Designs by Aemi is filling a niche in Hmong-inspired home decor

Judith Munson

Contributor

December 15, 2025

SHEBOYGAN FALLS – Those quiet moments after the kids go to sleep are often a sanity-saver for parents.

Some spend the time reading, catching up on their favorite shows or simply enjoying the peace.

Aemi Cruz said for her, those hours became the starting point for Designs by Aemi – a custom, laser-engraved home décor business rooted in culture, identity and family

“I am the kind of person who likes to keep busy,” she said. “So, when my third child was born, and I was home on maternity leave, I wanted to do something creative at night after the kids were put to bed.”

Less than five years later, Cruz said her creative outlet-turned-business recently earned the runner-up spot as Start-up Business of the Year from the Hmong Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce.

Fill the gap herself

Describing herself as a creative person, Cruz said she always enjoyed DIY projects.

“We created our wedding invitations and centerpieces,” she said. “Crafting to me is very therapeutic.” 

Unable to find well-crafted home décor that incorporated Hmong motifs, Cruz said she decided to fill the gap herself, creating pieces that highlight and represent all 18 Hmong clans.

“I just wasn’t finding anything like this – decorative pieces with a more modern touch that were inspired by Hmong culture,” she said.

Cruz said the business evolved from a hobby to a full-time endeavor when she started posting Facebook reels showing her work and the labor-intensive process behind it.

“I started posting on Facebook initially, and although the growth was slow at first, I continued to post consistently with new products or current projects,” she said. “My most popular reels are of me and my husband working behind the scenes.”

Part of Hmong culture, Cruz said, involves distinct, intricate designs and patterns that are used on apparel, craftsmanship and fabric to tell stories.

These designs, Cruz said, often feature geometric motifs. 

“I started making door signs,” she said.  

Cruz said her Designs by Aemi portfolio now includes family frames, welcome signs, key holders and puzzles for children.

“People appreciate that every single piece we make is handcrafted,” she said. “We chat with our customers to achieve the exact, custom look they want. We offer them something that’s very difficult to find anywhere else… We provide something very special to the Hmong community. People are excited to see artful home decor that represents their culture.”

Continued growth

Today, Cruz said Designs by Aemi has more than 9,000 followers on Facebook, and the reach continues to grow.

She said she now fills orders for homes, salons and restaurants across the U.S., recently completed her first order from Canada and even has pieces displayed in homes in France.

Beyond building a presence on Facebook, Cruz said she and her husband, Marc, have expanded the business by getting out into the community – regularly hosting booths at Hmong soccer tournaments and Hmong New Year celebrations throughout Wisconsin.

Early on, she said they also traveled to Minnesota and even California to connect with Hmong communities. 

“The Hmong community is strong in Wisconsin, so we keep very busy right here,” she said. “[But] St. Paul, Minnesota, has the largest [Hmong population] in the nation, and Fresno is home to the largest in California, so we made a point of visiting these areas.”

Those early trips, Cruz said, proved invaluable, helping them establish their brand, generate word of mouth in new communities and better understand what customers were seeking. 

Cruz said she soon saw the demand for her work firsthand, selling out at the first two Hmong tournaments they attended.

“Marc had to run back home to grab the door signs that I couldn’t finish, so we could make some more at our hotel to sell the next day,” she said.

As orders continued to grow, Cruz said they realized by this past summer that producing products on a dining room table-sized laser machine was no longer sufficient. 

Upgrading to a larger model, she said the hobby that produced 20 door signs on Black Friday in 2021 has since grown into a thriving business delivering 70-150 items monthly.

Business gets so busy, she said, that they often recruit other family and friends to help. 

“We definitely have our seasons around the holidays and Hmong New Year that keep us extra busy,” she said. “We had to stop taking holiday orders earlier this year, in late November, to be sure they all shipped in time.”                                                 

With the business consuming all their time, Cruz said she and Marc left their previous jobs to focus on meeting demand.

She said they moved operations into a warehouse in Howards Grove in July, just 10 minutes from their home.

There, Cruz said, Marc handles all the woodwork, using entirely locally sourced materials, while she creates and affixes all of the designs. 

Designs by Aemi’s future plans, she said, could include relocating to Milwaukee for improved access to shipping services, expanding into a larger warehouse or workspace and potentially opening a storefront.

“My dream is to expand into new designs to represent other Asian cultures,” she said. “Marc’s family is from the Philippines, so I would probably start with a focus on this community.”

Find Designs by Aemi on Facebook for more details.