We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Anais & Pilar Cruz. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Anais & Pilar below.

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

As an only child, my mom was so eager to get started on wedding planning. We were all excited, and could already picture the beautiful, bright wedding décor that reflected our culture and traditions. We coordinated for months with our family in Mexico who helped us shop for decorations and dinnerware and coordinate shipping logistics.

We served a traditional meal on Mexican clay dinnerware, had customized wedding favors, and topped each guest’s seat with an alebrije. The original dinner plan was a family-style meal, but to be COVID conscious, we altered our plans to a buffet dinner instead. This left us with cazuelas and extra clay serving plates that we didn’t end up using.

Around this same time, my mom had just finished her fight against breast cancer and had started to talk about retiring from her career as an educator. After the wedding, mom saw an opportunity with all the unused products – let’s sell them! My mom has always had a passion for teaching, and knowing she’d be out of the classroom was a challenge for her. It was time to for her to spread her wings and I was so ready to help make this happen for her – for us.

From there, we brainstormed a name for our business and landed on Piel Morena Imports. Piel morena means brown skin in Spanish and it is also the name of a popular song by Mexican singer, Thalia – one my mom dedicated to me when I was young to help me feel confident in my own skin.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Pilar: I was born in Mexico City and lived a majority of my life in the border town of Brownsville, Texas where I received my teaching degree and met my husband, Antonio. We moved to Austin, Texas in 1985 and had our daughter almost 10 years later. I am now a retired educator, and most recently, co-owner of Piel Morena Imports alongside my daughter, Anais.

Anais: I was born and raised in Austin, Texas. I’ve been in the communications and community engagement profession for over 6 years. Outside of my full-time job, I am a part-time portrait photographer. In 2020, I got to marry my high school sweetheart, Jonathan.

Since the day we were born, it was instilled in us to be proud of where we came from and the importance of cherishing culture and family traditions. We created Piel Morena Imports due to excess wedding décor and dinnerware, but we believe in Piel Morena Imports because we want to share our beautiful culture with the world.

As we’ve shopped for products throughout Mexico, we’ve met artisans and crafters who pour their heart and soul into creating, weaving, painting, and sewing the most beautiful pieces. Meeting and creating relationships with these artisans is something so special. Their stories and their work are magical and having the opportunity to help them showcase this is a true honor.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

We are lucky to have a strong support system. From my dad and husband, to our friends and family – we have some of the loudest cheerleaders on our sideline. Word of mouth is probably the most effective strategy for growing our following and clientele so far.

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

My journey of resilience has had many challenges. The most challenging was when I turned 60 on November 3, 2019 and was diagnosed with lobular breast cancer on December 2 of that same year. I’m a firm believer that God has a plan and will guide you. With faith, family and friends, I was able to begin this challenging journey. I was fortunate to have a strong team of doctors and staff who took care of me through chemo, surgery and radiation. As I processed this shocking news and treatment, COVID-19 locked us down and once again, I had to walk and learn through a new path. I am a bilingual educator, I worked through chemo with the “new Zoom normal.” I quickly had to learn how to navigate a new world with technology as I taught and wrote curriculum for a dual language program for the district I worked for. My family was a firm pillar to help me through this journey. My daughter would attend and listen and understand the doctors’ orders. My husband and I had a “Terrific Tuesday” breakfast date before my chemo. My son in law would read and interpret all the medical literature. My friends and coworkers were always ready to lend a helping hand. In June of 2021, I decided to retire after 40 years in education. I realized how precious life is. I decided to live one day at a time – a sin prisa pero sin pausa (no rush, but no pause). Again, God opened a new window of opportunity to begin this new business, Piel Morena Imports with my daughter, where we can share how rich and beautiful our culture is and bring it to your home. We look forward to our market debut on September 24, 2022!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://pielmorenaimports.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pielmorenaimports/