Meet Erica Lopez

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Erica Lopez a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Erica, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
I have been working since I was 14 years old. No matter what stage of life I was in, I knew I needed to take care of myself. These days my resilience comes from my family. Recently with my sons Autism Diagnosis, I was forced to stay home and be his sole caregiver. Knowing that my small business could potentially help support my family and I needed it to support my family. I needed to be resilient.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I started in 2015 creating folders and pouches, I just wanted to do something special for my fellow volunteer friends. I just happened to post on social media and a friend commented ” if you’re selling those, I want to buy one!” I wasn’t sure if that’s what I wanted to do or if I could even do it. I started this small company to help support my volunteer work. Then as I started to get more comfortable, I was sewing skirts for personal use. As others inquired about my skirts and asked when I was going to start selling them, I thought what the heck? Let’s give it a try. Here we are, in the skirt business and I love it! I love seeing one’s wearing my skirts and sharing them on social media. I feel the biggest compliment is when someone refers people to my shop and shares it on social media. In October 2020, I incorporated Farmasi Cosmetics into my shop. Providing makeup, skin care and nutritional items has been so much fun. Being able to help ones feel confident and beautiful in their own skin and body type is truly amazing. Never in a million years did I think I could make that possible. Being able to offer affordable, comfortable and modest products is so important to me. So when the products accomplish that, it makes me feel like I’m making a difference. Since starting my business things have definitely changed. In 2022 my son showed signs of Autism and in August 2022 he was diagnosed with Autism and Global Developmental delay. It has rocked our world to say the least but I am so proud of the progress that he’s made and Elijah is a huge part of my little shop. I have been able to use my platform to spread awareness and acceptance of the Autism Community and that is something that I am truly proud of!
In April 2023 we were able to host our first Autism Acceptance Celebration. We were able to host 10 kids for a fun-filled event, so many small businesses, family and friends came out to support them and donate their time, money and resources! The event was 100% donated. We look forward to doing it again next year and host more children, teenagers and their families who are a part of the Autism Community.

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

I think if you have these three aspect, you can accomplish anything! People will trust you more and think of you when they need something related to your field of expertise.

Organization is so important! Keeping your affairs in order when running a business will save you a lot of stress and frustration.

Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
Man, this was a rough question. Running a business is a lot of hard work, blood, sweat and tears. So when I feel overwhelmed, I turn to my core friends and family. I feel if I vent and talk it out, it helps be to calm down. I joke with my friends and ask them to talk me off the ledge.

I feel like talking it out is literally the best way to calm down. Sometime we just want to be heard. So don’t hold it in, turn to your peeps and talk it out.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Daisey Lim: Daisey Lim Photography https://instagram.com/daiseylimphotography_?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

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