Today we're shining the spotlight on Zollie and Gist's Procurement Director, Vale Cabezas! Every product at Zollie starts as an idea. Vale helps us turn those ideas into physical realities by spearheading thoughtful sourcing with vendors and collaborators near and far. Read on to learn about how Vale ended up in Procurement, their publishing initiative Press Press, and their journey as a beginner foster dog parent!

What’s your name and title? 

Vale Cabezas - Procurement Director at Zollie and Gist

What do you do at Zollie?

I build relationships with new and existing vendors and collaborators, place orders and coordinate all deliveries to maintain inventory demand, and I work on value-centered product sourcing & development.

What are your primary fiber interests? How did you come to love fibers, crafts, or textiles?

I have considered myself a maker/ artist ever since I was a kid. I took a lot of art classes in grade school and that opened the doors for me to attend an arts middle school and an arts high school. When the time came to start thinking about college, I was given the opportunity to attend a pre-college summer program where I learned about felting, beading, resist dyeing and that's where my interest in fiber crafts really started to grow. 

In college I was drawn to processes that take time so I majored in Fiber Arts with a minor in Printmaking. I would create collagraph plates using scrap fabric and run that through the printing press. I was fascinated by the textures the ink pulled from the fibers. As I worked in this way with the fabric, I began wondering — how is this made? And that brought me to weaving. Post academia, I’ve fallen in love with tapestry weaving more than anything.

Tell us a little about your professional background, and how you landed where you are today.

After graduating from MICA with a BFA in Fiber in 2016, I worked at a rug company, mostly doing graphic design. At the time, I felt that was the closest I would come to working in the field of textiles. I had a coworker in procurement who introduced me to the behind-the-scenes work for how our rugs were made, and it really piqued my interest! So this is where I was first exposed to procurement. 

After three years, I left the rug company and somehow ended up in construction. My role was to source the glass for the demountable glass wall systems that the company I worked for developed. I worked there for about a year and a half before realizing I needed to take some time off to figure out how to get back to my artistry. 

During my time off, my friends and I started a diy rug club that was centered around tufting. When we were initially researching yarn companies to buy from, we stumbled across Gist. We saw they were hiring and I immediately applied. The procurement role at Gist was the absolute perfect merging of my love for fiber and my knowledge of procurement.

I’ve always been fascinated by how something is made, what the process is behind the scenes, and learning how all the little pieces need to come together to make a final product. This is what I love most about procurement. From my BFA program in fiber art to the rug industry to the glass industry, my journey to Zollie and Gist has felt like a sweet return to what I love most — fiber! 

What other hobbies or interests do you have (outside of work!)?

Big birder. Obsessed with birding. It’s a pandemic hobby that started in the early COVID days for me and really stuck around. I used to go out on a weekly basis to different parks and spend at least three hours trying to find these rare migratory birds that are only there for a few weeks. 

Outside of birding, I spend a lot of time at home with my pets and my partner. Lately I’ve been spending a lot of time tending to the creatures in my life — two cats, a foster dog named Miles (our first foster!), and my friends. I also love being outdoors. I love swimming and spending time near the oceans, rivers, and lakes further north of where I live.

What keeps you inspired and connected to your creativity? Do you have any daily creative rituals or practices?

I unfortunately have been quite pulled away from my creative practice for some time, but I recently got a studio space! I haven’t yet been able to go as much as I’d like, but I’m hopeful I will soon. I’ve recently made newer connections in my local fiber arts community that have been so inspiring. Having conversations about how we can make our art practices more community driven has been key. Signing up for virtual workshops and listening to artist talks are probably the closest things to a ritual that I have. It inspires me to want to talk to other artists. 

I’m very collaboratively driven. I have a publishing initiative called Press Press that I’ve been doing with my friends for the last ten years. The reason that has been so fruitful is because we work together, keeping each other inspired. We’re currently on a sabbatical, but when we’re actively working Press Press is definitely one of the practices that keeps me creatively motivated. It all started because a few of us were working with an after school refugee youth program. We were trying to create a space for these kids to practice creative writing that wasn’t critical of the more technical elements of language like grammar or structure. We wanted the kids to feel free and comfortable, regardless of what their first language was. The majority of their writing was poetry and it absolutely blew our minds. We wanted to find a publisher to publish their work, and we couldn’t find a publisher that would publish the kids' writings as is–unedited. So we decided to publish it ourselves, and that’s how Press Press came to be.

Down the line we got a storefront with a DIY library and book making space for the community. We would have potlucks and parties, and have conversations about selfhood, seeing each other, politics, a lot of really intense and beautiful subjects. For us, we were starting to redefine publishing as an act of gathering the public, and felt it was important to memorialize these gatherings by turning them into publications. 

We’ve had a handful of publications now, and this year we finished our anthology. We no longer have our store front and are a bit more nomadic–hence the sabbatical, so we are in a reflective period of assessing how we want to move forward. More than anything we’re trying to create a model that others can run with. We really want to show others that if we can do this, anyone can! It’s a beautiful network of humans that I’m grateful to be a part of, and a passion project of blood, sweat, and tears for sure. I guess I should have listed Press Press as one of my hobbies in the previous question!

Are you currently a beginner at anything? How’s it going?

I’m a beginner foster dog owner, and phew it’s been a JOURNEY. Recently my neighbors moved out, and where they were moving to had some breed restrictions. They had this gorgeous American pitbull named Miles Morales — I’ve known him since he was a baby, and he is absolutely beautiful! They came knocking on the door and asked if we’d want to take him, otherwise they’d be dropping him off at the local SPCA. We obviously said yes, but we wanted to make sure this was a good fit before deciding to keep him permanently. And this dog has been…really something!

We came into this expecting a pretty easy dog. Though he’s been adjusting, we’re learning that he hasn't had a lot of training. It’s been a lot of trial and error. We’ve done some online training classes so far, and we start with a behavioral trainer this week. I’ve been learning so much about dog body language, setting boundaries, and how to teach simple commands. It’s been quite the journey learning to care for this dog but also know that we might not be his forever home. Accepting that reality has been difficult because I love Miles so much.

The biggest learning curve for me has been learning to ask for help. It’s hard to do! Finally getting the help of an official trainer will be so beneficial to me, my partner, and our two kitties. I’m also learning about my own capacity and threshold. Pouring everything into a creature and knowing that I’m not resourced enough to do it all on my own has been a huge lesson.

What personal craft/art project are you currently working on?

The project I’m currently working on is assembling a floor loom! I was recently gifted one by a generous friend, as it had been in someone’s basement disassembled for a long time. It’s a J.L. Hammett, and kind of a mystery loom if I’m being honest. I’ve learned that this loom has been discontinued since the 60's and I've started digging online for a manual to help me put all the pieces together. I have some fiber friends that are going to help me, so I think it’ll be a fun project to tackle together.

What’s the most exciting project you’re currently working on in your role as Procurement Director?

We’ve been developing a rug wool at Gist, and I am so excited about it. This is a project that started when I first began working here, and other projects have since taken priority over its development, but it’s finally happening! It’s been so fun working with the team on the colors, the name, and the general feel of this line. I cannot wait for it to get into our customers hands. I’m especially excited for the color palette we have. It’s a special yarn, really lush and beautiful. 

Do you have any pets? 

Two cats, Lentil and Chiri, and the aforementioned foster dog Miles.

Favorite fiber artists?

Joyce Scott is a favorite. I saw an exhibition of hers at the BMA recently and it was absolutely stunning. 

Coffee or tea? 

I’m a tea person. Specifically chai. I feel that I’m actually possibly addicted to it — it gets me through the workday, my chai and my maté. And I love my sleepytime tea. I have teas for just about every ailment. I do love coffee, I just can’t drink it. The smell, aroma, and taste is amazing, but it doesn’t sit well with me. 

I also love infusions, and am interested in herbalism. I’ve been studying it a bit and have learned so much about our plant siblings and how we can support them as they support us. It's really beautiful.