Today we’d like to introduce you to Nita Marquez.
Hi Nita, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’m a former professional athlete, trainer, nutritionist, author, peak performance coach, and a single sole-supporting mother of three. When I was a sponsored athlete, I was under a contract with a sportswear company. We collaborated and I started to design my own gym clothing. As a result, I learned about the important details of high-performance in sportswear.
During the height of my career in competitive fitness, my husband left me and our three children. (I was pregnant with our third baby at that time.) I soon went from being a sponsored Championship Professional Athlete to side hustling as a single mom of three kids (one who has special needs). Eventually, I ended up working in sales when I decided to re-enter the workforce.
Like many single parents struggling financially while raising children, many of us persist to keep picking up the pieces and putting them together, so financially and emotionally that was what I lived my life like for about a decade. Picking up pieces and falling apart was a cycle, and I know I’m not the only one who gets that. When I got the idea to start designing the OnTheMarq Jumpsuit, I knew exactly what I wanted to create: a high-performance piece of functional clothing that could be worn in the office, in the gym, out to dinner, or at brunch.
I had an aim with what I was designing in my clothing line. I wanted to create something that made women’s lives easier, but I had no money to do it. I had a goal, an idea, a lot of passion and 20 bucks. In the summer of 2016, with just a $20 budget, I started my journey into creating my dream Jumpsuit. I bought some high-grade performance fabric from Downtown LA, and I took my design sketch everywhere. The continued six months of fittings and alterations and finally brought the complete design to be ready.
Lack of marketing capital hindered scaling the business, but I didn’t stop. Selling OnTheMarq Jumpsuits from my car’s trunk, I continued working and earning a solid income at my sales job until I lost my job just two weeks before the holidays in 2019. The next challenges to overcome were job-loss. Then a month later we were facing an eviction, and two months later, Covid-19 hit along with the 2020 lockdowns. Keeping this company going through some of the most financially and emotionally challenging times in my entire life, I am determined to give OnTheMarq the life that it deserves, and give women the power of simplicity wrapped in sexy functional fashion. As a mother, I’ve raised my children with the support and determination to see them through to a greater destiny. As a business owner, I am just as committed to raising OnTheMarq with all that it needs from me to see its destiny!!
We’ve been impressed with OnTheMarq Jumpsuit, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
OnTheMarq is a brand that is known for empowerment. Fashion design is one small facet of the brand. As a former athlete and coach by trade, I founded OnTheMarq coaching and started the OnTheMarqUNeDITeD Podcast, both of which, like my clothing, seek to empower others to live fully expressed as they raise up to their best, more and more daily. What really sets OnTheMarq Jumpsuit apart from all other brands is in our tagline: OnTheMarq Jumpsuit is The Only Jumpsuit for Every Woman for Every Occasion! The high-quality OnTheMarq Jumpsuit literally fits EVERY body type BEAUTIFULLY & COMFORTABLY! AND THE patent-pending DropCut™️ makes it the ONLY Jumpsuit that you don’t have to completely remove in order to go tinkle!! My mission with the OnTheMarq Jumpsuit has been to create the greatest jumpsuit in the world, and based on the feedback I’ve gotten, I have!!
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
NEW ECONOMICS FOR WOMEN has really supported me in terms of financial literacy coaching and a remarkable amount of moral support. I’ve been involved with them for several years through having done work with them and also having benefited from their services in the past, I was very fortunate to be inducted into their Women’s Business Center (WBC) fashion program, MADE IN LA, where I have been mentored and guided through the steps to scale up my business. On top of that, I have been very fortunate to have Pia Gladys Perey, an international fashion designer and manufacturer of her own line, who is guiding me and collaborating with me to help me expand my business as well. Always surround yourself with people who support you, and walk away from people who wag their fingers at you. The one bit of advice that I can share in having learned the hard way is that you never have to allow someone to make you feel like you are less just because they may know more. You always have a choice to walk away from those types of situations. If some is an “expert“ in your field, it doesn’t mean they have the authority to be an asshole.
Pricing:
- $90-$150
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: OnTheMarqJumpsuit.com
- Instagram: @OnTheMarqJumpsuit
- Facebook: Facebook.com/OnTheMarqJumpsuit
Image Credits:
Geoffrey Donne Photography
