Finding Community Through Entrepreneurship

People often ask me how I balance owning two businesses that seem to have nothing in common.

By day, I work in child nutrition, helping schools create stronger programs that nourish children. Through my consulting company, I work with school districts, train professionals, and solve complex operational challenges. It's a career built on service, leadership, and helping others succeed.

Then there's Mi Madre Candle Co.

On the surface, the two businesses couldn't be more different. One is spreadsheets, regulations, procurement, and strategic planning. The other is fragrance, creativity, candle making, and weekend markets.

But I've come to realize they're actually rooted in the same purpose.

Both businesses are about caring for people.

In child nutrition, that care comes through ensuring children have access to healthy meals and supporting the professionals who make that happen every day. With Mi Madre Candle Co., care looks different. It's creating products that help someone slow down after a long day, celebrate a milestone, remember a loved one, or simply make their home feel more peaceful.

One nourishes the body. The other nurtures the soul.

Starting Mi Madre Candle Co. challenged me in ways I never expected. For years, I considered myself analytical—a problem solver who loved science, processes, and systems. I never thought of myself as particularly creative.

Learning to make candles changed that.

What began as curiosity about wax, fragrance chemistry, and the science behind a clean-burning candle slowly became a creative outlet I didn't know I needed. Every fragrance tells a story. Every label represents an idea. Every market is an opportunity to connect with someone through a memory or a scent that reminds them of home.

Perhaps the greatest surprise hasn't been discovering a creative side—it's been discovering a community.

Over the past several months, I've met an incredible network of entrepreneurs at local markets, many of them Latina women building businesses while balancing careers, raising families, and chasing dreams that often begin after the workday ends.

We've shared more than business cards.

We've shared advice, encouragement, vendor recommendations, marketing ideas, and honest conversations about the highs and lows of entrepreneurship. We celebrate each other's successes because we understand the work behind every milestone.

There is something powerful about being surrounded by women who genuinely want to see one another succeed.

As Latinas, many of us were raised with the belief that hard work speaks for itself. And while hard work is essential, entrepreneurship has taught me another lesson: relationships matter just as much.

Community matters.

Networking isn't about collecting contacts. It's about building trust. It's about showing up consistently, supporting one another, collaborating instead of competing, and recognizing that there is room for all of us to grow.

Every market has become more than an opportunity to sell candles. It's become a place where friendships are formed, ideas are exchanged, and confidence grows. I've learned something from every conversation—with customers, fellow makers, artists, and small business owners.

Those experiences have reminded me that entrepreneurship isn't meant to be a solo journey.

When I created Mi Madre Candle Co., I wanted to honor my mother and the women who shaped my life. I wanted to create products that brought warmth, comfort, and connection into people's homes.

I never imagined the business itself would bring so much connection into mine.

Whether I'm presenting to school nutrition professionals, consulting with a district, pouring candles in my workshop, or setting up a booth, the mission remains the same: to serve others, create meaningful experiences, and leave people a little better than I found them.

The industries may be different.

The purpose never changes.

And for every conversation, every collaboration, every customer, and every fellow entrepreneur who has become part of this journey, I'm deeply grateful.

Because in the end, the most valuable thing we build isn't just a business.

It's a community.