Her professor once told her “either you are a teacher or a crafts merchant.” She responded without hesitation that she was both: “I am here at the university thanks to the Iraca palm. I have grown thanks to the Iraca palm. I have raised my children thanks to the Iraca palm. My mother provided us with education thanks to the Iraca palm. I cannot leave it behind.” Yaneris, who is the daughter of a family of craftspeople and heiress to the skill that she has generously shared with her community, said all of this convincingly.

She emphasizes the relevance that marketing skills have in the trade. She knows this because, due to their lack of knowledge in the area, her parents stagnated and were never able to take off as they should have, considering the enormous quality of their woven wares. That is why her mother, Julia Salas, who is known in town as the “lady of the vases,” always told her six children —five women and one man— that the best inheritance she could ever leave them was a good education.

And so, she did. Not only did they learn the trade that has earned them their livelihoods, but they also became teachers. Moreover, one of them became a radiologist and another one has a degree in languages and literature. Following in her mother’s footsteps, Yaneris tried to do the same with her own children. One of them is an engineer and another one is a business administrator. The latter made an Instagram account during the pandemic to promote the family brand and managed to open new market opportunities during the economic crisis caused by the confinement measures. He even put Usiacurí at the forefront of the national news.

Yaneris is known for manufacturing large, delicate, and refined wares. Hence, she was chosen by fashion designer Silvia Tcherassi to develop a handbag collection, as well as to embroider dresses for the queen of Aguja de Oro, Amalín de Hazbún. She does not hide her interest in giving craftspeople the tools they need to progress on their own and avoid all the intermediaries who keep the profit that should benefit them.

That is why, in 2009, she approached Artesanías de Colombia to offer them her crafts. Thus, they established a relationship that still exists today and that has been awarded the handcrafted quality seal. In addition, she wants craftspeople to work together and maintain high-quality weaving standards so that, during periods of high demand, all of them can jointly meet the needs of national and international markets. She laughs when she mentions that, whenever there are large orders, she starts looking like a “campaigning politician.” She says that this is so because she goes from neighborhood to neighborhood looking for the best craftspeople to work with who will ennoble the Usiacurí identity. This is her vocation.