We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Angela Bazaldua a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Angela thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you share a story about the kindest thing someone has done for you and why it mattered so much or was so meaningful to you?
It’s hard to pinpoint one thing, as I have been fortunate to have good friends that have helped me. I can say that my husband, who was a friend at the time, showed me one of the rarest acts of kindness that I had experienced during one of the hardest times of my life. In my last semester of my bachelor’s, I was a young single mother of two boys. I was paying for daycare through scholarship & financial aid money. One particular strict scholarship that I received played a big part in paying for one of the best daycare programs for my two boys. I was informed at the beginning of my last semester that the scholarship money ran out, due to donations & they would not be able to help me any longer. I had a full time job, attending school full time, but my pay wasn’t enough to pay for the daycare, gas and everything else. I rarely even ate during the day, because I would save everything for my kids and for school. I was venting to my friend that not only was I worried about paying for daycare, but they changed my shift for very early morning shifts & I didn’t know how I was going to take my kids to daycare every morning without being late because it was 25 min. Away from my work. Without another thought, he volunteered himself to help me both financially to pay for my daycare & would come early morning to pick up my boys and take them to their daycare.
This allowed me to be able to work, earn my hours for graduation, and he was a big part of helping me be successful. He definitely broke down the “I’m independent, don’t need anyone” wall I built up to protect myself. When you have nothing to offer, and your people still help you, those are the people that you need to hold on to!
Now with my newfound journeys of Food Blogging, Woodworking, and a new Etsy Shop to share my passion for creating, him and my children have been & continue to be supportive! The Etsy Shop just launched recently, and will be the host of my woodworking projects like refurbished furniture, tables, cutting boards, etc. and the host of fun graphic tees & other products that give humor or inspiration to everyday issues for people that relate to being a busy mom, an ADHD woman, an activist for human rights, culture fun, and more. Etsy shop: ChicaChicanaChela
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 try to highlight and be an example that you can be a jack of all trades, and don’t need to be the absolute best in everything. As a woman who has ADHD, and has a passion for learning, my hobbies have grown over the years. It’s because I find joy in so much that I learn. I feel like I am in love with the process of learning & building, more than an end point. I’m a self starter Etsy creator, I use my social media to help spread awareness on businesses on the Southside of San Antonio, awareness on an ADHD mom parenting kiddos, on important political matters sometimes (especially when it affects future women’s rights), meanwhile providing real talk being a working Chicana mujer trying to navigate going back to school & trying to find myself through the hobbies I now have time for, after going through a lifetime of taking care of siblings (I’m the eldest child), and then my own children. I’m a food blogger, which is mostly about helping my own community, and I have a woodworking passion that I’m developing & growing (soon to sell refurbished furniture on my Etsy store), and creating graphic tee that’s both inspirational and humorous on Etsy. I want to start posting videos on how to do regular home improvement projects on a budget for anyone who wants to learn or learn with me, but that’s still a work in progress. Things that can help the regular average person, like me, save some money. I want to help bring up my community. I am very proud of where I came from, how much I have worked to get to where I am, but also empathetic enough to understand that everyone travels at their own pace to their own journeys.
As far as my brand goes… it’s all about finding the joys in everything I do and coming along for the journey & hopefully supporting me and others on the way.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
My journey to learning and creating from my Food Blog to DIY home remodeling & to my own Etsy shop started off with just the motivation to finally do something for myself. I’m the type of person that likes to jump into whatever I can learn from. In anything I set my mind to, I tend to full heartedly learn as much as possible. I will go down a rabbit hole of research to learn what I can. We are luckily in a great time at the moment that anyone can access free education in anything you want to learn! You can log into YouTube videos, social media and look at bloggers that talk about the topics you’re trying to learn.
My latest Etsy shop will be the host of my woodwork, t-shirts designed all uniquely, as well as other cool stuff that can be a gift for others. Still finalizing what the theme of the shop will be. It’s going to host a little bit of Mom related content, Chicana and Latina content, STEM related content, Woodworking content, & other content that is lighthearted, funny & relatable.
Because of this I have been able to jump into the things I have always wanted to learn. When I started my Food Blog, there were a few foodie bloggers that started to invite me to local events and were very supportive. Those are awesome people. They don’t live on competition; they support anyone with their shared interest. My food blogging is all about helping my community & local entrepreneurs in growing their businesses. I am involved in local events, and have seen how a good positive post can help some entrepreneur people with trying to build a life for themselves through their Food is inspiring. I don’t have a lot of followers, but that doesn’t mean I don’t make an impact. I get over 2,000 views of outreach per week. So even if you don’t feel like you’re not making an impact you are. It’s important to support your community. We have to be the change. This is what drives my creative spark. It’s not needed, but if it helps, why not.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
Social media has become the fastest growing resource for anyone starting a business or marketing your ideas. I believe that other creatives like myself do it because they have a passion for it. Whether it’s a blog, or creating items to be sold, we’re an artist in our own ways. The best way to support creatives is sharing our work, buying our work, or a simple “like”. It’s free to help support your local creatives. And why not help, if it only leads to built up support for your own community? They remember you too. I appreciate all those that constantly support me in my work. And when they create their own hobby that they’d like to highlight, I’ll support that too.
I myself am trying to save to pay for my own college, my son’s graduation & college costs, as well as my other kiddos college soon. The price of everything has gone up, but the same expectations of spending are still there, and increasing. So many creators are working full time, while also giving another 100% to their creativeness, for the opportunity to build a better life for themselves or family. For me, my inspiration is my family.
All artists in their work do it because they want to share their world with others, it brings us all joy to see someone enjoy our work. I hope to one day see a random person with one of my shirts, or any other content. That would make my week!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @Chica_Foodie
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChicaFoodie
- Other: https://chicachicanachela.etsy.com
Image Credits
Image credit: Brittany Welch