Zerlina: “My roots lie in the Philipines and Indonesia, but I was born and raised in the Netherlands. I was not very happy working a 9 to 5 job for an international company, so I started my creative business Lily Razz (now renamed Dreamy Patterns) during evening hours. Then one day I received a very nice email from Liezel, a fellow Creative who had just moved to the Netherlands. She suggested to have a cup of coffee together, to chat about our creative businesses and to see whether we could do a collaboration of some sort. I’ve always liked collaborating with others, but it’s not always that easy to find another Creative that’s a match. Through our joined giveaway we both grew our customer base, and it is very nice to talk to another Creative who understands what it likes to start up a handmade business. I truly think creatives sometimes underestimate their power”

We realized what can be gained by joining forces and sharing knowledge with each other. But we were both looking for a (affordable) way on to get exposure for our brands. How to be discovered by the ones who can amplify your reach? It didn’t happen overnight, but we came to the conclusion that we needed to build what we were looking for ourselves. With PressCookie we want to help other handmade & artisan businesses magnify their stories by finding great connections and building their network. Lots of coffees, sales, laughs and media features after our first coffee together, we can wholeheartedly say “do not underestimate the power of a good connection, you never know what it might bring!”