We were lucky to catch up with Kassandra Rodriguez recently and have shared our conversation below.
Kassandra , we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
People always ask me this! I can’t pin point the exact time when I started to become confident in my skin, it took many many years to do so. Growing up within the Mexican-American culture, beauty standards are so extreme for young girls. I was bullied constantly for my body. I was told that I had to always wear black so I could look thinner, or I was told to wear bigger clothes to swallow myself in to look thinner. All these instances made me want to do the opposite. I would look at my younger self and think to myself “I don’t see what they see…I think I look beautiful.” I began to dress the way I wanted. I have always looked up to celebrities and so I would take what I’d see in magazines and replicate them on myself. I began to shine. That is where confidence stems from. Not from compliments from others but from yourself. The more I told myself I was rocking an outfit, the more it became real. With that, once I started to believe my own words I feel that it came off to others as well and people started to see my confidence.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am the owner of Girl Almighty, a women’s clothing store in San Antonio, Texas. Our mission is to bring trendy styles to women of all shapes and sizes. We don’t want to discriminate on any pant size, so all of our items cater towards that! Being plus size myself, shopping has always been a struggle. When creating this brand I wanted to offer pieces that I would wear in hopes that I could share my confidence with other women. In addition to the clothing brand, we have a new non-profit organization, The Girl Almighty Foundation which strives to help inspire and educate local women entrepreneurs and creatives!
We are so excited for our new store front which is located at 1010 South Flores St, Unit #116 within the beautiful Apt. 144 jewelry studio! This is a huge milestone for us and we are so excited to have the opportunity to sell in person to our community! You can find jewelry, custom tees, fun accessories and of course the cutest of clothing ranging from XS-3XL. In addition to this, every third Thursday of the month Girl Almighty and Apt. 144 host a huge block party on site with a bunch of local vendors and artists.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
There are a multitude of qualities one must have to be a small business owner. It is extremely taxing. Having the ability to hold yourself accountable is a must! You are your own boss and often times you hold all the hats for your business; having to do tasks that you might not know. Having the love for learning is important too, something that I definitely have the most fun with is learning how to do new things for my business. It is impossible for you to know absolutely everything right off the bat. Holding yourself accountable and having that love for expanding business and social knowledge is huge! My biggest piece of advice is to always stay true to your business’ mission. Remember the ‘whys’ because when you go through dry times where sales are low and your only thought is to quit you can remember why you started your business in the first place!
Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
I am an avid reader so choosing just one was very hard for me! I had to pick one that has been around forever! That book being The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. This isn’t particularly a book for female bosses or female entrepreneurs but it is a book that taught me that in life there are no limits. To be a successful small business owner I believe that it is important to understand this fact. Life has more possibilities than a simple 9-5 job. I think this book can be an amazing catalyst for change and inner growth for many people. This is that missing piece of the puzzle to show you the full possibilities of life as a girlboss….or just human.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shopgirlalmightyy/
- Other: Come shop with us at 1010 S Flores St. San Antonio, TX
Image Credits
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