Tenacity and Passion Create a Design for Success

It was an article much like this one that help Andrea Costa turn her dream to a reality.

 In 2009, Costa was working as a design manager for a West Orange building supply company. But her “passion” was to own her own business. It seemed a far-away goal until her mother-in law came home one day with an article about how a UCEDC microloan helped a Montclair housewife open her downtown candy shop, Dulce.

“That was the piece of paper that inspired me to get in touch with UCEDC,” Costa says.

Costa, a Brazilian national with a civil engineering degree from a Buenos Aires university, is smart, talented and experienced. But UCEDC loan officer Paula Star saw something else in her: tenacity.

Costa, owner of InDesign Kitchens Plus in Millburn, had some money of her own to invest, but approached UCEDC in 2010 for a $15,000 microloan to furnish an office and showroom.

“When I first called her,” Costa recalls, “she (Star) said because of the economy they didn’t consider the kitchen and bath industry a good investment. But I didn’t give up. I kept calling her and calling her.”

Costa knows it was an uphill battle for Star to get UCEDC’s loan committee to approve her loan. But, according to Costa, Star told her: “I see your passion and I’m going to fight for you.”

Bringing Style to Every Budget

Passion rings through much of Costa’s work. She is passionate about her work and about her clients. “It doesn’t matter to me if it’s a small house or a million dollar client,” she says. “This is my calling.”

Costa correctly assessed that the remodeling business would do well as people were unable to sell and move because of the economy. But she admits that “2011 surprised me. I am busier than I thought I would be and able to expand my business.” This year, she entered into a partnership in a Pennsylvania showroom and divides her time between the two locations.

She’s continued to maintain a close relationship with UCEDC and makes extensive use of their business mentorship. “Paula has taken me around to meet people, Erich Peter (UCEDC director of training) comes over at least once a month to see how I’m doing. They taught me what I needed to know about the business side of running a business,” she says.

Despite her success and growing reputation, Costa is reluctant to talk about herself. Although she counts some large commercial projects and expensive private renovations in her brag book, it is the work she does for affordable housing families that she describes as most satisfying. “People come to me with working class incomes and they have a wish list, but a limited budget. That is what I like to do. I try to incorporate as much as I can. It makes me happy and proud.”

In addition to the important role her UCEDC partnership played in making her dream become a reality, Costa believes a higher power had a big hand it things as well.

“God has a plan for everything,” she says.

Visit InDesign Kitchens Plus online at www.indesignkitchensplus.com