Meet Toma
Hi, I am Toma.
I am a multi-passionate entrepreneur, who turns passion into profits. And I’m your Guide… helping you do what I do.
I am the Founder & CEO of The Antiques Diva & Co, which provides customized global antique sourcing tours. We grew from a 1 woman firm to a global team helping clients to source and ship antiques internationally operating in 16 countries and 3 continents. Our clients have included antique dealers, interior designers, furniture manufacturers, hoteliers, architects, and developers. In addition to the Antique Buying Tours, we also provided Design Inspiration Tours with leading furniture and textile manufacturers and designers to assist with creative direction and product development. This entailed liaising with craftsmen and factories worldwide to produce products based on various traditional design aesthetics. We even take clients on experiential tours of the Venice Art Biennale and offer a Journaling into Being Writing Workshop in Venice for helping clients tap into their inner most knowing.
Inspired by this process, I launched my first licensed line (The Antiques Diva Collection by Aidan Gray) and am now developing a few other ideas. #WatchThisSpace Rounding out a resume in the Interior Design Industry, I’ve also been providing Business Coaching to antique dealers with our Antique Dealer Training and Mentoring Program for several years now as well as spearheading a popular podcast The Business of Antiques.
As if all of this wasn’t enough to keep me busy (!), my team and I decided to tiptoe into the Fashion & Accessories sector, so we launched the Republic of Toma jewelry line based in Italy. The collection swiftly took off and is now a known brand sold across multiple countries worldwide.
My vision has always been to build an empire. And in my typical fashion, I am doing it one step at a time - usually in stilettos, walking backwards, while attempting to speak in foreign language. What I do is NOT easy. But everything in company is utterly and completely ME! I caught the eye of Director Radek Wegrzyn, co-founder of Magical Realist https://www.magical-realist.com/ and flash forward a few years later… we are in development on a TV SHOW about my life. #WatchthisSpace REPUBLIC OF TOMA.
The dawn of The Republic of Toma
One of my passions is writing. Even my first company - The Antiques Diva & Co - started as a blog and morphed into a business. In fact, it became more than a business - it created an entire genre in the travel and design industry. I was able to turn my passion into profit. I was able to share my vision with my growing team of Diva Guides and clients helping them realize their vision too. With this progression, it became clear to me that my biggest passion of all is making dreams come true.
Life is funny sometimes. My first business started with a blog. Life has now come full circle. After my popular quarantine diary, I am launching something new - an experiment, that is the parent company of all I do - Republic of Toma.
This is my Republic. This is a portal where I not only share my diary. I journal my life. The day-to-day. Lessons learned. I love. I laugh, mostly at myself because laughter is the best medicine. I travel in my imagination and in reality. I cook. I share recipes for food as well as practical magic. I believe in God, and I believe God hung the Moon and Stars. I believe you have the power to create your own reality - to make your dreams come true. My diary is Eat, Pray, Love (Yourself) meets Elle Decor + a dash of Goop and a pinch of Entrepreneur.
When travel was on the down-low during Coronavirus, I decided to use the pandemic as an opportunity to expand my services beyond antiques via this new website by offering Brand Promotions, Business Consulting and Product Development services to a *much wider audience* of start ups and established small businesses. Moving forward, my team and I invite those in the interior design, art, antiques, and small business retail/wholesale sector to contact us at the Republic of Toma to learn how we can make your business dreams come true. One of the things I’m often asked is how I do it all. The answer is simple. I don’t. I surround myself with a team of some of the smartest, most connected people I know. When you work with me - you also work with my network. Sometimes that means my in-house staff, but often it’s introductions to independent consultants, to editors or designers, even PR or Media Professionals.
Toma’s background in advertising & business allowed her to launch 3 businesses across 3 continents, as well as successfully build multiple brand partnerships in within the design, luxury and travel sectors.