In the beginning there was an idea and a seed that was planted in my soul. What a deep beginning and so worth the read.
Imagine a little girl who loved to play with sticks as a toddler. Not only did I play with them, I collected them. I drove my mom crazy. She would find sticks all over the house. Imagine a child who loved to play with Barbie’s so much so that I refuse to part from them. They are collecting dust in my attic.
I would dress them up all the time. My favorite thing to do was to create a fashion show. Half the time I never really played with them. I just dressed them up into all different types of outfits. I have hundreds of dolls. I actually created and put together dresses out of tape and as I grew older, I would actually sew and create outfits for them. Let me clarify the word sew… I would just use a needle and thread and do a bootleg job at creating an outfit but I loved it. I did all types of hairstyles and rearranged the furniture as though I was an interior designer. I was also a dancer for many years and even had the privilege and opportunity to be chosen to try out for Julliard but my fears got the best of me and my interest in becoming a dancer faded. Although I loved to dance, I did not want to pursue a career in it. As I grew older, I gained a love of drawing and creating anything. My parents still have some of my artwork and I am 3 years shy from 40. I would love it when our family hosted parties because I was always involved in decorating. We would make tons of things from corsages to paper craft décor to adding paper flowers to all types of things such as wine glasses. My family just did it all.
Thankfully I come from a very crafty family and I was taught a variety of things. What I did not know how to do, I searched online for. You have to love the power of the internet and YouTube. Love it!!!! I can tell you no matter what I was involved with school wise or even personally, somehow and someway my love of the arts followed me. Now do not get me wrong, my parents love and have always believed in my talent but they did not think that doing crafts would pay the rent. Nor did they believe that it was a career. This is also why I generated another article you should read about encouraging your kids.
My own persistence and belief that one day I can do it has paid off. Eventually they came around and it got to the point that my mom and I would have craft battles. It was absolutely hilarious and still is because sometimes we argue to the point that I want to pull my hair out but we laugh about it. My mom believe it or not is my second eye. We have two different taste so putting us in the same room trying to come up with something spectacular can be a nightmare at times. When we come together, even with all the fighting and rearranging of elements, what we come up with is simply mind-blowing. We both look at what we have created together and say “WE did a great job”. I will admit that sometimes we steal credit from each other but that is our relationship and it’s OK because we are in essence one unit. My mom loves to create and she is on her way to retirement but little does she know how much I am going to utilize her creative skills. She is amazing with décor, colors and coming up with whirlwind ideas. I just hope she doesn’t call the police and report elder abuse lol. I am kidding of course.
My dad has been a huge help as well. He is another example of how creativity follows you and no matter what you do when the passion is strong, you will give into it. Sometimes it is just a passion that you cannot control. My father worked as a butcher for many years in his father’s butcher shop. He did well but it was not his passion. He went to college to take up Advertising and graduated with an Advertising Degree from Baruch College. That’s actually where my parents met and my mom also graduated with honors. With an Advertising Degree, my dad hit many walls and in one case one company was so racist that they actually told my father that they never knew of a Puerto Rican in the advertising field so they did not even give him a shot. Soon after my dad landed a record cover deal with Louis J. Battan. Even though my dad loved what he was doing, it was not enough and he wanted to do something with his hands so he did what he loved best and got into Carpentry. He was originally a postal employee but eventually landed the head carpenter job at the main Brooklyn Post Office. He had his own shop and crew and they loved him. The way you treat people goes a long way… something else I learned from my parents. My father retired but his artwork is still visible and you will see that with my store. One of the greatest things my dad always taught me was that “the word CAN’T does not EXIST” and “I CAN do ANYTHING I put my mind to”.
My daughter on the other hand has many skills and still in her developing stages at the age of 17. She is creative like her mommy (of course I am talking about myself) and comes up with some beautiful things. She does the most amazing cupcakes and loves to come up with recipes to make. She decorates cakes and puts so much effort into making it up to her standards. Another trait she got from me… “being picky”.
My daughter is also into EDC (Electric Daisy Carnival and EDM Music) so of course that comes with fun aspect of what ravers refer to as Kandi. She also got that from me as well as the love of music. I introduced her to the music many years ago and started creating rave bras for family and friends. Since she saw me doing this, she wanted to dabble into the scene by creating Kandi bracelets and masks. She actually stopped because I tried to tell her to create it into a business. My mind was always on entrepreneurial aspects so anything she did I would say sell it and make money. She hated that but I always wanted her to think that no matter what there is always a creative solution to making money if she needed to and to come up with a good business. Since she is so creative with so many different things, whenever she is into something I go overboard and get her whatever she needs. Now some of the stuff goes into what I call the burial zone. Once she is over it, we move on and the items collect dust. Sometimes she goes back to it, which is why I refuse to give anything away. As a mom or I should say as her mom, I will never stop her exploration of creativity.
I also have 4 aunts from my father’s side that have taught me so much about crafting. 3 of which use to be seamstresses. They are amazing and thanks to them, they have also helped me a great deal with my store as well. They create so many different products from doll clothes, to fabric flowers, diaper bags to handbags… you name it and they will create it. I am so honored to have such a great and incredible talented family.
Business runs through our veins and from my grandparents on both sides to my uncles and cousins, they all have had and have thriving businesses. Both my grandparents retired from their businesses. One set retiring from their business at an early age of 60. They sold the business and never regretted it but if you ask my grandfather if he wants another business, he will tell you he wants to open up a restaurant and he is now in his 80’s. While my grandmother of 82 just retired from her business and not by choice but due to health reasons. If you left it up to her, she probably would have never retired. As you grow older your business turns into a family. Your customers become a part of you and in some cases you watch them grow from children to adults.
It takes creativity to run a business because you have to keep coming up with ideas and ways to keep your business alive. I have learned a lot from many members of my family and I look forward to bringing my experience, my world and my creative flow to all my cute little customers.