We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Daniela Cintron Phillips. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Daniela below.

Daniela, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I started Bellas Creations back in 2020 in my One bed one bath apartment in FL, it was me, my husband and our puppy bubba, I am Puerto Rican / Cuban and Bellas translate to beautiful in Spanish, and that is exactly what feeling i wanted my pieces to envoked in customers, beauty. My mission was to curate pieces that were not only made to make you feel beautiful or bring confidence but to also be as functional as possible. Most of the pieces i design may be considered neutral. Neutral pieces allow for more options to be paired with equaling more functional. Its no secret buying from a small business is expensive so i try to make sure i use high quality all around as well making sure you get the most use out of the pieces which explains my color palette. If the design or color is too intense you may only use it once in awhile or spend more time matching the earrings to the outfit which can add to time you may wish to use on other things. My sister at the time had just had a baby which meant there was less time for leisure decisions making and my moms ear were stretching due to the design of heavier jewelry which meant less options/ less comfortable pieces for her. This was a catalyst in how to improve Bellas. This allowed me to realized i wanted lightweight pieces (clay) , good quality (hypoallergenic) and functional (neutral colors). As we grew our business my kitchen in this 1/1 apartment took over but my husband was on board and worked to help me grow it, i was in school at the time for my legal degree so i juggled both with the help of my husband. I knew because i had a passion or reason for the business i would stay motivated. The purpose was to bring beauty, not just something to do for fun but to change someones view with something as simple as a pair of earrings. We moved later that year into a home and my husband built me a studio office which allowed me to transition full time into Bellas. Four years later, and we continue to strive to create timeless pieces with multi use for anyone. Bellas as a business has always had a desire for others and and it slowly has seeped into other areas like marriage & motherhood with a sweet 9 month old wanting to be the best i can be for my family, market curating with the purpose of giving vendors the best care i can offer knowing Vendors make the market and our charm bar for those specialized pieces to hold near and dear and the continuing growth of my lightweight jewelry for pieces made to bring a smile to your face and confidence to your day. I’m far from perfect but i hold fast to the understanding i know nothing and continue to hope to grow in this journey of life.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am Puerto Rican and Cuban, and i started Bellas with the grace of God at 22 in Florida with my incredibly supportive husband and i am now 26 with a 9 month old bubbly baby boy in Virginia Beach. I knew if i had a mission or a “why” behind my business that it would always be the driving force even when i felt burned out. Over the years ive added, deducted and evolved my different designs and products. Currently since 2023 are newest addition is our Charm bar. Its meant to allow for customers to specialize their own pieces like a necklace or bracelet to bring meaning. Since the pieces choosen would have meaning you wear them closes to you due to that, the charm bar was started in 2023 and started out as a small side table, after a storm at a market messed up some of my display i put it on the back burner and went back to the drawing board asking myself what do i want customers to feel and it came back to why i do it. I wanted to create an experience so i researched, ordered, tested and implemented everything i learned to create an experience which is what we are most popular for now. I am most proud of what bellas created, the smiles it has brought the customers that purchase from me, that come back for gifts, that know they can message me and i will do my best to address their concerns and make it right. I pride myself in the gratitude i feel for my customers. I am always humbled by the love support and welcomed criticism I receive, it helps me grow into a better brand. They support and trust me and i want to honor that in the best way i can, so i try and always put my best into Bellas for them, so if you are new and you find me at a market come say hi, i talk ALOT so i know id be happy to see you! (:

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

My products and desire to connect with customers have allowed me to build my reputation, to the best of my ability i use high quality materials ( im still researching and figuring out how to make it even better) for the products i release and always try to let customers know how to reach me if needed, so I believe taking those extra steps of letting them know “hey thank you for this support, it means alot , Please don’t hesitate to reach out if anything comes up” i think helps to build that relationship between business and clientele. The gratitude i feel for each purchase is real because of how it came about, late nights that ended at 3am, 4am,5am, 6am only to sleep for a few hours and then head to a market for 6-8 hours to have someone like the pieces i curated enough to purchase is phenomenal.

I also believe my set up at markets helps draw customers in, i try to set up my market like a small shop ( a rug, signs, different displays) i think it does make a difference on how the view my products vs just laying it out.

Lastly my other friendships built within the small business community. Word of mouth is breath to our businesses and its the support of my other small businesses friendships sharing my pieces that help a ton to get the word out and help others shop small. My small business friendships made in this community helps keep in on a straight path.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

While being in this small business industry you do run into the occasional issues. Physically and mental.

Back in 2022 i had experienced a market in where weather was uncertain but the coordinator kept sending invoice reminders and not addressing any concerns or questions related to fees and weather asked about said market – I showed up to set up since i paid the fee and the coordinator came around about an hour after set up with a 5 minute warning of a storm was about to hit to let us know “heyy we may get some rain” by the time I finished up with a customer it was pouring so bad, my whole set up was full of rain, puddled water and i sat there watching this coordinator stare under a tent at everyone struggling while customers stepped in to help me put away my jewelry that fell into mud due to the rain and wind and other vendors around us. When the rain settled she walked by without an acknowledgment while my set up was full of mud, my jewelry cards had damaged my jewelry and my Cloths stained by the mud and rain. That day ironically mother nature was visiting and i felt defeated. I packed up , got in my car and grabbed my coffee, and as i grabbed my coffee the top came off and it spilled all over my front seat. I normally brush it off but that day i had a good cry and a realization. That night i decided it was a blessing in disguise and i would redo my set up to be even better which i did. I also realized my worth and to not just do any markets so i sent an email withdrawing my slots from this particular market and expressing how for vendors there should be a better way since vendors make a market and there should be a working relationship. Fast forward i started to see a need in our vendor community and began curating markets with vendors in mind. Encouraging each vendor to know their worth and not be taken advantage of weather they are new to the small businesses community or seasoned small business owner’s Being okay with and encouraging feedback with hope i can improve their experience and make sure each vendor felt heard, cared for and valued. Especially new vendors who thought certain practices were “normally” that were not. It got push back and from time to time I wondered if speaking up or questioning a practice was wrong. In the end i felt by standing on my values it helped me know i was on the right path and we became where we are today.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.bellas-creations.com
• Instagram: Bellas_creations._

Image Credits
@shaez_photography_