The Art Of Growing A Business

Like making art, Talenia Gajardo believes that passion, persistence, and trusting one’s intuitions are key to success in any undertaking

- Luo Jingmei

For Talenia Gajardo, everything that has happened in her career trajectory has been a result of following her instinct – and her heart. After graduating from Central Saint Martins in architecture and working at the iconoclastic late-architect Zaha Hadid’s London office, she persisted in crafting furniture and interiors that defied conventional aesthetic and categorization. Now as CEO of The Artling, she has dissolved barriers of distance between overseas collectors, as well as regional artists and designers with her e-commerce and consultancy platform.

The business ideated in 2013 when the founder of design studio T+ struggled with finding the right artwork for her interior projects. While buying art online wasn’t new, with websites like New York’s Artsy, an industry pioneer, none focused on Southeast Asia. The Artling works on an O2O consignment model and is ahead of market demands. Two years ago, Gajardo broadened the website’s scope, including design objects alongside traditional art mediums, and featured select non-Asian works after realizing that collectors did not limit their selection by region.

Today, the venture that started with one tech staff has grown to a 12-strong team. I recall visiting Gajardo at her first office in a shophouse attic. She laughs, reminiscing how at one point, her expanded team of eight packed like sardines into that hole-in-a-wall. They now have a two-storey shophouse in Tanjong Pagar to keep up with the work of representing over 2,500 artists and designers from 22 countries and more than 250 art galleries worldwide. Three years ago, The Artling acquired Hong Kong-based competitor website Artshare and of mid-2019, boasts an inventory surpassing USD$140 million.