Daily Inspiration: Meet Anaya Medina

Today we’d like to introduce you to Anaya Medina.

Hi Anaya, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Paper Hearts was started in 2024—one of the hardest years of my life—and honestly, I had no idea what it would become. I was navigating some really tough personal challenges, and amidst all of it, my Grandma passed away in May. After that, I felt completely lost and alone. Grief became the catalyst for my growth. I leaned into faith and learned a lot about myself. I fully surrendered to God’s direction and timing for my life, and little by little, the pieces finally started to come together. Eventually as my business grew, opening a store just made sense for me.

I’ve always been a creative person. I come from a family of artists and entrepreneurs. I write poetry, create collage art, and I’m always pulling inspiration from the world around me. I’ve always been interested in secondhand fashion, especially during my high school years—not because it was trendy, but because I didn’t grow up with a lot. When I started gravitating towards secondhand clothes, my Mom and Grandma would tell me stories about how they grew up finding and upcycling pieces when they were young. Finding vintage clothes was an accessible way for me to creatively express myself through my outfits. Thrifting was normal to me because I grew up doing it, so it never occurred to me that I had unknowingly been developing a very valuable skill for the last 15 years.

Up until my Grandma passed, I was never happy with where I was in life. I was always trying to do more, to be more, and to achieve perfection — which I know now is impossible. I was never satisfied with my work so I would constantly move from one thing to the next to subconsciously avoid the uncomfortable parts of growth. One thing my Grandma instilled in me and my family was to make the best with the resources we had and to never give up. So that’s the foundation Paper Hearts was built on. One day, I decided to make better choices with my resources, my time, my focus, and work with what had always been right in front of me.

I started slow, sold pieces online, and stayed consistent despite how uncomfortable or difficult it was some days. I learned how to focus and fall in love with the process, not the results. I didn’t even know vintage was a viable career option until I started vending at markets in 2025. I stopped caring how I was perceived or what anyone else thought of me and I just kept going because every part of it was worth it to me. It genuinely made me happy every time I connected with someone at a market or found a cool new piece that I got to share with someone else.

Logan, my fiancé, has been a huge source of support. Once we started doing markets together, we realized how well our strengths complemented each other. With the emotional support from our family, we felt ready to take on the responsibility of opening a store front together. I like to think of the store as one huge art installation. It’s little pieces of me, our style, and my story. We created a space that invites creativity, community, and curates accessible vintage fashion. Anyone who comes into the store can feel the love and the foundation that Paper Hearts was built on.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I’ve definitely experienced some challenges because every part of this was completely new to me. I had no experience vending at markets, selling online, or navigating the logistics of opening a storefront—like permits, licenses, and build-out. We were using all of our extra money from our regular jobs to fund everything, which made every decision very important.

We had a setback early on with the timing of permits and the build out, and we were doing all of it while still working our full time jobs and balancing parenthood. I had to get really comfortable with the unknown and take things step by step. We didn’t know what the next steps would be until we took a step forward, and that was one of the hardest things to accept.

Even now, we still work 9–5s so we are extremely intentional with our time while also raising our child. I see my business like a living poem so I know it’s never going to be complete. It’s always a work in progress and I can adjust, evolve, and refine it as I go.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Today I curate clothes and operate a vintage store, but I’ll always be a poet and a writer. Having a background in poetry has really shaped me and permeates everything I do. I’m really good at picking up on subtleties in my environment because I feel things so deeply. Finding meaning in the little things and the mundane is an art form that works really well with curating clothes and running a store.

What sets me apart is the intention and integrity I put into every detail. Nothing is random. And even if something is random, it was meant to be that way. Whether it’s a poem, a collage, the clothes, or the store, everything is important to me.

The thing is, it’s not as planned out as you would think. Im actually not a super organized person. I don’t take a long time to plan things, they kind of just unfold over time. As I learn more about myself or take inspiration from the world around me the project I’m working on starts to reveal itself to me. Eventually, I end up with something I’m really proud of, like my store. Business aside, what I’m most proud of is my daughter and being a Mom she can rely on and learn from.

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Growing up, I was a super high achiever. I was always trying to be the best at everything I did. My mom always said, “I don’t care if you’re a trash truck driver, you better be the best one you can be,” and that always stuck with me. I got straight A’s for most of my life and played travel softball for a long time. I loved playing softball—those were some of the best times of my life, and it taught me so much.

When I was little, I was always singing, putting on talent shows for my family, or bossing my little brother and sister around. I was definitely a little hyper, a little annoying, maybe a little bossy, and honestly, that hasn’t changed much.

I also questioned everything. Literally everything. I never wanted to be “normal” or do something just because I was supposed to—I had to understand it and actually feel it. Looking back, I think I’ve always had an entrepreneurial side. One day, my little sister and I decided we wanted to make some extra money, so we thought it would be a good idea to sell tortillas with butter to our neighbors. We loaded them into our little red wagon, and before we even made it to the street, we realized it probably wasn’t such a great idea to sell soggy tortillas, but hey, we tried!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paperheartsyucaipa