Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Alonzo.
Amanda, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’ll try to keep it condensed and not write a novel.
It started in my early 30s. I was engaged at the time to a man I had been in a 12-year relationship with. He called off the engagement, and it was then that I had to restart, start my life, and re-find who I was and what I wanted to do. It was a journey in many ways, health, mental health, happiness, all of it. Society beats it in your head that you should be married, have a career, kids by your 30s (not that I believe these societal constructs – I did get my degree in sociology from University of Oregon, by the way) but here I was at the age you are supposed to have it figured out, and I was completely starting over.
I was on a journey of remembering who I was and what I enjoyed. I had always loved challenging the social norms and helping people out. I worked at one of the biggest national non-profits for 15 years and had always done some sort of fundraising or charity collection for different organizations on my own time. When I was right out of high school, I had a clothing line. I started with a friend. During that time, tho there was no social media, so marketing was done the old-fashioned way. Buying ads in magazines and papers, I had no money for this and didn’t know any other way. All that to say, the line lasted for a while, and it was a great experience; I still sew on the side, but just for my own fun. However, in the process of coming into my own, I asked myself what would that 18-year-old Amanda have needed to get her clothing line off the ground. The answer was simple: someone, place, or group she could go to and find out about how to run a business, meet other people just starting, and someone willing to share knowledge with me.
I had started The Fem Power Daily; it was a blog that I would write out interviews I did with women and also type up articles on social issues. If you know me, my typing grammar always needs work. I always joke that it wouldn’t be something I wrote if there wasn’t a grammar problem. So, what could I do that was similar but without the typing… a PODCAST of course. My now boyfriend has a podcast, and he was very encouraging of me to start one and helped me out with it. So then came Brunch Talks with Mandi Rose, it was also the pandemic, so everyone had time on their hands and something to day. I had about 4 seasons of Brunch Talks, and it focused on interviewing the everyday woman who is living her dreams. Some were full-time entrepreneurs, some held a 9-5 and a side business, and some were corporate. I even interviewed a few movie producers some over sees it was great I meet a lot of amazing people.
I started thinking to myself what more I could do to give back to my community and to also answer the question of what 18-year Amanda need that was trying to start a clothing line. Well, Fem Power Den was born. A place for women to feel safe, create, and build together, and what better place than my hometown? It took a long time to find the right space, and then right when I found a space I got laid off from my job (once again Covid everyone was losing their jobs). So, then, I got scared to sign a multiple-year lease without having a steady job as backup. A friend whose family owns real estate had an offer to rent me out a spot month to month to help them out and for me as well. It was perfect, not huge, but enough to get my feet weak and learn about running a space. Let me tell you, owning a business front and running it is not an easy job. I cried multiple times in there debating if I should put my 30-day notice or not. Overall, I had the Den for a little over a year. But in that year, The Den did amazing things. I hosted she entrepreneur events, where I would have a panel of women come and speak about their experiences running a business. We had networking nights, paint nights, wine and vibe nights; I had a Latina in Politics round table and ran fundraisers for S and L Foster Agency. I also rented it out to people that needed a space and at a reasonable price. The most important thing, though, was I grew a community of women who really wanted to help each other out. It was and still is a beautiful thing. I meet and connected with so many amazing people through The Den.
I no longer have the physical space anymore, but Fem Power Den or (The Den) is still running and growing. We now host Fem Power Market’s at different locations. Which are local small business vendors who are at least 50% owned by women. I still host events, but now we partner with other women-owned businesses and co-host events at their space. I am a proud partner and continue to support S and L Foster Family Agency with fundraisers and events. I rebranded and relaunched BrunchTalks to Den Talks. I have spoken at other women empowerment events and shared my story. I also am a published author in the book Boss Latinas: The Anthology, sharing my story in there as well. I am also a Marketing Specialist for my Job and travel to host corporate events and train people on them. It’s always interesting looking back, thinking I need to find me and what I want to do, and then when I think about it, I have always wanted to help people, and I have always put together events. I just needed to remind myself this is me and it has been inside of me, I just needed to bring it back out.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Ha a smooth road, there is not such thing in Entrepreneur life. Or maybe there is, and I just haven’t gotten there yet. One thing I always talk about is when I speak at events is it’s a lonely road. And I don’t mean that like I don’t have friends, or family, or my BF because I do have a great village behind me. It’s more in the sense of you have to do things and you have to handle business, and because this was my own business, I don’t have a business partner all these risk are mine and mine alone. Which means, I’m spending my time researching, working after my other job, cleaning, talking to customers, setting up events. These things have to get done in order to pay bills and they got to get done by me. It does get lonely, and if you aren’t ready for that and ready for the discipline you need to run a business, it is going to be hard. I get asked a lot because my regular job is a busy and traveling job, how I have time for everything. I laugh and in my head I’m like what are you talking about I have a lot of down time where I should be probably doing more.
The other struggle I speak on a lot is knowing you deserve to be in the space you in. Many of us start our business, and thanks to things like social media, we see other businesses and how far they are and how many sales they are making. Then we start to doubt our selfs, like “well maybe my product isn’t good enough yet”. And no, I tell them if you got up and decided that hey, I make candles, and I know there are 10 other local small businesses that do too, but I am still going to sell and push forward, you deserve to be here. There is a space for all of us, and there are customers that each of us will connect with and some we won’t. But, as long as you continue to believe in yourself and SHOW UP for your selfs, you deserve to be here. I doubted myself with The Den plenty of times. And almost every time I would, I would be reminded why I was doing what I was doing. One time I got a text from a girl that came to my event, talking about how she had a bad week, and her job was not healthy for her. She came to an event, and she left inspired and motivated. And she thanked me for creating a space she felt welcomed and able to connect with other women. It’s when I get told things that like that inspire me to keep going and showing up for myself.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I do still hold a corporate job. I am a Regional Marketing Specialist for a Luxury Senior Living Company. I travel all around California and sometimes out of state to host our corporate events at different communities. I also train and help with event planning and helping with the move in process. I love my job. I get to throw events, but not only that, I LOVE WORKING with Seniors. I would have never known till I got in the industry. The knowledge and the stories some of the people have. It’s my favorite to get to know them and talk to them. One community I was at they let me run their Women’s Day celebration. Everyone was in tears (in a good way). I had them do this activity to share 3 things: one they were proud of, a random fact about themselves, and one other thing they can’t remember. Well, it turned into a sharing session and about how proud of their moms, sister, daughters and the staff everyone was, it was so beautiful.
When it comes to both my day job and The Fem Power Den. What I am most proud of is at the end of the day I am still helping people and making an impact in their life. It could be anything from inspiring someone at a Den Event or sharing my story in a book, or at a speaking engagement to spending time with the residents of these communities. It makes my heart happy to know what I am doing is having impact on other people’s lives.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs, or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I really enjoy Trevor Noah’s podcast What Now. It’s rather new, but he covers some great topics. It’s a really good mix of laughs for my long drives but also critical thinking on interesting topics. I am a Canva person, I do all my own marketing and content making so that really helps me.
Books I have read a lot some I can think of are Grit, I Know How She Does It, The Art of Community, How To Be A Boss A$$ B***h, MindSet, Think Big. I could name more, but I do love reading and I am a Sociology Nerd so you will finding me reading about Social Subjects a lot.
Contact Info:
- Website: Fempowerden.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fempowerden/
Image Credits
BJ Rosary
