and more… probably less rebellious. I think my sister was probably the more rebellious because it was a very controlling… we couldn’t stay at people’s houses, we couldn’t really hang out with our friends, it was very like a strict household and I think that was just because my parents worked so much, they were trying to protect us. I just feel like I paid attention to my parents in that form, but that was really the dialogue that we had of… you guys put a lot of weight on me and I’m trying to express that it’s like not healthy how I was treated, right? And I think it took them a while to understand, but you’re the strong one, you’re the one that we don’t have to worry about. 

I feel like when we would talk about it, I would just get so emotional and I’m like, but it doesn’t mean that I’m not tired, right? My parents getting emotional as well and they’re just like, I didn’t realize that that’s what we were doing, because they also come from leaving their families as well at a young age. All they know is a survival, so they also put the same survival on us, right? So I think to be able to have the opportunity to talk about it and them seeing that and then immediately going into a parent mode where my mom was like checking up on me. Obviously I can make my own food, but she was… I could see my mom trying to do these nurturing things as I lived in the house. Even my dad too, he would see me outside building my studio and he’d be like, no… he’d come out and he’d pull a chair and he’s like, “You sit there, I’ll do it for you.” And we just sat there and my dad’s building this furniture for me, just having this surreal, this is what was supposed to happen, this is how… so I think that’s where it gets emotional to think about it. But how powerful to have that moment where I thought it never exists, but actually got to exist before they headed back to Mexico. 

Amy: That’s so beautiful. 

Alma: Yeah. 

Amy: I’m constantly reminded that life experiences, it’s so non-linear and it’s almost like a disservice to think that childhood happens only when we’re young. 

Alma: Yes! (Laughter) Yes, exactly. 

Amy: I’m so glad that you had that moment and I’m sure for your parents too it was probably really healing for them to be able to participate in your life in that way and understood you on that level. 

Alma: Yeah, and I was actually thinking about this too and talking about it with the… because obviously we had the Of Threads show, which we’ll get into. But I realized that because my parents [0.20.00] also don’t have the words to express what they’re doing, it was also teaching them what those words were. So it was like, we were being parents to each other and there was also a time, and I’m going to try this without getting emotional because it’s so powerful when I think about it. But when my dad retired, when I first got back last year, I could tell my dad didn’t know what to do with himself because he’s just been working in this field for a very long time. And me and my sister were like, why don’t you go to school, because they do classes where they teach you… specifically for Spanish speaking adults and they go through a whole process. And I was like, let’s sign you up. Watching my dad go to school and come home with these papers that would be like… ‘write milk in a sentence.’

He would get graded and it would be like A+, or ‘you did great Augustine.’ To see my dad actually live his life as a child too, and go through school, my dad would come home and he was like, ‘look, look, can you read what it said?’ It was just like the most powerful thing to just experience, it just felt like I was in a totally different parallel dimension because he got to learn how to write and he got to learn how to speak the language and obviously he’s older, in his 70s, but it was such a beautiful… I know he completely healed a part of his childhood and I think that’s just opening up more to us. Again, seeing us more as like his daughters and again, I’m trying to come up with the words, I just picture my dad in front of me, like just his smile and how happy he was. 

Amy: That is so beautiful, it’s such a testament to the power of language, but also the power of learning and the willingness to resume a childhood that was interrupted. But also the willingness to learn from the child and reciprocate that whole knowledge exchange in a way that doesn’t have at the hierarchy of experience or age attached to it. 

Alma: Yeah. 

Amy: I really love that story. I want to talk about some of your great successes as a designer and I also really do want to… I’m sure you’ll weave it through the story, but this idea of what it means to inherit heritage feels like it could be a very daunting responsibility and yet it could also feel like continuing to weave a very sort of generational tapestry that you now get to contribute your own knowledge, hand and body too, and that sounds… I’m a little jealous of that. (Laughter) I don’t have that in my life. So I want to hear all about it. Maybe you can walk me through your career and talk about how this is playing out? 

Alma: When I moved here to San Francisco… when I graduated was 2010, which obviously was still in the recession and we were all trying to get jobs, obviously my whole group of friends. I tell the story because I am very persistent and I think it’s also just because of all the adversity that I had to deal with at a young age, that when people tell me no, it’s like I’m going to get in there. I know that I’m going to do it and I’m just going to keep going. I feel like if anything, when people tell me no, it does the opposite of I had applied to this studio that is really well-known now but at the time was kind of in the beginning stages, but was really a big fan of them. They’re a studio O+A in San Francisco. And I had applied for the job and I know Verda will not kill me, she’s one of the founders of the studio, and I applied for the job and they didn’t accept me the first time. And she’s like, ‘Sorry we chose somebody else, but you know, stay in touch.’ And I was like, I’m going to get into there and I remember applying again and then she’s like, ‘Sorry Alma, we decided to go somewhere else.’ I remember just like, I think that was the first time where I felt, if I don’t find a job or get this job, I’m going to have to move back to Texas and that just wasn’t an option for me. I applied the third time and ended up getting into the studio. And it was just supposed to be an internship for three months, doing 3D work and obviously I killed it at what I did because when I do something, I really go hard. I become very obsessed with the things that I’m doing and I will do my 10,000 hours. 

I feel like the first, I think, month I was working on some pretty big tech company projects and I probably spent like 16 hours every day because I knew that I just had to work harder. I had to work harder to stay here, to get a fulltime job. Obviously everybody around me is also… I think this is also what the representation, you know, I was a person of color in that studio and again, it’s just always harder because you always have to just double work. Anyway, I say that… so ended up getting a fulltime position shortly, a month after, and then obviously that was such a pivotal point for me because that’s when I got to really hone in my skills of listening to clients, really understanding them, and then getting the chance to design their spaces, because obviously we’re listening to the clients, but we’re building spaces for engineers, for all different departments. I really enjoyed the research part of getting to interview all the end users. So I felt like it was a puzzle to me, like I love to understand what they don’t have and how do I meet those needs. And I think that’s really where that superpower, I felt was such a burden at the beginning of my life, actually came to the first time experiencing it in its full potential of seeing people that often get overlooked or just not really getting a say in what they want. 

Amy: That’s so amazing to recognize that too, it’s like you have a power tool on your belt, but you just found the ‘on’ switch and you’re like, oh shit, now I know how to use this thing. (Laughter)

Alma: Exactly! Exactly! (Laughter)

Amy: So just for our listeners, you were doing new construction, interior design, is that what you described…

Alma: Yeah, it was commercial interior…and particularly what I ended up becoming such a fan of, or just really loved was the furniture part. That’s where I became the FF&E, which is furniture, finishes and fixtures abbreviation, but that’s when I really became like the guru for that. And I think it was just all the parts of, okay, how does this chair look in this space in this color along with… it was just something that I just really enjoyed putting together. But I say all that because I was at that studio, or I was doing interior architecture for I’d say a good eight years and I ended up going to a furniture company, dealership where I really got to step more into that and build their creative team. That was at MG West in San Francisco. We were doing huge accounts and that’s again the opportunity came to lead a department and build it and hiring the right people and built a really well-rounded team. Because I love to build, love, love to build, and I’d always been support for, as I said that previous company I was with, I was a part of a small group that was just like the team that got everything done. So it was nice to transition in like what can Alma do as taking all of that and really transform what that industry is. I have to say I do really feel that I did make an impact of that because dealerships aren’t really looked at as like design forward thinking and I think it’s because they’re kind of like the end thought of a project. So I feel like for me the exciting challenge of it was now that I’m building this team there and changing the design perspective for that dealership, how do I connect with interior designers? And that’s where the bridge came again, where I became this bridge of like, I’m an interior designer as well and I understand what you’re looking for, this is how we can work together with furniture. And I feel like I did that with so many big interior design companies and just connected them with this dealership I was at. So it was, again, first is being able to build an team and then becoming a bridge again based on my perspective, which was really exciting. 

Amy: From the skill of doing the actual interior architecture and the specifying in the FF&E to the skill of being a leader and building a team, a really well-rounded team and then taking that team into areas that traditionally they hadn’t gone with dealerships as an industry. And I’m wondering as you’re evolving through this and achieving so much, how is your confidence affecting you? And you’re growing your confidence, I assume, and it’s also probably expanding your horizons in terms of hey, what can I do with this force that is Alma, with this superpower that is seeing the invisible and knowing how to translate it to the real? 

Alma: Yeah, I think this is where being at the furniture dealership, I started to expand so much more into furniture. And not only was I building those bridges, but I then started to get the attention of these furniture brands because my whole job too, aside from building a team and designing and being able to connect, I was also supposed to research and find new brands and brands that aren’t in the US, finding them. So I actually got to, which is my favorite part, I actually got to travel to Copenhagen and Milan and all these places to find manufacturers, to bring them to the US and connecting that. And I feel like that was the first time where I was like, oh my god, I am actually helping these brands come to the US market and break them in. And I started to get more attention from these brands and they would actually start asking me to give them feedback on product development. So all of a sudden it just opened this huge gate of…that whole understanding and bridging that I just didn’t realize how great I was at it. To answer your question of the confidence, I think obviously it’s just something that builds, and I could say that I didn’t… when I first started there… I get Imposter Syndrome here and there, and it’s just because you’re showing up in a new space, also the other part of it too is I was grateful to have a few mentors, but I think for me, because I just had this thought in my mind… I just don’t like to bother people, so I never really asked for help. You know? So then I’m just like…

Amy: I relate. (Laughs)

Alma: Right? And I’m just like, I feel like I should ask somebody, just like, I’ll figure it out myself and I think that’s where the Imposter Syndrome would come because it’s like I didn’t have an outlet to talk to somebody. But I think in hindsight it helped me just be confident in myself that it’s okay, just keep moving. Like you’re doing something right, because you’re clearly bringing business, you’re clearly connecting these brands and helping them come to the US, just keep on that path. So yeah, I loved my time there. And really the only reason I left was Covid happened. Obviously that’s when everything changed for all of us, but I think for me that was the first time to really see, how nobody really knew what they were doing. And I say that not to be like a bad thing, I say it of like, oh, if I wanted to do… and branch out and do something on my own, now is probably the time to do it. And something inside me wanted to build something of my own. Because connection and community have always been a big part of my life. It’s obviously part of our culture too, like in Mexican American culture, it’s like we’re a unit, we’re completely a unit. And I always bring that to my work and I feel like for once I just wanted to do it for myself. And I was actually chatting with a friend who was also doing the same thing I was doing at a dealership and it always happens, every time you get me on drinking some wine and I have music and…

Amy: Oh invite me, I want to be there! I want to be there. (Laughter)

Alma: I think the joke is amongst my friends that have started their own businesses, they’re like, whatever you get Alma drunk, you’re going to start a business, that day you’re going to start a business, because she will make you open up a… get your domain and (laughter) that’s what happened with Liz and myself, my partner, we founded Aditions in 2021 and we really wanted to focus on experiential design and community activations. Because again as I said, Covid had happened and I really felt it very hard, all these brands that I’d helped connect to the US and my friends that were in the furniture making business locally were all calling me and saying, ‘Alma, how is it going there, there’s not any orders?’ And I remember just feeling this despair of like all these beautiful brands, what are they going to do? It’s Covid, how are we going to sell furniture? How are we going to deal with all of this? And my really good friend, who is a furniture maker in Oakland, she had called me and she’s like Alma, I just signed a lease and there’s no work, what am I going to do? I remember being so emotional about it and I think that’s really why this conversation with Liz had happened because we were trying to connect ourselves, even though we were competitors, we were trying to have a dialogue of like, how do we support our community because this isn’t just affecting us as our companies, it’s affecting this entire industry and San Francisco leads with tech companies and buildings and no one is coming to the office, this is really shutting everything down. So Liz and I, again, one night just had a bunch of bottles of wine and decided, again, opened Aditions and we really followed through and this is why I appreciate Liz so much because she’s the same as me and we just like, both, just like, let’s do it. So we ended up quitting our job in 2021 and…

Amy: Wow!

Alma: In May of 2021, and we posted an Instagram post and immediately were called. And I think it’s because both Liza and I had really made a name for ourselves in the furniture design industry. again, time is everything. And I think this is where my intuition has always paid off for me in leaving when I feel like it’s time to leave or grow. Obviously nobody was doing interiors and obviously the permitting, like everything was backed up, nobody was getting permits. So the only thing people could do was do flexible work and that was moving furniture. And obviously I’d spent the last four years doing… finding local manufacturers, buying used furniture and Liz and I, we just got busy. All of a sudden we were working with … Palo Alto Networks called, LinkedIn called, like, hey, we want to think about what the future workplace is and we need designers to help with flexible space and we just got busy. So…

Amy: Yes! That’s one thing that was an outgrowth of Covid, is like the future of the workspace which has been a contextual conversation for years now, but you were right there at the inception, at Ground Zero of what’s the future of the workplace. Oh wow!

Alma: Yeah. 

Amy: Timing is everything!

Alma: Everything, I know. Yeah, we were brokering deals, we had no idea that we were doing brokering, we were just like, oh yeah, I think you guys should just swap furniture because you want something new. So again, we just got busy and…we said we never wanted to work for a tech, obviously we took the work because we had focused on creating a community exhibition which was called Temporarily Available that took place in Berkley in October. And that was when I really think we in some ways started to revitalize San Francisco design because again, it was like us gathering 12 bay area artists and spotlighting them. So obviously in the mix of doing this work for these companies and rethinking what workplaces meant, we also were doing community activations.

Amy: Well, I mean this also sounds like the first official curatorial position…

Alma: Yes. 

Amy: You’re kind of a de facto curator when you’re FF&E. 

Alma: Yes. 

Amy: And it sounds like you’ve always had this pull towards the curatorial…Because it is about community and connection and it is about giving voice and platform to those who need it. 

Alma: Yeah.

Amy: I also just want to call out the This is America exhibit at Alcova, in Salone in 2022.

Alma: This is a connection with how we got to Milan, I was on Instagram and really trying to find community and I saw a post from Hello Human, which is a PR agency. I say this story because I saw that Instagram post about community and they were changing how PR works. They actually has this democratizing what PR was and where there was like a set-up… a pay system that supports based on your needs and that’s how we got connected to Hello Human and we reached out to Jenny. Incredible PR agency and with Meggie who was working there for Jenny, and this was all kind of happening at the end of 2021 when we had just done our first activation in Berkley, which using their method we actually got seen. Had press on Design Milk in Sight Unseen, which was insane to us because that’s like, the first time to get acknowledged on those publications was like huge. 

Yeah, so thankful for them in helping us, support us as a small business. But yeah, that was when the opportunity came and at that same time in October, is actually when we met Federico Negro, who is from Canoa, and he heard of us because one of our advisors to Aditions knew Canoa and told us, ‘Hey, you should check out this platform because you guys are doing FF&E, they strictly focus on FF&E and you should use them.’ So we actually were Canoa’s first users to really fully use them on projects where, again, we were designing these 20… 50,000 square foot spaces using the platform. And that’s how we… so again, all this was happening at the same time. So yeah, knowing that we met Fed in September and then October had the activation in Berkley and then got that opportunity, we ended up submitting to Milan and got in and this is where we were like, oh my god, how is this a thing? And really going in based on This is America, being underrepresented artists and designers and for the first time, which is crazy to think that Milan had never had a full American show show up in Milan, which it’s 2021/2022, to not have that dialogue and narrative. And that was so important to all of us and we were so excited to have it. But with that said, we were so excited about it, but then [0.50.00] realizing, okay, we need money to fund this and this is where Federico came in because obviously we’re avid users, we talked to him and his team probably once a week and we were like getting our sponsor deck ready and we were like, hey, we’re users of your platform and just wanted to ask if maybe you want to sponsor us to go to Milan, we got this opportunity, and Fed is just like, “How much do you need?” And I’m like, it’s like the space we want is $50,000, but we’ll take whatever you can give. And Fed immediately was just like, I’ll pay for the whole thing. And we were like, what? 

Amy: Oh my god, really?

Alma: Yes! Yes!

Amy: I knew I liked him! (Laughter)

Alma: Canoa paid for us to be at that show and that is why we got to be there. It would not have been possible without Fed. Fed supporting and saying…How important it was, he was like, what you guys are doing is good work and you need to keep going and if I can do this, absolutely. Without a doubt, did not… and I was like, did that just happen? We just got… we don’t have to worry about anything else? And he was like, “Go do it, go build what you need to build.” We just, again, became very, very close with him and obviously with that we then… we started pouring into each other, Canoa and Aditions. And he would then give us work, because obviously people would reach out to him and say, ‘Oh, we need an interior design company,’ ‘Oh, Aditions.’ We definitely got work from him. We also started bringing work to him and I think what kind of just… I feel like just became so close after was in December we had the opportunity to pitch Canoa on a project and millions of dollars and ended up flying to New York with our client. Got a meeting with Canoa and I was like okay guys, this is it, we’ve been rooting for you guys, now is your time to present. After the presentation the client decided to proceed with Canoa and us so it was a huge win and I think that was the first time they had gotten a big deal like that. I think that just made us tighter. And obviously him supporting us at Canoa, it just felt like the perfect-perfect relationship, that we were growing together, we were supporting each other. 

And I’d say shortly after, again, we were drinking again, Fed came out to visit us in January and again, this is only nine months of us being open, we were busy, we were just… all this was happening, we’re hanging out at Tadich Grill, famous-famous San Francisco spot, lovely martinis, and I say that because we had a lot of them. (Laughter) And me, Federico and Liz, just at the end of the night he… I say this story because it’s very, very to my heart. Grabbed my hand, Liz there, and he was just like, “I just want you to know how incredible you guys are and how this is just the best team. I want you guys to come over, would you guys want to come over and lead the creative team for Canoa? Let’s make good design accessible to everyone. What you guys are doing is huge and I don’t even realize if you guys understand the impacts that you’re making on a local scale, let’s do it together on a global scale.” And that was the start of our journey with Canoa, yeah. (Laughs)

Amy: I love it! That’s like the best love story of all times. (Laughter) I’m like swooning over here for everybody involved. (Laughter)

Alma: Yeah, exactly! I’m like Liz, did we just get acquired by a tech company? (Laughter) Which was not our plan at all because in the beginning we had said fuck tech because we didn’t want to work there anymore and then now we were coming over…and we moved really fast and ended up coming on board 2022, in March. At the same time we still had so many things happening with Aditions because we had the Milan show that we were doing and then we had also got asked by New Zealand brands, six of them, to also help them come to the US market. So we had that exhibition happening during Design Week. There was just, again, bridging that bridge, we just became very well-known to do that and were just being asked by lots of brands to be able to help them break into the market. So yeah, I say those because those were very pivotal and important to us and obviously the Milan show had no idea, none of us had any idea how amazing and incredible that show was going to be, but it just goes to show you how representation matters and these things matter, and the storytelling and showing up. And show up in places that we’re… I don’t want to say we’re not supposed to, but showing up in places that we aren’t normally in. And being uncomfortable with being uncomfortable. 

Amy: And it’s also like I don’t think America has… since the mid-century hasn’t really asserted a design perspective. And it’s hard to categorize what is American design when it’s so diverse, right, and it’s so multicultural, because America is a nation of immigrants. And so as a curator I really respect that challenge. How do we represent what This is America is, and at the same time America very much has a voice and should be speaking in these design epicenters, and expressing its perspective? That show was also like, as an educator and somebody who supports designers and wants to launch them into the world, I was so grateful for that and so excited about it and I also felt like yeah, that’s us, we’re speaking there in Milan. Like that’s fucking fantastic! (Laughter)

Alma: Yeah, I feel like it made us all very proud of being American, especially because… obviously we’re dealing with a certain administration at that point and I think we all were like, what is America? But I think it really brought, I think a lot of us back to really, this is why we love America because we get the opportunities to express ourselves and to show up and really America is… will always be regardless of any administration, like a place of dreams, right? Because you can really do anything. I say that because so much, again, adversity in my life, but also so many successes. You had asked me earlier, when I started working at MG West did I start feeling confident. It was almost like when I started to open that door of being a bridge and understanding that, everything just started to align, and very quickly. So it felt really good again to show up in Milan and be a voice for people that don’t have a voice and also show up as a unit because again, it’s like one of the quotes that Jenny said from Hello Human, she said, ‘A tide moves all boats,’ and I think that’s so true. Where it’s like, one of us moves, we all move together. And I think there’s such a beauty in showing up, as hard as it feels, the Imposter Syndrome feels, it’s like somebody is watching, people are listening. The common thread too is, I keep building tables for myself because they don’t exist. (Laughter)

Amy: And you need a seat at them. 

Alma: Yeah. I need a seat at them and I was like, you know what, do you want to sit at my table? (Laughter) And again it goes to going back to the superpower where if I didn’t speak up for my parents at a young age, they weren’t going to get what they needed. And I think that’s why I never had this feeling that I couldn’t ask, at least when I showed up, right? Showing up and then I’d be like, okay, I just feel like I always had conviction, when I really did show up, I’m like okay, no, where is this, where is this? And I think that’s really why I probably move quickly because it’s just like once I’m in that state of mind, I think mountains do start to move because it’s like, we’ve got to keep it moving. 

Amy: I love that, keep building tables for yourself and then invite other people to sit at your table. 

Alma: Absolutely.

Amy: I feel like Canoa is a huge chapter of your life and now you’re on a new chapter, you’re a curator and a fine artist, you’ve co-founded Of Threads, which is a curatorial collective focusing on Mexican American artists. And you’re also the founder of your own multidisciplinary creative studio, and so can you talk to me about your current endeavors and what that looks like? And I really just want to start off by giving you my deepest appreciation for the El Listón Cafe exhibit, there’s something so generous about its format and I’ve only seen it in photos, I wish I could actually be in the space because I can see all of those objects just vibrating with such a depth of cultural and heritage energy and embodied wisdom that comes through their hands and the craft of it. But also the format is so intimate and it’s such an act of hospitality to invite us in to that sort of livingroom-esque kind of space as opposed to this deliberately cold, white box. I love everything about it and it makes me want to camp there for a long time. (Laughs)

Alma: Yeah, thank you so much. Of Threads is just currently what my focus is right now, part of my focus, it’s something myself and Sergio Mondragon… we’re both Mexican American… have really talked about doing for a very long time, for years. Of Threads is a curatorial art collective by Sergio and myself that is about Mexican American perspectives and really Of Threads came from the thread that binds us all together, right? And not just within our culture, obviously weaving and those things are connected to us. And ironically Sergio and I didn’t realize that our families are actually one hour away from each other. His family is also from Guanajuato…

Amy: What? 

Alma: Yes, so the connection is really… this is where synchronicities… I’m a very spiritual person in the universe and to just see those synchronicities happen, he’s also first gen, yeah, it just felt the right time. And again, clearly we had no idea that this administration that’s currently in now was going to be in office. I don’t think any of us really thought that. So the fact that we’re showing up at this specific time, which timing is everything, and again the intuition, what we’re doing right now just feels so important. And again, Of Threads is a collective and El Listón Café is the exhibition. And El Listón is the brown ribbon. Really much like threads, it really holds true to our mission which is to weave together our Mexican American identities into something cohesive and undeniable, right? And ribbons really carry a lot of deep cultural significance, whether it’s braid in our hair, whether it’s for celebrations, just really a part of our culture and the café obviously is brown, which really speaks directly to our skin, our identity and just at this time right now, how we’re frequently marginalized. And I think it was just really important for us to create a show that highlights these artists but also still sticking with our identities of being Mexican and American, as we’ve talked earlier, how they really exist sometimes and do different roles and we really wanted to blend… what is that grey area? And that’s the area that we want to live in and be in, where let’s not focus on the differences and what actually binds us together. That’s really the connection of the ribbon and the thread. 

Amy: Oh, that’s beautiful, that’s amazing. I think also one of the most powerful and effective ways to dispel toxic narratives and stereotypes is through artistic authenticity, personal narratives and vulnerability. I just appreciate how powerful it can be to just be very intentional and expressive around that dual identity, that cultural [1.10.00] inheritance. And to claim both your American side and your Mexican side together and proudly, and to also help others understand what that dual identity looks like, means and feels, because you’re not excluding people from that, you’re inviting them into it. 

Alma: Exactly and I think that’s really have been a space for exclusion and really like this experiencing art from detachment neutrality and like an interductual distance, where it’s like don’t get too close to the art. I think for many of us, for me particularly, art for me has never been an experience like in that isolation because I feel like art to me… our artifacts are the things we have in our home, right? The objects and things we use and the rituals we carry forward, which is why this conversation of how do we inherit heritage has been so predominant of the show because we really wanted to create an immersive setting where we reclaim a space that feels inherently ours, right? And experiencing stepping into our personal homes which like I mentioned, last year I bought my parents’ home and I have a mix of my own belongings, but also my parents’ belongings, where religion is a very big part of our culture, especially the Virgin Mary, my mom has a huge shrine with the Virgin Mary, with lights and candles and it’s this altar. And I think mostly every single Mexican American home has an altar because I wanted to tell the story because it was funny, before we got on this call my mom called me and she was like, “What are you doing?” And I was like, “Hey, I’m going to get on this call for an interview, don’t call me right now.” And she’s like, what’s it about? I’m going to chat about myself and what I’m doing and she was like, okay, she’s like, “I’m glad I’m at home still, I’m going to light a candle for you.” (Laughs) And I just started laughing where it’s like, and it’s like this faith, this blind faith of you know, believe in what you’re doing.

And she gave me my affirmations and she’s just like, you’ve got this… the only way my parents could communicate to me or support me is by their words of affirmation and motivation. Because they don’t know what it’s like to work in a corporate environment, they don’t know what this world is. All they have is their faith and belief that I can do something and that is instrumental. Which is why these altars are so important in our culture and what we really wanted to showcase in the show was that you feel us and you feel our existence and it’s a privilege to be able to pop-up in San Francisco for this time. And to have all these artists how it naturally came about, we’re all saying the same narratives and creating art for themselves that they would like to have in their home as well as sharing it. So it feels like, again, the entry of the gallery is like your standard, white, beautiful paintings and ceramics and lighting. But in the backroom is where we created this immersive experience. I don’t think we thought about it, but the backroom was the one that was filled the most. It’s like nobody wanted to be in the front, everybody wanted to be in the back. And it was like packed in there Amy, I can’t even get through and I’m like, they’re just hanging out, they don’t want to leave. And it was to me just so eye-opening to feel that we really just did ourselves and showed up authentically and everyone could feel it. 

And we even have a Virgin Mary in the back that’s in this little shrine and it has a photo of me and Sergio when we were little and it’s just like the most recorded thing, people just… it was so emotional, I think for all of us. We were like, oh my god, they love to see us and they got to see us in such a vulnerable place. And I think that’s also why Sergio and I, obviously we’re creatives, but we also wanted to be in the show because we wanted everyone to feel that we were being vulnerable with them. And why we chose Glass Rice too, which is an important story, is we originally wanted to stay in the Mission in SF, which is a predominantly Mexican, a Latino area, but we were like no, we need to show up in places we’re not supposed to, or feel like we can’t. It’s important to not get comfortable, so this is why the conversation/collaboration with Glass Rice felt important. And why they made a safe space for us. And it was just to see Mexican American design in Nob Hill in San Francisco, it was just… everything about this show has been incredible and I think has given all of us a lot of confidence to just show up in the way we are, and that it’s enough. 

Amy: I love that and I can’t wait for where you show up next. Is there anything on the horizon that we should be looking out for? 

Alma: Yeah. Sergio and I had a long conversation last Sunday about where we want to go and I think with Of Threads we want to continue to partner with galleries and want to be able to support their communities. So we have been looking at New York, obviously New York is very heavy Latino culture in terms of Dominican, Puerto Rican and I feel like less Mexican. And I feel like we talked about what is it like to bring a Mexican American show to New York and show more of ourselves there. So really bringing this West Coast there, and then there’s also the conversation of Texas, where we actually tap into my heritage, which is Tejanos, and Vaquero culture, which is Mexican men and women that wear the cowboy hats. So it’s this whole Mexican cowboy aesthetic that we want to tap into, especially to tapping into the cultural environment there now is very… it’s painful to see. I actually have not been back to Texas since this administration has taken office, so I’ve only seen the news of what’s happening in my town. And I’ve been connecting with community leaders all over in Dallas and Austin and it’s just… this is why the work is so important and why pushing to go to Texas is absolutely a place we want to show up to just know that we’re there to… sorry… (Alma is emotional) that we’re there to support and really… that they’re not forgotten. Obviously with Mexican Americans that are there, but also trans and queer, it’s a very, very hard place to be right now for people of color, but also people that are different. 

I think just shining light, I think we’re just going to be a light to people and use the platform that we have because it’s certainly a privilege to be talking to you, but also continue to share our story and to just let them know that we see them and we’ll keep speaking. Again, I haven’t been to Texas, I’ve only seen the news and a part of me has anxiety about it, and a lot of my friends were like, why don’t you just stay here? And I’m like, because I don’t help the problem. If anything, I should be there because I have the knowledge and I have the understanding and I have the platform and I need to be a light for them at this moment. So Texas, I obviously care so much about the Texas people, but it’s just the state that’s getting hit the hardest right now in terms of a lot of these Midwest states. It’s important to do this work and I don’t want to say I’m not scared; I’m just showing up and doing as much as I possibly can with this platform. 

Amy: I honor what you’re doing and I’m so grateful that you shared it with me and I get to be a little part of also refracting your light out into the world. I love how brave you are and whatever I can do to add batteries or fuel to your flame, so you can keep shining that light. 

Alma: Thank you. 

Amy: It’s important and it’s super brave and you have touched me so deeply. Thank you so much for just showing up with your full self here today. 

Alma: Thank you so much Amy, I appreciate it and I appreciate you making space and making this platform, yeah, I’m here to support you too. Anything you need as well. I’m so grateful for this opportunity. 

Amy: (Laughter) I feel like that was emotional, but also in some ways that was like very beautiful. I loved sharing tears with you Alma. 

Alma: Thank you. (Laughter)

Amy: I don’t want to leave you sad. (Laughter) Can we make our next date with all those martinis? (Laughter)

Alma: Yes, absolutely. It’s like… I think it’s emotional because we feel it so much, it’s just human decency, it’s just being a human. And the empath, and again the superpower, it’s like I can be that voice and I feel like I just feel their pain. I feel it all. But again, using… knowing that I can feel that pain and change it into something positive is what gives me the light, and why I shine the way I shine and why I’m able to move mountains, now more than ever, the way that I show up and what I’m doing, the work that I’m doing is going to move this in some form. And whether it’s like a point one percent, it’s something that’s going to move and it is my mission to make sure that that happens. 

Amy: I know it will, I know it will. You are a force. (Laughter)

Alma: Thank you, Amy.

Amy: This has been so beautiful, thank you so much, Alma. 

Alma: Yeah, thank you so much Amy. 

Amy: Hey, thanks so much for listening. If you like Clever, there are a number of ways you can support us: Complete our listener survey at teh link in the description. Share Clever with your friends, leave us a 5 star rating, or a kind review, hit the follow or subscribe button in your podcast app so that our new episodes will turn up in your feed.For a transcript of this episode and more about Federico, including links and images of his work, head to our website. Cleverpodcast. com. While you're there, check out our resources page for books, info, and special offers from our guests, partners, and sponsors, and sign up for our free sub stack newsletter, which includes news announcements and a bonus Q and a from our guests. If you like clever, we could really use your support. You can share Clevver with your friends, leave us a five star rating or a kind review, support our sponsors, and definitely hit the follow or subscribe button in your podcast app so that our new episodes will turn up in your feed. We love to hear from you on LinkedIn, Instagram, and X. You can find us Us at Clever Podcast, and you can find me at Amy Devers. Clever is hosted and produced by me, Amy Devers, with editing by Mark Zurowinski, production assistance from Ilana Nevins and Anoushka Stefan, and music by El Ten Eleven. Clever is a proud member of the Surround Podcast Network. Visit surroundpodcasts. com to discover more of the architecture and design industry's premier shows.

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Young Alma. Photo courtesy of Alma Jimenez Lopez

O+A Assembly Days. Photo courtesy of Alma Jimenez Lopez

ADITIONS: This Is America: Redefining American Design at Milan Design Week. The exhibit brought together a survey of diverse voices in design in an attempt to rechart global conceptions of the term ‘American Design’ and the faces behind the industry itself. This is America is a debut group exhibition co-curated by ADITIONS & Hello Human, powered by Canoa. Photo Courtesy of Alma Jimenez Lopez.

Altar in El Liston Cafe. Photo credit: Ely Dominguez

O+A Assembly Days. Photo courtesy of Alma Jimenez Lopez

MG West x Collective West: This curation showcased the incredible potential of combining global brands in one thoughtfully designed experience. Through strategic brand-community activations, Alma gathered voices from across the globe to pop up in their space through art, furnishings, and design details—each curated to create a deeper resonance with their community and redefine how design connects with lived spaces. Photo Courtesy of Alma Jimenez Lopez.

El Liston Cafe. Photo credit: Ely Dominguez

Alma and the Of Threads artists. Photo Credit: Ely Dominguez

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Clever is produced and hosted by Amy Devers with editing by Mark Zurawinski, production assistance from Ilana Nevins and Anouchka Stephan, and music by El Ten Eleven.

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