Aligning Within Diadel Ortiz talks to~ Arealles Ortiz ~ June 2019
Latina, Entrepreneur and Business Woman~ Arealles Ortiz
Arealles Ortiz is the image of Curly Girl Pops LLC. She was born in the millennial year, and as a result, was raised under the mantra, “Follow your dream.” She is confident and optimistic about the future and how she plays an essential role as an independent owner. She honors her strength of womanhood in a field where entrepreneurs can be subjected to difficulties in striving for success. Determination, perseverance, and the diligence for improvement in business opportunities and working hard is what it takes to become successful at what she does. She is not intimidated by others or is demure to promote her business or heed the word, no. In fact, she finds these kinds of situations essential for growing her business in a world of trial and error.
I am honored to present to you Arealles Ortiz~ Curly Girl Pops, Owner.
Hello Arealles, Welcome to Aligning Within. I am so glad to be interviewing you and sharing with the world your story of being an Authentic Women.
How did you get your idea or concept for your business? My plan for my company “Curly Girl Pops” basically started with the enjoyment of food. Growing up has given me the freedom to savor flavorful food. Traditional Spanish cuisine is down-to-earth, uncomplicated food that is based on the ingredients available locally or the crops grown regionally. It is all in the flare of flavor. I wanted to study culinary and become a pastry chef then, I ended up studying business because I knew I would one day want to have my food-related shop. It wasn’t until I graduated from UVM (University of Vermont) that I switched my major to Nutrition and Food Sciences, where I had a solid grounding in basic science, food science, and nutrition. I earned my Bachelor Degree and realized I wanted to pursue a popsicle business. At the time, there weren’t any popsicle business existing in Vermont. Then, my mom got me a popsicle making book called, and that just set it all in stone for me. I was going to go for it an explore my options on starting a popsicle business.
How long have you had your business? I have had my business for over 4 years. The first year I got an LLC and a website. This is where I began making popsicles and doing my own promotion. Then, I started attending the farmer’s market and selling my product. I was putting a lot of time into my business, working weekends and evenings making pops and dedicating weekends to shop for ingredients, promote, sell, and market the product at the farmers market. Now, I do 3 farmers market a week along with a handful of events across Vermont. It is time consuming, and can be very demanding, but very rewarding if you are determine to make your business a success.
As a business owner, what are our 3-top priority? My 3-top priority as a business owner is:
- Nurturing my community– I vow to serve a product that uses the best ingredients, I can find locally and that has flavorful taste. I enjoy using local products that are rich in ingredients. I also want to help promote and support our local business, paying it forward.
- Waste is minimum– Making minimal waste is part of my mission. I reuse the plastic baggy that holds the popsicles, as well as wrapping the popsicles in parament paper and hemp string, which is 100% biodegradable.
- Promote Latina own business– I want to influence other Latinas through social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook to start their own business in whatever venture they are interested in. I aim to motivate people and inspire their dream. I know what it’s like to have a passion and build on it. It takes time, self-confident, and perseverance to endure the work.
How would you describe your product? Curly Girl Pops is a beautiful, healthy-looking present. I say “present” because it is wrapped like a gift when given to a customer. The product is very articulate, all hand-made, fruity, delicious, and full of numerous dancing ingredients. When you see a curly girl pops, the popsicle possesses a kaleidoscopic collection of colors that are captivating to the eye. When you taste the magic of a Curly Girl Pops, the ingredients caper with delight in your mouth leaving you with an exquisite taste.
How long does it take you to prepare for an event? To plan for a Farmer’s Market Event, I generate about 200 popsicles. It usually takes about an hour to obtain all the ingredients and another 2 hours to make the popsicles into a smoothie mixture. Once the mixture is poured into the popsicle molds, it takes another 2 hours to place the sticks in the frame and wait until they are completely frozen. I leave the popsicles overnight to freeze. The next day, we take them out, assemble the present, and place them in a portable freeze to take to the events. It can take 5 hours to 2 days preparation depending on the function and how many popsicles I will need for an event.
If you had one piece of advice to give to someone who is thinking about starting their own business, what information would you give them?
I would tell them to go for it! Every business starts out with an idea. Follow that idea and see where it leads. Following through with your thoughts, no matter how hard it is until you get the results that you are looking for. You need to keep going no matter what. There will be difficult situations you will need to deal with along the way, don’t let that stop you, keep going. Reach out to people in your community and don’t be afraid to ask for help. There are good people in this world, helping others succeed. Put yourself out there to promote your idea, use social media whenever you can, word of mouth works well. When you have confidence in what you are doing, the feeling will embrace your business. You have to start with an idea and get ready to pursue it.
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and your business venture with us. We felt inspired and motivated by your story. Sending you blessings.
You can check out Curly Girl Pops on the links below.
https://www.curlygirlpops.com/ https://www.facebook.com/curlygirlpops/ https://www.instagram.com/curlygirlpops/