~ Hello, Colour Lovers.
We’ve worked with some truly stellar women over the years, from other small business owners to our industry partners for the Kinder Kits and right back around to our queen bees, Maria and Maria. The work and insights of the women around us has been the driving force in growing our Tinta family into the vibrant universe of shapes and colours we are today.
In this blog, we’re celebrating the women of Tinta itself. We asked them what’s so important about being a woman in business, and what they’re most proud of accomplishing. Without further ado, here are their stories.
Maria Fletcher
Tinta started with Maria F in her kitchen making crayons she knew were totally safe for kids. Now, our crayons are all over the state in the Kinder Kits, and a go-to gift for people all over Australia and New Zealand. Amazing work, Maria!
Hi, I’m Maria Fletcher and I’m the co-managing director of Tinta Crayons with Maria Porto.
What I’m most proud of is the way that the Kinder Kit project from the Victorian Government has made us able to grow Tinta in a way that allows us to support other Victorian businesses and to support young people. Over and over again, we’ve been able to prove that we can do it when we all work together and support other local women-owned businesses.
I love all our crayons too much to choose a favourite, but my favourite colour is red. It’s so bright and shows off all the details we’ve worked to put into the crayons really well.
Maria Porto
The other half of Tinta’s founding partnership, Maria Porto is a whizz in the workshop and the office. From the very first box, she’s loved the crayons so much she knew she wanted to be a part of them. Rock on, Maria!
I’m Maria Porto and I’m the co-managing director of Tinta Crayons with Maria Fletcher.
What I’m most proud of is participating in the Kinder Kits for the past 2 years. The project required us to change the way we were producing crayons and really scale up our production facility, which has let us do some exciting and new things too.
It’s really important to me to be a woman in business because I want to set a really solid example to my daughters that if you are passionate about something, anything is possible. I want to show them that with teamwork, hard work, and dedication, dreams can actually come true.
My favourite crayon would have to be the bee from the Garden Insect set.
Charlotte
Charlotte has been with us from the very beginning, helping to pack for our first market when she was still in high school! Since then, she’s gone on to study science and education, and even came back to help with the Kinder Kit late last year. We just know she’s going to be everyone’s favourite teacher!
I’m Charlotte and I’m currently working as a teacher for gifted students. As a recent education and science graduate, I’m only just beginning my journey into the education field and working out where my interests and strengths lie, but I’m particularly passionate about STEM education.
I think it’s so important to teach children to be curious and investigative problem-solvers. Although education is a female-dominated field, the majority of leadership roles are actually held by men, so the fact that the small business I currently work for is headed by a woman with a lifetime of experience and impressive expertise is so exciting and inspirational.
Before starting my current role, I worked at Tinta as their very first employee, making all of the crayons. I’m most proud of being a part of Tinta’s development throughout the years and being able to contribute to the growth and changes that the business has been through almost from the very beginning.
We’ve had so many different crayons come and go over the years, but my favourites are probably the letters that we use to make the personalised names — it’s so much fun mixing and matching them to create the perfect colour combinations in each box.
Cherry, Tinta Crayons
Cherry is our first permanent employee, queen of the workshop and our star crayon-maker. She’s also an accomplished sportswoman and coach. We’re sure she’ll inspire the next generation to go above and beyond too.
As well as making the crayons that go into Tinta’s packs and the name boxes, Cherry also mixed and created all our new colours this year. Throughout the Kinder Kit project, she taught our younger staff how to pour the perfect petal crayon as one of our workshop supervisors.
Her favourite crayon is the T-rex from the Dino Mountain pack, especially if it’s blue.
Our Junior Women
While Tinta started with the friendship between their mums, we wouldn’t have gotten this far without Sabrina Porto and Adelaide Fletcher. They’ve lent their names to the fairy and unicorn from the Enchanted set, packed boxes, and even helped out at markets in between school terms. It’s a big thank from all of us for being such awesome junior bees, Adelaide and Sabrina!
We’re so proud of all of the amazing women in Team Tinta. Just as Maria Porto said, with teamwork and dedication, all our dreams really can come true.
For more of our celebration of all things women-owned and made, head over to our socials. We’ll be talking to the team about their journeys, as well as some familiar faces from other businesses we’ve worked with over the years. You can also subscribe to our newsletter in the banner below, so you never miss a moment to celebrate something special. We’ll see you again soon!
Team Tinta x
