There’s no price tag for the kind of craftsmanship we work with. And there’s definitely no shortcut to building relationships with the people who make these special pieces.

One of the most unexpected parts of starting Azulike wasn’t the logistics (those were hard too) — it was learning how to build real, respectful relationships with the artisans who make our pieces. While we are there to find beautiful pieces, we are also asking makers to produce large quantities for us. Why would they trust us to value and appreciate what they are doing?

There’s a lot of romantic language thrown around in the home decor world — handmade, ethically sourced, artisan-crafted — but what does that actually mean when you're standing in a courtyard workshop, trying to communicate across language and cultural gaps and talking sensitive pricing in the heat of the day?

Here’s what they don’t tell you — and what we learned firsthand...

Communication Isn’t Always Verbal

Many of the artisans we work with speak Moroccan Arabic (Darija), Amazigh, or French — and I… do not. So we relied on smiles, sketches, gestures, Google Translate, and a whole lot of patience.

But what we found was that communication runs deeper than words. There’s a shared language in art, design, and intent. The important thing was showing up with respect, curiosity, and time.

Traditional Craft Doesn’t Work like Amazon Prime

You can’t rush someone who’s tying 10,000 knots into a rug by hand. Or glazing pottery that needs to be fired multiple times. The modern world is obsessed with speed — and this work fights that at every turn.

We learned to slow down. To build time into our process. To plan for delays and, more importantly, to see them not as “inconveniences,” but as part of what makes each item special.

Fair Isn’t Always “Affordable"

We’ve been asked why our prices aren’t lower — and the answer is simple: because they shouldn’t be. When you’re working directly with artisans, paying a fair price means paying for the time, skill, materials, and cultural knowledge that go into every single item.

We don’t negotiate down to the lowest possible price. We ask artisans what they need to make a living. We talk about volume, consistency, and sustainability — not squeezing out every cent. That’s a choice we made early, and we’ve never regretted it.

This Work Is Personal — For Everyone

Every artisan we’ve worked with has their own story: a technique passed down from a grandparent, a workshop rebuilt after a fire, a glaze recipe that’s unique to one family or town.

When you buy one of our pieces, you’re holding that — not just a product. And that means every part of our process has to honor it.

We’re Still Learning

We’re not experts in any meaning of the word. We’re students of this work — still learning the best ways to support, collaborate, and grow alongside the people who make Azulike possible.

So when people ask us how to “find good artisans” — the truth is, it’s not a transaction. It’s a relationship. And like any relationship, it takes time, care, and showing up again and again with the right intentions.

In our next post, we’ll talk about how we actually started selling our first pieces (hint: it was not as easy as launch site and go). But this part — the people, the relationships, the why — will always be the most important part of Azulike.

Thanks for being here, and for caring about where things come from.