Meet Gaby Delgado, the girl behind Daft Pretty Cases, a successful Instagram shop known for its unique designs and creative custom cases. Gaby is a young businesswoman that has managed to become a Girl Boss at only the age of 20. Her small business has become quite a success in the Instagram community, and it continues to grow as many are drawn to not only her artistry but the affordability of her items as well. Interested in the story behind the popular Instagram shop, I decided to reach out to learn more about Gaby’s journey when starting up her own business.
- What is Daft Pretty Cases and what does it mean to you?
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A: “Daft Pretty Cases is the shop that I’ve had for about a year now, where I make custom cases for people who request…custom images. I also have simple designs for anyone that’s just looking for something affordable…that’s their style. To me, it is a really big deal because before I had the shop, I was always struggling [financially] since I couldn’t find a stable job. Before I had the shop like about two years ago, I was selling clothing straight from my closet, and the name of that shop was Daft Pretty Boutique. I was basically just selling anything I own…it wasn’t until almost two years ago that I decided to open up a business, but I wasn’t sure what to do. I had the idea of doing phone cases because…there was nothing that was my style. Like I knew, if I can’t find anything I like and I can’t afford to buy a $40 phone case, I’m pretty sure there are other people out there who also feel the same way.”
- What inspired you to start a business where you create custom cases?
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A: “It’s kind of a funny story like it was never supposed to be a phone case business at all. So, the way I got started with it…I was actually just looking for a cute wallpaper for my phone. I remembered in middle school I ran a One Direction fan account, and I’d make edits in 2014. So, I made three [edits] of like statues with modern aesthetics in them, and I thought they were cool, so I just kept them as my wallpaper. It wasn’t until I was looking at what kind of case [I wanted], and thought ‘oh I’ll just make a custom case with the lock screens I made.’ Then I ordered off of this website [it was] a low-quality case, but it had the design I made, and I thought ‘this is really cool.’ That’s when I had got the idea of wanting to make more cases because I pictured myself doing it. I told [my friends] about that idea, and they told me that I should go ahead and do it. I was so nervous [and] scared that I wouldn’t sell anything. It took me about six months before I decided to open an account and try out the whole selling thing again. Those three lock screens are still up on my page…it’s actually one of the cases I have on my phone right now. So that’s what got me started in the first place.”
- What has your business allowed you to accomplish personally/professionally?
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A: “Well personally it has allowed me to accomplish things like financial stability…it made me less worried about money problems. Professionally, [it has] allowed me to work with a few influencers. I would be following them on my personal account like years ago, and they’d be people I look up to. With this account, I was able to reach out to them to collab. [I’ve] had conversations with them, and they’re people I can reach out to…so to me that is really cool. Then I’ll receive really nice messages from them, and they’re like saying ‘I love your account and I love your cases.’ For them to give me compliments, [is] something I’m really proud of.”
- Can you give us some insight on what the process is like for making a case?
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A: “What I first start off with is doing the actual design on my phone. It depends on what I’m [editing] for the customer…so after I have the image ready, I make sure it’s the right size for the phone. You print it out, and you have to buy really specific ink [with] the right kind of printer. After you have your design printed out, you heat press the paper on like a metal plate. The image transfers onto a metal plate [and] the image bleeds onto the paper. After that’s done, you wait…and you place the metal backplate [on the case]. It wasn’t until after a few weeks [my boyfriend] had been helping me that I was like well, I need to learn how to do this myself. So I did it, and I made a few that were messed up, and I was really disappointed. With practice, I was able to do them all on my own and do them without any mess-ups. So it definitely took some practice.”
- Are there any empowered women that inspire you every day?
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A: “[Kaile Morgan] is one of the people I look up to. Like her whole [Instagram] shop and I see everything she’s doing with the Muses of Genesis and Lovers in Lace… also, her packaging is so cute. Her posts go well on her account [too]…that’s something I want to do. I like how she handles her whole business. So business-wise [it] would be Kaile, who inspires me to have better branding. It’s just so cute, and I wish I could do that with mine. Someone else I look up to would be Demi Lovato. Ever since I was younger, she’s been someone I look up to because everything she struggles with and Halsey as well. Those are two of the main women I look up to [because of] their mindset and how they handle themselves. Like I love how they’re both open with their struggles, and that’s important to me because I don’t like hiding anything from my customers.”
- Where do you see yourself in the future with your business?
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A: “I hope that it’s able to grow [and] maybe one day [I’ll] move into my little office and have a place where I can sell my own items… where I can have better supplies and ship out more quickly. [I want to] have my account grow to the point where I can have a few people helping me out.”
- What advice would you give someone who is thinking about starting their own small business?
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A: “I would tell them that as soon as they have an idea for something, they should start looking into [how] to accomplish it. For me, it took me from December 2018 to May 2019 before I did something about it. The only thing that was holding me back was the thought of me not having any sales or customers. I didn’t want to spend a lot of money and time on it if it wouldn’t go well at all. If you have an idea…but you don’t think it’ll be a good one you should do it. There have been so many times where I have an idea like a design, and I think well ‘that’s not going to sell, no one’s going to like that’ and then like a few weeks later I see another shop doing that. Then it’s like…I had the idea months ago…and you’re like ‘I should’ve done that.’ Whatever you’re thinking of doing, just do it and don’t push it back.”
Gaby, the owner of Daft Pretty Cases, closes the interview with an inspiring message. She reminds us of the importance of putting ourselves out there and making our dreams a reality. She ends by saying: “To wrap it up, I would just say if you have an idea you should for sure go for it and don’t push it back because you won’t know until you actually try. That’s what I want people to know because I never would have expected to have sold almost three thousand cases.”