We were lucky to catch up with Mayra Mendoza recently and have shared our conversation below.
Mayra, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
My work ethic definitely comes from my mother, Alicia. She has taught my siblings and I, to not depend on anyone and that we have to work hard for what we want in life. For as long as I can remember, she has always had two jobs to support her five kids. Now that her kids are successful adults, she still works equally as hard for herself and to spoil her grandkids. She has taught me that nothing is impossible so I have taken that to heart and applied it to my life. I am now working on my business, I am studying full time to be a Registered Nurse and Im also in the Florida National Guard.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I started Aryam Ruby Cosmetics as a way to provide products that are cruelty free and paraben free. Especially since I use my own products I am selective as to what I use on my body and I know others are the same way. I know how important the ingredients in each product matter. So I wanted to be able to control how my products are made and what goes in each product. As a business, I am focusing on building a brand that is health conscious and encourage us all to love ourselves and our bodies. As a little sneak peek, I will tell you that I am working on creating my own cosmetics like lipsticks and lipglosses as a way to further control the ingredients that go into each product, instead of outsourcing the products.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
One area of knowledge, that I can share is to make sure you choose the right company to work with if you are outsourcing products. If you don’t choose the right company, it can lead to major issues such as shipping delays and extended wait times to receive the products. Which are some issues I’ve experienced in the past. To mitigate those issues, I did extensive research to find other facilities to develop my products and that seems to have worked out better. Another area of knowledge that has helped me is having a social media presence on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok posting daily or as often as possible is the best way to promote yourself and your products. So, using social media has helped me with advertisement and getting my company out there. Time management is also essential to running a successful business. I sometimes struggle with that because on top of running a business I am also a full time nursing student, and I’m in the Florida National Guard. All of that on top of maintaining a home, taking care of pets and spending family time. I try my best to take care of everything and prioritize what need my attention the most so I can set aside my other responsibilities. I organize my self and my time by having a planner and scheduling everything so that I can set aside time for everything that needs my attention.
Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
What has helped me when I feel overwhelmed is to look back at what is causing the feeling and try to find a solution. Often times when I cant find a solution right away I step back and take some time away from what is causing the stress and then when I’m ready to revisit it, I often turn to my family, who is my support system, for ideas or advice on how I should handle the situation. I also work out which helps me have a clear head and move my body around to help relieve the stress and allows me some free time to just focus on myself and my wellbeing. So my advice if your feeling overwhelmed, is to take a step back and take a couple of breaths and maybe take a break or some time away so you can recharge, gather your thoughts and them revisit the problem when you have a clear head.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.aryamrubycosmetics.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aryamrubycosmetics/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AryamRubyCosmetics
Image Credits
Mayra Mendoza
