Mike Ruiz Serra Builds Without Bounds
WORDS BY Kayla Curtis-Evans Photos by KANE OCEAN
Mike Ruiz Serra’s creative journey began after graduating from art school. Through a DIY approach, experimenting with found supplies like paper-pulp and plaster in his parents' garage, he brought his eye-catching Quad Coffee Table to life. This trial-and-error and experimentation phase eventually kick-started his career in design.
Evolving as a creator, Serra began producing larger-scale projects, which social media started to take notice of. There were also challenges in terms of production, materials and shipping, but Serra persevered and continues to learn and adapt along the way. Continue to learn more about Serra’s path to becoming a designer.
Process
FIRST STEP STORIES
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[QUESTION]
What were some of the early decisions you made to get the ball rolling?
“From the time I was in high school, I was always interested in the arts. So I guess that first decision was art school (Rhode Island School of Design). Another big decision I had to make was to purchase my first mold. That was a pretty big deal because I didn't even know where to begin at the time. I'm now on my fourth mold. I had to spend a lot of time making the prototype by hand. I basically created this 400-pound sculpture, and this mold maker created a silicone mold out of it. That allowed me to almost quadruple production, and it was a big game changer for me.”
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“After I did that, I was blessed with pretty early success. The first thing I designed out of school was the quad coffee table that took off pretty quickly.”
Pitfalls
[QUESTION]
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What challenges did you face along the way?
“When I first started out, I was treating my work more like a fine arts practice. I wasn't really thinking about making things in numbers or anything. I didn't have much manufacturing knowledge, although they did teach us a fair amount of that in school. I found that learning through actually doing it was pretty important. I definitely made a lot of mistakes early on. When I first started, I suddenly had all these orders for the quad coffee table, and keeping up was very difficult. I had to figure out a process to make them consistently.”
“I'm still figuring it out, five years later. I've always wanted to be a lifelong learner. I'd like to think I'm always learning from mistakes.”
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What tools were instrumental during your creative journey? What new tools have you discovered along the way?
“When I was in school, we had access to all these really fancy workshops with any tool that you could imagine. But I told myself, 'Okay, if I'm seriously going to do this as a career, I'm not going to have access to all of these tools, post-graduation.' So I worked towards using these other techniques I honed in on during school, like the sort of papier-mâché, plaster mixed material that I was using early on.”
“I have a funny relationship with tools. I do still work in tandem with manufacturers, even if they're only doing part of it. I work with nothing more than hand tools. I have a drill press, but that's kind of about it. A lot of my work has that hand-molded or hand-crafted feel because I don’t really use conventional tools.”
TOOLS
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What did this experience cost you — both financially and mentally — when you were first starting out? What costs do you face now?
“It’s a very expensive business, and I was coming at it with no outside funding. I built the company in a way where I was just using the money that it was generating to put back into it. So my early growth was slow but steady. Back when I started, during the pandemic, [many] people were moving, so it was easy to sell large pieces of furniture at that point. I was spending more of my time and resources on just trying to figure out how to keep up with it all.”
“Then two years ago or so, there was a market shift. I was no longer fighting to keep up with things. I approached this problem that I hadn't had before, where there wasn’t enough demand. So now I’ve started to put more resources towards marketing myself and branding. And the industry is still constantly changing."
costs
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Who helped you along the way? Did you ask for help or find enthusiastic volunteers?
“At the start, I was doing everything myself. That was before I really even thought to learn how to outsource. I would work nonstop, seven days a week, for the first year or two. But with my process, another mistake I made pretty early on was letting go of control too soon. I was leaving a lot of my process up to other people, so now I’m trying to find that balance.”
“Now, I’ve brought things back in-house and I’m crafting in-house again, but I’m looking to hire a team and to come up with some sort of hybrid system. I work with this really great Amish foundry in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and they have the kiln to cast the metal for me, and then I do the finishing work myself. I have coffee tables being fabricated in Long Island City in Queens right now, and I spend a lot of time with that sculpture fabricator as well.”
people
Inspiration is all around for Serra, who is never afraid to lean on his team. He learns from them and vice versa — looking outside of himself to find innovation.
“I’ve worked with a lot of very interesting people, and I feel like it inspires my other work too,”
Takeaways
“The only constant is that my business is constantly changing and I’m learning a lot,”
Every day looks different, and the finish line may constantly move or shift — but he takes each day as a learning opportunity and strives for small wins.
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Takeaways
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FIRST STEP STORIES
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First step stories
— Presented by Timberland
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First step stories
— Presented by Timberland
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