Etsy's Handmade Blog
About Us: Liz Wald aka muka
Story by muka
Published on December 19, 2008 in Etc 		Photo by

Vanessa

Bonjour, G'Day, Guten Tag, Hola, Konnichiwa Etsy!

My name is Liz Wald and back in November, Maria mentioned in her post on the Etsy blog that I would be joining Etsy to work on international development.  My first day is January 5th and I'm really looking forward to being a part of the team.   I just wanted to say a quick hello, wish you all a very happy New Year, and let you know that I'd be reaching out to some of the international Team leaders so they can introduce me to their Etsy worlds.  

My Etsy name is "Muka," a nickname I received while working with artisans in Rwanda.  It's an abbreviation of a Kinyarwandan word that loosely translates to "a woman who lifts up others." It was generous of them to give me this name because I always felt like the artisans did as much to lift me up as I did them, and I can already tell that the Etsy community is a place where people lift each other up every day.   While I'm sure there are far too many international buyers and sellers to get to know you all, please feel free to convo me if you'd like to share some thoughts.

Etsy has had quite a growth spurt, and we have the awkward pictures to prove it. You've seen the admin badge, and maybe you're a bit curious about the person behind it. Check out our series of About Us pieces to help you get to know the Etsy admin (and since many of us work remotely, for the admin to get to know each other!). 

For more on Etsy's mission and about the company, please see our About page (the link is in the little blue footer of every Etsy page).

Tags About us, admin, employees, ETC, international, internationalization, Liz Wald, muka, staff
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77 comments     Login to add your own!

Dec. 19, 2008 at 2:07 p.m. EJPcreations

YAY LIZ!!!!! Welcome!

Dec. 19, 2008 at 2:10 p.m. katieblairdesigns

Hi Liz! Welcome to Etsy. :)

Dec. 19, 2008 at 2:19 p.m. beachhouseblues

Welcome!

Dec. 19, 2008 at 2:21 p.m. ArleenDesign

Welcome Liz!!!

Dec. 19, 2008 at 2:33 p.m. FrucciDesign

welcome liz...and cool avatar!
:)

Dec. 19, 2008 at 2:34 p.m. SeaFindDesigns

Hi Liz!! Welcome!! I say Boston too.... but it's really Woburn!! Well.... Woobin!!!

Dec. 19, 2008 at 2:41 p.m. littlealouette

welcome gorgeous!!!

Dec. 19, 2008 at 2:46 p.m. dogties

Awesome... International helpers.
Let the Etsy World unite.

Dec. 19, 2008 at 2:47 p.m. Purpur

Willkommen!

Dec. 19, 2008 at 2:58 p.m. rosetung

i like the story of your name and also your writing style :)
glad to know someone's here for the non-US shopkeepers. imagine if etsy was limited to US?! how different, how lacking it would be!

Dec. 19, 2008 at 3:38 p.m. BululuStudio

Welcome Liz

Long time no see an about us article, I missed them.

Dec. 19, 2008 at 3:52 p.m. bubbletime

Welcome Muka!

Dec. 19, 2008 at 3:53 p.m. Sumikoshop

Welcome Liz....

Dec. 19, 2008 at 3:56 p.m. mulletin

Welcome Liz!
Yeah for the international Etsy. I love Etsy because it's all over the world, so thank you for doing more in that department :)
/Kathrine in Copenhagen , Denmark

Dec. 19, 2008 at 4:38 p.m. jodieflowers

Welcome Liz!

Dec. 19, 2008 at 4:46 p.m. pinkshowercurtain

Welcome! :)

Dec. 19, 2008 at 5:15 p.m. westcorinthstudio

Nice to meet you, Liz.

Dec. 19, 2008 at 5:25 p.m. Thepaperboat

Welcome sweetheart!

Dec. 19, 2008 at 6:07 p.m. felicitycrew

Welcome!
I really look forward to seeing Etsy get an even more international touch!

Dec. 19, 2008 at 7:04 p.m. ClaudiaLord

Welcome! And I won't hold being a Red Sox fan against you!

Go Yankees!

Dec. 19, 2008 at 7:07 p.m. createartanddesign

Hi and Welcome. Summery greetings from Sydney, Australia.

Dec. 19, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. tangerined

Hello from Worcester. Lots of snow near your hometown today!

Dec. 19, 2008 at 8 p.m. autumnsarrival

Welcome, Liz!!

Dec. 19, 2008 at 8:04 p.m. BluCille

Interesting cuff.

Dec. 19, 2008 at 8:27 p.m. littleredbear

Welcome to Etsy!!!

Dec. 19, 2008 at 9:06 p.m. PoorRobin

Hoorah for new blood! Welcome, Liz. :)

Dec. 19, 2008 at 9:10 p.m. Mimiandlola

Welcome Liz!

Dec. 19, 2008 at 9:44 p.m. IcingOnTheCupcake

Welcome!

Dec. 19, 2008 at 10:28 p.m. ThePeachTree

So great to learn a bit about you Liz "muka"! Can't wait to hear more from you in the future :)

Dec. 19, 2008 at 11:13 p.m. VintagePaperParade

Welcome Liz! From Canada..

Dec. 20, 2008 at 12:13 a.m. pogoshop

Fantastic! I love that you'll be focusing on international development. One of the coolest things about Etsy is that you can live in remote little places and meet buyers and sellers all over the world. Happy holidays and best of luck in your work!

Dec. 20, 2008 at 1:14 a.m. DearDodo

Hi Liz! Welcome! That sounds all very exciting and promising! I love the story behind 'Muka'!

Dec. 20, 2008 at 1:20 a.m. muka

Wow!! Thank you all so much for the welcoming comments! I'm excited to get started. Happy New Year!

Dec. 20, 2008 at 1:46 a.m. EdselFordFong

Nakushemererwa, nyaabo!

OK, so it's Rukiga not Kinyarwanda, but they are basically the same language. (The Kiga were basically the Hutu cultivators who managed to not live under the yoke of the Tuutsi cattle keepers.)

The name they gave me was Ndyanabo - I eat with others.

Dec. 20, 2008 at 3:02 a.m. italianpostcards

Hello and welcome to Etsy Muka! From a seller (an buyer) in northern Italy.

Dec. 20, 2008 at 5:24 a.m. RelovedDecor

Yay for Liz! Yay for us folk that don't live in the US!

Monique from Melbourne, Australia

Dec. 20, 2008 at 6:08 a.m. babastudioPrague

Excellent. A more international perspective on Etsy would be good for everyone - buyers and sellers. Welcome!

btw, I'm Irish, my husband/design partner is Russian, and we live in Prague, Czech Republic.

Dec. 20, 2008 at 6:22 a.m. NicoAndMooMoo

Ciao Liz,
benvenuta da Nico&MooMoo da Verona (Italy, not NJ ahahah)... town of Romeo and Juliet! ;-)

Dec. 20, 2008 at 9:55 a.m. mouthwipers

That's amore!

Dec. 20, 2008 at 3:05 p.m. BigFish

SO.... i clicked 6 of the products displayed with this article ........ ALL from the US ... umm good start?

Dec. 20, 2008 at 3:16 p.m. thecyclingartist

Welcome from London, UK! :)

Dec. 20, 2008 at 3:43 p.m. ptitebaloue

and welcome from snowy Quebec city, Canada :)

Dec. 20, 2008 at 7:01 p.m. aromaticbodyoils

Welcome!

Dec. 20, 2008 at 7:24 p.m. voleurdebijoux

Welcome Liz! ;)

Dec. 20, 2008 at 8:59 p.m. fertilespirit

What an awesome job, Congrats!!! I love the fact that people all over the world are creating beautiful things right now!!!!!

Dec. 20, 2008 at 10:35 p.m. goldcrestdesign

Welcome Liz and Good Luck!!!!!

Dec. 21, 2008 at 2:06 p.m. englishmuffinshop

Willkommen from Vienna, Austria!

Dec. 21, 2008 at 2:30 p.m. angeli

Kamusta po! from Angeli in Manila

Dec. 21, 2008 at 4:54 p.m. nanouke

Olá from Portugal!
Welcome Liz, have a great time :)

Dec. 21, 2008 at 6:06 p.m. peaseblossomstudio

Welcome to Etsy! :-)

Dec. 21, 2008 at 6:20 p.m. f2images

What an exciting job. Welcome!!

Dec. 21, 2008 at 7:53 p.m. AGlimpseofHeaven

Hi Liz!! ("G'day")

Welcome to Etsy International!!!:)

See you around soon!!

:"

Dec. 21, 2008 at 9:15 p.m. JessicaDoyle

Hi from Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. Welcome!

Dec. 21, 2008 at 9:21 p.m. dangerousmezzo

Welcome, Liz, from Nova Scotia, Canada ... Etsy really needs you :)

Just a question for Storque Admin -- why are all the "related items" from the US? And three of them won't ship OUTSIDE the US?

Dec. 21, 2008 at 10:57 p.m. MommysMonkey

Greetings and warm welcome to you Liz!

Yes ~ inquiring minds in Canada (well myself in Toronto LOL) want to know why the sellers in the related items are all from the US?

Dec. 22, 2008 at 2:21 a.m. revolute

Welcome Liz! Glad to see that Etsy is working on that area!

However, as stated above, those are not international sellers in the "Related Items". Curious as to why this is the case?

Dec. 22, 2008 at 2:51 a.m. tortillagirl

Hello! Welcome to Etsy! Thanks for sharing about yourself in this article.

I agree that as of the date of my comment, there are no international sellers in your "related items". It would have been more appropriate to feature international based sellers and U.S. based sellers who ship internationally. There are many of us here, and just a few of us have commented. I'm based in France *and* I ship worldwide. As it turns out, a nice chunk of my buyers are located outside of America.

"Meilleurs voeux" and happy holidays to you and yours!

Dec. 22, 2008 at 2:52 a.m. muka

I love seeing all the different ways to say hello and that was super interesting about the Rukiga as I'd never heard about that language in my visits to Rwanda. I can tell that this community is going to bring loads of new knowledge.

As for items and sellers from around the globe that have caught my eye there are definitely some in my favorites--and many more that I've yet to discover!! Thanks again for all the good cheer and for keeping me on my toes!

Dec. 22, 2008 at 4:19 a.m. gretchenmist

what a great job, i hope you love it :) i think etsy {which is already a lovely community} will benefit from your input. happy beginning!

Dec. 22, 2008 at 4:46 a.m. marchpanepig

While it is lovely that Etsy are finally recognising life outside of America, it would have been even nicer if even one or two 'related items' shown had been from international sellers, instead of 100% US based. Two of whom don't even offer international shipping.

Dec. 22, 2008 at 11:26 a.m. angelstuff

Welcome, Liz/Muka! I'm glad that you're here to do international development because we international sellers have fallen by the wayside here at etsy.

The simple fact that in this article on you - the new international development person - international sellers aren't included as part of the Related Items shows how strong the pro-US bias is here at etsy.

I'm looking forward to seeing the changes you'll be making here at etsy.

Dec. 22, 2008 at 11:45 a.m. HuayruroPeru

Bienvenida
Welcome from Peru, home of the Inca Empire

Dec. 22, 2008 at 12:07 p.m. ebbandflo

slow hand clap from this scot in canada. even tho international items have now been added to this feature it was only after sellers raised the point. sellers will keep you on your toes muka, but is that really a professional way to approach the job? a friendly suggestion - get as familiar as you can with ALL workings of Etsy before Jan 5th, and that includes the customers ie. sellers, too before any more faux pas are committed on your behalf

Dec. 22, 2008 at 9:43 p.m. MayberryCreations

Welcome from Newfoundland, Canada! I hope you enjoy working for Etsy!

Dec. 22, 2008 at 10:49 p.m. LaVogue

Welcome; it looks like you have your work cut out for you finding out-of-US sellers and international shippers.

Dec. 22, 2008 at 10:51 p.m. morgansilk

There are wonderful artisans from all over the world on Etsy-- I hope you find them all.
Enjoy all the window shopping ahead.

Dec. 24, 2008 at 10:32 a.m. Timeless

muka says:
As for items and sellers from around the globe that have caught my eye there are definitely some in my favorites--and many more that I've yet to discover!! Thanks again for all the good cheer and for keeping me on my toes!

**********************

I'm sorry, but all you had to do was check that the 'related items' were in fact related to your topic, meaning that they would be by people from outside the US and/or available for buyers outside the US. Can't be that complicated with as many international shop owners as there are here on Etsy and even more people willing to ship outside the US.

*shakes head*

Jan. 6, 2009 at 3:20 a.m. artnomadix

Welcome to Etsy LizMuka, from Down Under,
I hope you have been made aware straight away, about the urgent need for a clearly visible US$ in front of every Price. Please see this thread
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php...
Thanking you in anticipation of some action soon...Megg

Jan. 14, 2009 at 7 p.m. LaCometaLab

Hi Liz/Muka!!! Welcome here... it's really exciting news that you are coming into the team to take care of us wonderful "international" members :)

Jan. 15, 2009 at 11:48 a.m. sabineajewelry

Hello Liz! Welcome from Norway! :-)

Jan. 15, 2009 at 1:37 p.m. retroeuropa

Welcome and Bienvenida - I would like to extend welcome to any that would like to be part of the International Recyc Database I am part of... Saludos and Happy New Year !

Jan. 22, 2009 at 10:55 a.m. mleesanders

Bonjour from Quebec/Canada!

I do hope etsy will become more international...Prices should be stated in USD or other...

welcome and good luck!

Jan. 24, 2009 at 8:13 p.m. LANCERIKA

..wishing you all the Best Liz*~* awesome job!

March 3, 2009 at 5:55 a.m. yummyink

Great job Liz!

March 14, 2009 at 10:47 a.m. brownbunnybyiris

Looking forward to meet you in Berlin:-)

April 2, 2009 at 7:33 a.m. kariusdeparius

I was so glad to see you in Paris yesterday! I'm sorry I arrived late and had to leave you before the end; that's life with kids...
J'aime etsy.com !
FARE FORWARD VOYAGER, LOVE - Karianne

June 13, 2009 at 10:46 a.m. HighDesertRose

Wow, a woman who is a lifter of others. I love that and am so glad that you are here among this wonderful community.

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