We were lucky to catch up with Aurelia Luciano recently and have shared our conversation below.
Aurelia , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about how you got your first non-friend, non-family client. Paint the picture for us so we can feel the same excitement you felt on that day.
My first client was one of my favorite local coffee shops, Clutch Moto, which sadly is no longer with us. The owners at Clutch, Kim and Fernando were hosting a 2 year anniversary celebration back in spring/summer of 2022 at their coffee shop, honoring their business being born and run during the COVID19 pandemic. My daughter and I decided that we would join the celebration for the evening. Prior to this event, I had been brainstorming and creating my business plans, some days while sitting in that same coffee shop! There was just one thing missing, someone who believed in me enough to allow me to use their business/venue to bring my vision to life, free of charge. In order to build community events, other business owners have to believe and pour into their community as well. One hand washes the other. So, this evening of the 2 year anniversary, I knew I’d be able to talk to Kim and Fernendo about my idea to host an open mic in their wonderful, motorcycle themed coffee shop. It took about 30 minutes to work up the courage and ask, my daughter standing in close proximity while nudging me in the right direction “Mom, this is your chance. Just ask them!” I’d asked Kim if I could have a chat with her. While Kim made sure that everyone was okay, as any amazing host and business owner would, she later joined my daughter and I at our table. I began to exchange my ideas and vision with Kim and she was interested from the moment I’d begun talking. The cafe had been hosting small sip and paints here and there, and were open to hosting other events to bring the community in and create a creative home away from home.
After our interaction that day, we began to email one another to finalize the details for my first open mic. June 23, 2022, is a day that I will never forget. The room was filled with endless talent, everyone had a chance to showcase their beautiful stories and performances. The coffee bar was open for purchase, the espresso machine going all night was really a sweet touch. There were decorative recycled glass bottles that held arrangements of carnations and sunflowers, roses too. From then on, my business and I have had a huge forward momentum that I hope to continue over the course of my career as an event coordinator.
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.
My name is Aurelia Luciano and I am a 2nd generation, Dominican-American poet and event coordinator. I write a lot about my experiences as a Latinx, black, and millennial woman. Most of my work is an internal dialogue about womanhood, motherhood, religion, love, and everyday life experiences, whether negative or positive. I adapted the alias ‘Golden Light Poetry’ through the translations of my first and last name in both the Italian and Latin languages. Most recently, I have begun creating hand-painted, watercolor bookmarks and art prints that contain excerpts of my poems on them! I have no art background so it’s been a new learning curve for me! As an event coordinator, it has become natural to incorporate both poetry and my love for event curation. My open mic is called “Golden Light Open Mic”. It is a traveling open mic, as I collaborate with several local businesses in the Northern NJ area to create a very distinct experience and atmosphere each time! I began curating and hosting my events in the summer of 2022. My events are centered around healing nightlife experiences that are not only created with the intention for other talented beings to share their works of art, but to create an interactive experience as well. Through my open mics and other events like Wellness Socials, Business Empowerment Events, and Themed Events (Teacher’s Appreciation Paint +Sip, Domestic Violence Awareness Open Mic, etc.). At Golden Light Open Mic, we prefer our creativity served up sober, wholesome, and family friendly!
I got to the stage that I am in now with the support of several local business owners and creatives that have been kind enough to trust me with the use of their beautiful spaces to host my events in. Along with working closely with business owners and their venues, I create business opportunities for small and local vendors who are just starting up by hiring them for my events to pop-up. I have worked alongside multiple businesses like RUDO Plants& Home, a local plant store. AndCo, a local co-working space. Lackawanna Coffee, Cafe Lafayette, & Clutch Moto which are local coffee shops. Last Place Winners, a local second-hand &upcycled store. SMUSH Gallery, a local art gallery for whom I also do Event Producing with. These are just a few of the many businesses that I have worked alongside to bring my programming to the local arts scene here in Northern NJ. Collaborating with these businesses allows me to bring in more customers for everyone involved. Networking is an extremely essential part of the work that I do in my city. Most of all, I got here because I finally decided that I needed to believe in myself and the magic that I have to offer and want to pour into others. It has been 50% easy and 50% difficult for me. As a single mom-preneur, I rely on myself to be the sole breadwinner and both parents while simultaneously carving out time to feed my passions. The purpose of creating community is to lean into them in ways that are helpful for everyone involved. Along with joining+creating community, leaning into them has taught me to exercise discernment. I am very particular about whom I choose to collaborate with, whom I share values & ideals with and who can share space with myself, my family, and network of loved ones.
I am most proud of my ability to continue achieving my goals, long term and short. It took me becoming a parent at the age of 17, and a lot of gained life experience to finally believe in myself. I could not have gotten to where I am today without my belief in self, the continued support of my networks, and my wonderful child to give me a different perspective on purpose. Doing this work has allowed me to really tap into my potential as a mom-preneur, creative, and active member in my community.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
A lesson that I had to unlearn during this journey, was the need to accomplish everything on my own. I was raised by a single mother who did everything alone for herself and her six children. Seeing my mother do this, always made me feel like I should be able to do the same thing. I began hosting and curating by myself and acontinously felt like I needed to do everything on my own, until I realized that I was drowning in my 9-5 and give what I had left over to my passions. Once I came to the realization that I could no longer do this on my own, I began to share my workload with neighbors and other creatives in the community. I had to unlearn having control of things and the belief that every single thing could be achieved by just one person. Me.
I took a Women’s Entreprenenurship course with Cornell University and Bank Of Americ, that also taught me that although I had started out on my own, it did not mean that I should continue to put in the work to build this business on my own. I am much more content with allowing others to assist me in the ways that they can. One hand washes the other.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Before I began my business, it was always a seed, just an idea in my mind that I didn’t know how to act upon. When the COVID-19 pandemic had just begun, I was able to do more research and work towards growing my idea. I was locked down at home with my child and abusive partner at the time. Surviving DV while trying to maintain my mental health, keep myself and my child away from catching this severe and life threatening disease was one of the most dangerous and trying times of my life. I was continously made to believe that I would amount to nothing, that I would only receive support from people if I had a tangible product I could sell. After many attempts of leaving this person, in 2021 I decided to pack up mine &my child’s things, leave them behind and work towards achieving all of my dreams. I’d started my poetry IG page shortly after leaving, began sharing my stories, and about a year later I started my Open Mic series. I haven’t looked back and my business and I have grown exponentially since then.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @goldenlightpoetry
- Other: https://www.nj.com/hudson/2023/02/golden-light-poetry-hosting-black-history-month-open-mic-friday-at-smush-and-winter-wellness-feb-9.html https://www.olneymagazine.com/poems/cold-feet https://www.olneymagazine.com/poems/black-and-white https://poetrysocietyny.org/aurelia-luciano-milk-press-summer-2023
Image Credits
Credits to Jonathan Rojas