Becoming a success story in the entrepreneurial world requires many skills. However, being able to identify a niche market and embracing it with confidence, may be the start to ensuring the success of your company.

Yorgis Morejón García was able to put together two of the things he’s most passionate about and making them into a unique business that has brought benefits to both him and his community. The creation of Craftsman Angler store and Don Yoyi, as his one personal brand, have led him to become an international reference for fly fishing.

His work in crafts began in early 2000, opening the door to a new world for him. “I’ve had many jobs: waiter, administrator, computer specialist; but in the end I got involved in this and it led me to where I am today. It’s something that I really love”, Morejón tells us from his hometown Los Alpes in this Matanzas.

He first started making wooden spoons and figurines until a friend introduced him to the fishing world and urged him to combine his craft with fishing. Not long after that, another friend helped him design a logo and a business name. This is how Don Yoyi emerged as a brand, an identity by which now everyone knows him and his business.

Each piece by Don Yoyi is made by hand using native Cuban lumber, and no two pieces are the same. His work style mixes the color and type of wood with the creative eye of an artist. Through marquetry, a technique consisting of putting together different pieces of wood and creating intriguing designs, he has developed a style inspired by the sea, making this his trademark while allowing him become part of the fly fishing community.

Following a request, he developed the first container or fly box, “a design made out of pins and hinges referencing to the world of fishing. It was very popular and as a result of that I began developing a different kind of art, such as sculptures and utilitarian things for fishing”.

This is all still new in Cuba and he’s the only one in the entire country doing what he does. Fly fishing attracts many followers and Don Yoyi receives many clients from United States, followed by English and Canadians. Ninety-five percent his clients are Americans.

But his business is not only about boxes and marquetry. Fly fishing offers a world of possibilities and there are many accessories that he produces such as “benches to hold the lathes and put the materials, or to hold the rods; the flies and the wooden boxes, which are the responsible for my current success”.

An active member of his community not only because of his business and the many visitors it attracts to his hometown, but because Don Yoyi uses only local materials for his products. He gets the material from the forestry company or directly from local farmers. Matanzas, and especially the area of Jagüey Grande, is the richest Cuban province when it comes to lumber.

This Cuban man likes to dream big, an attitude that has led him to create humidors and utilitarian items for kitchens. Together with his team, he works in another line along with the hotel industry, while focusing his attention on the possibility of “opening several specialized stores for fly fishing throughout the country”. Under that premise, and after all his experience, he does not hesitate to answer when asked what the key to success in the entrepreneurial world is: hard work, dedication and commitment.