Today we’d like to introduce you to Gabriela Linares.
Hi Gabriela, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Starting Sobre la Luna came out of nowhere, but it came at the perfect time. In early 2019, I lost my main income while being a Grad student, my family is not wealthy, and to be able to attend school and pay it out of pocket was a blessing beyond belief. By losing my job I was tangibly losing the opportunity of finishing school without debt. And so, the brainstorming began, it was my mom who gave me the first $20 invested towards creating a business. Having her full and unconditional support is what motivated me to keep going and dive into the uncertainty I was so afraid of before. Sobre la Luna is a Queer Latina-owned business, we made our first appearance in February 2019 through Instagram and now we do PopUps and even have our own website where we can offer our best-selling products all year long!
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?
Like anything in life, not everything can run smoothly, but I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything in the world. Having no previous experience owning a small business I realized now that there are so many things I could initially have done better. One of those things is to believe in your craft. In late 2019 I joined a Farmer’s Market in LA where I was offered the opportunity to cater my products to the LA community, initially all was going well, but by the second week half of my products were banned from the market due to others vendors complains, this not only affected my pocket, but it affected me as a whole, I didn’t want to make anyone else uncomfortable, but I do believe there’s enough market out there for everyone to be able to sell and be successful while doing it.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
The main focus of Sobre la Luna are aromatherapy soy candles, most of our candles are infused with dry herbs and crystals. We want to create a whole healing experience for our customers, I think these candles are what we are known for as they are a staple for our business. Our most recent candle collection was inspired by Sailor Moon, a Japanese anime that I grew up watching and loved so much; one day I’m sitting down, thinking of new products ideas and the next thing I know is I’m launching these 3 beautiful candles. Being able to connect a part of myself and see it being reflected in the business and so many other people who share the same love for things is one of the things I believe sets me apart from others.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
When it comes to networking, don’t be afraid to be the first one to reach out to the business you want to work with, chances are they also want to collaborate with you. I have been blessed to have collaborated with a few brands and be successful with the outcome, it was definably nerve wrecking at first, but now I enjoy working with other brands and see where our creativity can take us!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sobrelalunamagic.com/our-story
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sobrela_luna/
