Prior to starting my blinds business, I was working within the luxury jewellery industry. To make a decent salary, evenings and weekends were the norm. I took a year off for maternity leave when my son was born but I fell in love with my little baby. I couldn’t imagine spending my nights and weekends being away from my son and missing out on his development. I was stuck. I knew I couldn’t go back to that lifestyle so I started researching what else I could do instead.
I decided on blinds! “Why blinds?”, my family asked. This seemed pretty random to them. My main reason is that most of the time, people look for blinds during the daytime. I get to set my own schedule to accommodate what’s important to me. Also, I’ve always had an eye for design and been very handy. I figured, “If I could sell a luxury item like jewellery that’s based on a need, why can’t I sell window coverings that people actually need?” I went with blind (haha!) faith that somehow, I’m going to make it work. If there’s anything people will tell you about me, it’s that I am tenacious.
So, I embarked on my dreams of entrepreneurship with the motivation of love for my son. I treated it like I was studying for an advanced degree. I researched types of window coverings, watched numerous videos on how to install them, found out the top manufacturers in the industry, and went on a deep dive of everything related to the industry. I would like to say I was fearless, but I was not! I was scared every day, wondering how I could even get my first client in a very niche industry that’s male-dominated.
I exhibited at my first trade show feeling like a complete rookie. Somehow, I got my first few clients. I started doing in-home consultations. It was a sink or swim moment and I didn’t want to drown. A lot of them were surprised when I showed up a couple of weeks later with their newly ordered blinds and a drill! I was a one-woman show and people thankfully, wanted to give me a chance. I completed my first few projects and was on a roll.
When I landed my first big commercial project, I looked to hire an installer because of the volume of blinds. I was impressed by the third guy I hired. John Zambito came with an extensive resume of 20 years of installation experience, recommendations from top manufacturers and even some colleagues, and was very clean and detail-oriented. We worked amazingly well together and I was impressed with his hard work ethic. He is a complete professional from start to finish and I knew I could build my business with him. A year later, we started dating and we’re now happily married.
Our unwavering dedication to our business is a commonality we have. We want to build Matalino Home Inc. to be a customer-centric brand that provides an honest and competitive product and service. We only utilize quality brands and we offer quality service. We back our products with their manufacturer warranty and our service with our labour warranty.
“Integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is watching.”
We are always looking to build our team of sales consultants and installers. We are looking for hard-working and genuine people that have a high standard of integrity. We do train the right candidates.
