Ju Amora

Juliana Amorim Carvalho needed a change.

Having quit her job in an art gallery, she traveled to Paris in search of the inspiration she was lacking. But ultimately, Juliana ended up finding her entrepreneurial calling in the last place she thought she would: the wooden stools in her own home.

“They are whatever you want them to be,” she says. “A table, a seat, a work of art.”

This revelation led Juliana to create her eponymous São Paulo-based business, Ju Amora, in 2012. Since then, she has been painting everything from bright floral scenes and geometric designs to cute monsters and animals on stools made of reforested wood.

As her business grew, Juliana found herself stressed by the dozens of customer inquiries arriving at all hours of the day and night — via email, social media and her personal WhatsApp number. So, to stay on top of all this communication — and better engage with her clients — Juliana downloaded the WhatsApp Business app in January 2019.

“It was the best thing I did,” she says. “It has changed everything.”

Juliana uses the WhatsApp Business app to send customers photographs of more than 200 original designs and payment details, too. Today, more than half of all of Ju Amora’s customer inquiries, some from as far away as the United States and Australia, begin — and nearly all of the brand’s sales are closed — via the WhatsApp Business app. With the app’s quick replies feature boosting her responsiveness, Juliana says customer engagement is up 60 percent and sales 40 percent.

“With email, we lost many clients; now we are agile,” she adds, describing the benefits of the away messages feature. “This prevents the customer from becoming anxious and dissatisfied.”

Fellow entrepreneur Jôyce Soares buys Ju Amora stools for the children’s parties she organizes. Every detail – theme, colors, delivery, payment — is discussed via WhatsApp. “Email can be very vague; It’s a better way to understand the tone of a conversation,” she says.

“WhatsApp worked perfectly for me; It is very efficient and fast but, at the same time, personalized,” says designer Luciana Silva Wolf, who recently ordered a new stool for her son to stop him from fighting with his older sister over hers.

So far, Ju Amora has custom-made nearly 4,000 stools which have become beloved — and practical — works of art in homes around the world. And with the WhatsApp Business app making the process of running her business smoother, Juliana has more time to exercise the creative license she thrives on.

“I am living my dream — I am not rich, but I am independent,” she says. “I never imagined this would happen, I thought it would take a lifetime.”