Today we’d like to introduce you to Mia Parra.
Hi Mia, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Ever since elementary school, I knew I wanted to create things. It was just a matter of what it is and who my audience will be. I started making duct tape wallets to sell at recess which earned me enough money to buy my mother a gift card to Starbucks for Mother’s Day. I was about seven years old. Since then, I had a passion to make a business for myself. Fast forward into high school, I was diagnosed with anxiety and was recently going through homelessness, so money and my mental health was at an all-time low. This was until covid happened that I was sure of two things- I’m scared to go outside, and I have no money to my name. The quarantine allowed me to pursue my interest of making rugs, the new “trend” going around Tik Tok. I was able to order materials and start. My first attempt of a Kanye “graduation” rug blew up on my media which gained new customers from the east coast. Since then it was a chain reaction. I started receiving orders and started to make my dream come true. With my attendance at UCR, I had to learn to balance my time with working retail, making rugs and school, so the summer time was my prime. I wanted to attract a bigger and local audience with selling my rugs, so I applied to be a vendor at the 562 Flea Market in Whittier. I sold my rugs in person for the first time and instantly fell in love with selling in person. This is where I met the most inspirational person to me, Andres Vega. He owns the market and became my mentor since July of 2021, when I started to work as an intern for him. Since 2021, I have not only transitioned my position from intern to manager at the market but also grew my traffic with rugs on social media. This experience has also allowed me to implicate my stories into applying and attending UCLA, where I major in Gender studies with a minor in Media. As of right now, I began to model for local brands, manage one of the biggest flea markets, attend the #1 public university and sell custom-made rugs. I guess you can say I’m everything seven years old Mia wanted to be.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
High school was some of the worst years of my life. My social life was fine, but my mental health was constantly plummeting down due to my diagnosis of anxiety. My freshman year I was homeless and a lot of self-doubt occurred from this trauma. Add this into the list of growing up in a Mexican household where I know my education will always come first. It was a lot of pressure and stress. This is where my biggest flaw occurs- pushing myself so hard to reach my fullest potential that I don’t give myself enough credit sometimes. No matter what I am doing, I still feel like I’m never doing enough or I could do more.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I created my business of hand-making rugs (Rugzbymia) in 2020. When I blew up on Tik Tok by selling at the 562 Flea Market, I started to get recognized due to the color of my hair. I sell these rugs at least once a month at that same exact market I help manage (562 Flea). To the public right now, I am most known for managing the market and helping small businesses grow. One thing I love about my job managing the 562 Flea Market, is the absolute trust that I receive from vendors to make sure that they are in a calm, supportive and fun environment to sell at. These small businesses mean the world to me because in reality, I am just like them! I have a small business myself and I know how hard it is to put yourself out there! I’m so thankful that I get to see these businesses grow from just a table to having a whole booth filled with buyers and supportive help. I feel like this experience I give vendors sets what I do and what the market does apart from others is the constant engagement. I spend hours going around booths asking what are their pronouns, how sales are going if they have eaten and if they are feeling okay. I take pride in my work of creating yet managing a safe space, and I feel like this only shows a portion of how I take on projects – with poise and meaning.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
Starting out is pretty scary to be honest! Sometimes I’m still shy of putting out new rugs because I have so much self-doubt. But the first step is just creating, you’re practically halfway done! They’re always going to be people better than you, smarter than you or even have more opportunities than you-however, no one will ever be better at what you do if you put your whole potential and ambition into your craft. Investing in your craft does not necessarily mean investing money, but it’s investing time, building connections, planning ahead and most importantly being proud of what you created, that is investing into your craft. The best advice I can give for someone who resonates with my story, even if it’s a little is a little quote I heard from Tyler, the creator with my own twist. This quote got me into UCLA and I hope you find motivation from it as well. “Sometimes you gotta open a door to close a window, and the view is much brighter outside than in.”
Contact Info:
- Website: 562flea.com
- Instagram: @elcieloymia @rugzbymia @562flea
Image Credits
Photos by: @ccastle_ (Cristian Castillo) @outstruct @vibe2dis
