Meet Angelica Addie

We recently connected with Angelica Addie and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Angelica, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.

My optimism comes from my Christian faith. I have a saying that if you live long enough, you are going to experience some kind of hardship. No one is exempt. It doesn’t discriminate, it affects everyone. It’s a guarantee in life we all wish we could somehow prevent. Since we cannot avoid or prevent it, we can learn how to respond to it when it comes knocking on our door.

I’ve experienced the hardship of parents who were volatile towards each other, not one but two divorces, homelessness, single parenthood, job loss, financial struggles, depression, heartbreak etc. Life indeed has been a rollercoaster. Hardship has been relentless but thanks be to God for always brining me through the worst of it and for always giving me hope. How did he do that? Through his word, his Holy Spirit and the power of prayer. When you realize that you are not alone in the fight against hardship, that gives you hope. When you realize that your belief is in a God who has the power to change the outcome of the hardship, you press into that belief. You don’t give up no matter how hard it is. It is through life’s hardest challenges when you experience the wonder of God. Only God can take the worst of circumstance, that which seems hopeless or dead and breath life into it. He not only raised Jesus from the dead but he can also raise you out of the ashes of earthly hardship. God is good and yes, he’s good even in hardship. Ultimately, I believe his word when it says; And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I am originally from Manhattan, New York but spent the better part of my childhood in Florida so I consider myself a Floridian. My sister and I were raised by my mom and Aunt Ruthie. Upon graduating high school, I enlisted in the US Army were I served four years on active duty. After completing my time of service, I returned to Florida to be with my family. During that season of transitioning from the military to the civilian life, I met my now ex-husband, got married and had three children. Unfortunately, that marriage ended in divorce so I ended up raising the children as a single parent. As I raised my children, I worked in various administrative positions throughout the years to support my family. While I focused on my family and work, I had buried the entrepreneurial spirit I’ve always had. That was until 2019 — but before I go there, I want to share a brief background on my journey into entrepreneurship.

The desire for having my own business has been there for many years. I’ve had the entrepreneurial spirit since I was a little girl. While I don’t remember my exact age, I had my own little candy store when I was around 11-12 years old. I took ten dollars and bought ten dollars worth of candy. I turned that ten dollars into twenty. I took the ten dollar profit and reinvested into the business and kept doing that until I had a great selection of candy for kids from the neighborhood to choose from. I loved running my little business from my mom’s apartment. While kids enjoyed their time off school, I enjoyed running my business and growing it. I grew it into a full fledged “corner store”. I expanded the product lines from candy to homemade flips, slushies, donuts and pizza. What is so fascinating about my little business venture is that no one taught me how to do that. I figured it out all on my own. I don’t know how long I did it for but if I remember correctly, I did it off and on for a few years. I had a blast and look back on those years with fond memories.

Now back to adult life when I was raising my kids. After working as an administrative professional for many years, I decided to take the leap of faith to open my business, Butterfly Promotional Solutions in 2019. Butterfly is a promotional products company that offers custom branded promotional products and apparel solutions for businesses and organizations. The business almost closed in 2020-2021 during the Covid years but I was able to keep it afloat by working odd jobs here and there to sustain myself financially. I would eventually go full-time in 2023.

I chose this kind of business because I had worked in the field before and really liked it. I figured I give it a try because the start up cost were minimal and something I could afford. Since I didn’t have a sales background, trying to get sales was very hard in the beginning. If I’m being transparent, it’s still hard but I figured out a way to grow the business. Slowly but surely, after becoming a member of the Central Florida Christian Chamber and networking all over town at different business networking events, I slowly started growing Butterfly. I built relationships in the business community and it is from those relationships where I’ve gotten all of my sales.

I enjoy working in the promotional industry and helping clients find the products that will work best for their marketing needs. All promotional products are not equal and all promotional products don’t work for every business. You need someone who will give you the best recommendations on products so you can get the best return on your investment. That’s what I try to do for all of my clients. I don’t know what the future holds for Butterfly but as long as I’m in the business, I will continue to do my very best for my clients.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Faith, Resilience and customer service are personal qualities, skills and areas of knowledge that I think were most impactful on my journey. Without any of these, I would not be in business today. You have to faith in yourself and in something bigger than you. In my case, that being God. You have to rise above adversity. You will face hardship and setbacks on your entrepreneurial journey. Use every setback or failure as a motivation to not give up, keep going. Customer service is critical to success. It’s not just about being friendly — it’s about truly listening, showing care, and creating an experience that makes people feel seen and valued. I believe in building relationships, not just transactions. Excellent service builds trust and long-term relationships.

Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?

When I’m overwhelmed I do things that will help me calm down and relax. I pray, I go for walks, call a friend to seek advice or will reassess the situation that is overwhelming me to find a solution to the problem. Usually, practicing one, some or all of these things resolves the problem that is causing me to feel overwhelmed.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.butterflypromosol.com
• Other: angelica@butterflypromosol.com