Unlike any Q&A’s you have read before, this one is -indeed- a remarkable one. I love to see empowered women being successful at everything they wish for. But, had you feel the satisfaction of overcoming your fears in order to chase your dreams? Eco Native is known as a the touch of nature since 2018, showing us that becoming a mother is never the end of your goals and passions.

“you have to understand that should not be the end of your aspirations.” – What’s on my mind? My goals vs being a mother

Let’s dig into the world of a successful young mother and business owner, Kiara Thaily Rivera, founder of Eco Native.

Q. What is Eco Navite?

A. We are a small company dedicated to skincare using the fruits provided by our Mother Earth.

Q. What ticked you to jump-start your entrepreneurship journey?

A. My daughters, both of them had sensitive skins and I wanted to use products as natural as possible on their bodies. My family has land, and I realized a lot of their harvest was left unused. That’s when I decided to study the benefits of ingredients found in the farm and make it a business.

Q. What are the fundamental principles of Eco Native?

A. Eco Native is super transparent, sincerity, and quality in each of our products. We work as a team, trying to create consciousness of what we put on our bodies, and treating the land we grow our products respectfully. Eco Native is commitment, love and dedication.

Q. What made you get involved in the Eco-friendly market?

A. Before my first pregnancy I was a studying biology. We found in several studies in our ecosystem that, the amount of micro plastics and garbage was imprecise. That’s when we discovered we wanted to bring consciousness under our mark.

Q. You’re a mother and wife, could you explain how your business plans affect your family environment? Is it positive or negative?

A. I would say it affects me both ways. There were those negatives times that came with the struggle of having another full time job. After my shift ended, I came back to my house to dedicate the rest of my time to work on my production. Not being able to create a schedule successfully affected the quality time with my family. I remember when my little girls see me enter the workshop and started asking me “not to cook soap”

When I noticed that was affecting me and my relationship with my daughters, I changed the operations, I started by teaching them to -finally- including them in some of the simple parts of the production so we could spend some quality time together.

Q. What motivates you to continue?

A. My desire to evolved and being able to give my family as much as they need without having to leave the house. That definitely motivates me to keep pursing my goal. I know that at some point Eco Native will be my full-time job, that will end my lack of family time challenges. Also, the support that my husband has given me. Since the beginning of this dream, he has been my right hand and I will be always thankful for his faithfulness.

Q. How this path into the business world has been treating you? Which steps you have taken to get where you are now?

A. This road into the business world has been complicated. Starting with the fact that we are placed on a saturated industry. I can tell you that we managed to get where we are with a lot of dedication, continuous studies, last but not least, commitment.

Q. Who is Eco Native’s consumer?

A. Our direct clients are young adults who carry out a zero waste life, or at least are starting to have one.

Q. What the most popular products you are working with at the moment?

A. We make soaps, lotions, deodorants, cuticle oil and multi-use soap. Our best-selling products are, coffee soap bars, Mud and Geranium soap bars, deodorant, and the makeup cleansing soap bar.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Q. How did you fund Eco Native?

A. Eco Native started from nothing, funded with a few savings we had. We started expanding with each sale, being able to buy new equipment. At the moment we continue creating and growing day-by-day with the help of our clients.

Q. As we know, there are a few rocks in the road, can you name the difficulties you’ve overcome?

A. Being a young mother, part-time business woman, is not easy. I overcome moments of total frustration every now-and-then, because of the lack of time still working at full-time job. I had to work 6 days per week without a single day off for my business and even my family, which was completely exhausting. A business takes time, dedication and a lot of effort that I couldn’t split equally. I even left the business for a while before I managed to settle economically and emotionally. When I did it, I changed jobs with the objective to pursue that goal, build Eco Native to be my only income, and here we go, running to it.

Q. What’s the most satisfying thing about your business?

A. I’m young, only 24 years old with two little girls. For me, there’s nothing more satisfying than seeing your kids tell other people about what’s mummy doing besides selling soap. The love shown form each customer buying from the brand is just heartwarming.

Q. Which advice can you give someone who is chasing their dreams?

A. They will be always hardships but never, ever, ever give up. If you want to reach your goals you will have to go after them, fight for them until you have them in your hands, and when you have it, keep looking for the maximum achievement. Be an inspiration for others, but also seek your own inspiration and motivation.

Reading this story made me realize that we should not give up because we are parents, we have nothing to be scare about. Dreaming is a part of us that should never be shut down. Our kids become to be our only the motivation to pursue those goals faster than we ever would want them. Keep reaching the best part of yourself. Believe that is not the end of your path and if you happen to be in the situation that might be lost on how are you going to start again, reach out to get help. Do not hesitate to ask for guidance. You are totally capable of doing any single thing, you just have to believe that you can and trust me, you will.

Xoxo