We recently connected with Ariel Celeste Pirela and have shared our conversation below.
Ariel Celeste , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?
I am much happier as a business owner! I appreciate the opportunity to build and solidify a legacy each day. There was a point in my career when I had to think critically about my path and purpose. My personal mission in life, now, is to seek perfection in creating something that will carry my name forward long after I’m gone. This epiphany happened about 7 years ago. I speculated then that what I would leave behind would be in the form of a book or a novel. Being an author has been my dream for quite some time. Little did I know when setting this vision back then that my company would be born in the midst of that journey.
Throughout the headwinds and tailwinds of my corporate career, so many variables changed beyond my control. Company downsizing, organizational restructuring, employee turnover and shifting economic tides made it an unstable bet to place the sum of my earning capacity in a 9-5. I witnessed this instability up close in the first year of my media profession in 2014. I had another wake up call to the sobering reality of “regular job” security in January 2023. My position was eliminated as part of big tech’s brace for a recession. The blindsiding blow of this layoff was not as devastating for me as I imagine it was for my non-entrepreneur peers.
In the grand scheme of things, my position being eliminated overnight set a clear path for full time entrepreneurship that otherwise may not have come to pass. In the year that I set my sole focus on the business, we were able to soar. As a solopreneur, I traveled the country, made big bets on my products, amplified marketing efforts and established a permanent stake in the communities we serve. The strides that Celestial Content Creations made in the year that I was a full time business owner are exponentially greater than what we were able to accomplish while working a regular job.
At first, I began Celestial Content Creations as a streamlined way to earn extra income, or as we millennials say, “a side hustle.” I was doing freelance work for publications all over New York City when I decided enough was enough. I was hustling backwards by spreading myself thin across so many payrolls. My business was born out of the need for organized income and that’s as far as I had my sights set at the time. I would have never imagined in 2018 that I would be standing here today in 2024 as the queen of a budding content empire!
There are some downsides to being a full time entrepreneur of a growing business. There is no guarantee of steady revenue flow as the success is correlated to product sales performance. However, the rewards far outweigh the risks. It’s an honor to serve the market with our affirmation products that carry their weight in gold. As a business owner, it brings me great pride to contribute meaningfully to the mental and emotional wellbeing of our audience.
This is satisfaction that a regular job just won’t provide!
Ariel Celeste , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Celestial Content Creations was founded in 2018 to fulfill the apparent need for empowerment and uplift among historically underrepresented communities. We do this by reminding our audience of the confidence, conviction and creativity that lives inside with multi-sensory affirmation healing support! Founded by Ariel Celeste Pirela, an imaginative poet and author who advocates the power of perseverance. Ariel has an impeccable ability to find triumph after tribulation as evidenced by her career at Fortune 500 companies like Viacom/Nickelodeon, NBCUniversal, Disney and Google. Throughout her 10-year career in Corporate America, Ariel relied on manifestation via affirmations as the vehicle to make her dreams a reality.
Since 2021, our company has been leading a courage enthusiasm movement with the CCC Tiny Book of Affirmations. This product is available as a limited edition print copy, eBook and card deck. Prior to fulfilling our mission as part of the millennial motivation movement, CCC enjoyed its position as a trusted professional writing service for five years. We delivered consistent results with corporate/non-profit workshops, small business consulting, and professional branding support. Clients from our 2021 survey data revealed: 56% landed a new job/promotion, 1 in 4 landed an interview/role at their “dream company” and 88% strongly agreed CCC gave them a boost of confidence in their job search.
Celestial Content Creations has a five-layered structure to deliver full sensory mental uplift and emotional support. This first layer is through the CCC Tiny Book of Affirmations ebook, card deck and t-shirt line. The second layer is our co-branded custom luxury fragrance, Star Dust. This product was made in partnership with Scent Craft to supplement daily affirmation routines with a cosmic fragrance. The third touchpoint is a lane in the auditory healing sphere -= downloadable sound bath recordings. Our 2-minute, downloadable guided meditations are perfect for those who are interested in leveling up their affirmation work.
The fourth touchpoint is the expansion of our affirmation work into 1-to-1 counseling sessions. Our “Manifest the Mission w/ Me” is a 60-minute virtual consultation to get the ball rolling on client projects or career transitions. The fifth and final touchpoint is the delivery of virtual and in-person affirmation workshops and training for corporate, university and non-profit audiences. Our Founder, Ariel is a gifted public speaker and Cornell University certified DEI workshop facilitator.
This multi-layered approach is what we are most proud of and is what sets us apart from comparable organizations.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
The three secret weapons in our arsenal that were critical in building a reputation in the marketplace are: consistency, initiative and resourcefulness. The consistency in which Celestial Content Creations generates affirmation uplift across our social channels is what makes us a staple in the daily lives of our followers. I get testimonials from the Star Player community that reinforce the need for positive uplift on social media. We have audience members tell us that our daily affirmation posts are an anticipated part of their day. People in our community go to bed and wake up with our uplifting mantras as part of the sound track of their lives. That is a privilege and an honor that can only come from consistently showing up.
The second variable in our formula for establishing a successful reputation in the market is initiative. One of the most valuable skill sets in our wheelhouse is the ability to network, connect and establish pathways for new partnership. This comes as a direct result of the initiative we take to show up in the spaces where ripe opportunities exist. It is so easy to give way to the doubtful voices in the back of our conscious minds that discourage risk taking. However, my 10 years in Corporate America gave me the skills to push past the doubt and stand firmly in resilient initiative. I have established amazing partnerships and carved new pathways for CCC by my tenacity to make the first move, send pitches and push our affirmation products into new swim lanes.
The third saving grace for Celestial Content Creations is resourcefulness. This is an invaluable trait that pays compounding dividends. I bring to the table all of the resources and connections I’ve made in my professional field to support the growth of this business. The people, tactics, business acumen, communication styles, playbooks, etc. I had the valuable experience of sharing my talents with several Fortune 500 institutions, so why not leverage those resources for my own business?
I never miss an opportunity to elevate Celestial Content Creations because I have a deep well of resources to pull from that support the entire community of small business owners. I am thankful to have made wonderful connections with key decision makers who are positioned to help me shift the course of history. I utilize all of the resources available and take notes from the frontrunners on the path to avoid pitfalls. I see my professional network resources as inspiration and collaboration- never competition. I deeply appreciate all the entrepreneurs and power players who have illuminated the path for CCC to thrive.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
A valuable lesson that I had to unlearn to positively shift the paradigm for my business was “movement does not equal productivity.” This is a lesson my sister (@cheekystarnova) taught me when we sat and talked about establishing balance and efficiency. Growing up in the busy New York media career field, I was conditioned to always be busy. There is a rising movement of millennials disconnecting from the “grind culture” and I am proud to be in that number. I spent years just staying busy and “husting” that I forgot to implement strategy and set forth vision. This, I learned, is not an efficient way to conduct business and yields unfruitful results.
The burnout is real. So, I encourage entrepreneurs to think critically about the endeavors you embark on. Ask yourself whether or not each opportunity gets you closer to achieving the core mission of your organization. Or could it just be busy work? We do not benefit as much from being busy as we do from being strategic. To quote one of my favorite philosophers, Stuart Wilde, “A few small, powerful actions are worth 100 hours of diddlying about.”
It’s hard to disconnect from the grind culture and still feel accomplished. However, the stress downshift and regulated nervous system are so worth it. I was able to take back the power I gave away to a dangerous illusion. Now, I am an avid believer in flow and magnetism. There is an alternate dimension that has a place for you to manifest the desires of your heart without working your fingers to the bone. There is a huge difference between working hard and working smart.
I’ve learned that stillness is my superpower. In stillness, I can visualize, manifest and magnetize the next best venture for my business. I prefer this style over constant movement and busy work a thousand times over. If you are reading this and need a first step in slowing down, I highly recommend our sound bath affirmation meditations on YouTube.
To check it out, visit: www.youtube.com/@CelestialContentCreations2018/videos
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.celestialcontentcreations.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/celestialcontentcreations/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CelestialContentCreations/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arielcelestepirela/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@CelestialContentCreations2018
Image Credits
Image Credits: KTSU 90.9FM Staff Photographers; Victor Pirela & Celestial Content Creations, LLC.