We were lucky to catch up with Cera Marquez recently and have shared our conversation below.

Cera, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you scale up? What were the strategies, tactics, meaningful moments, twists/turns, obstacles, mistakes along the way? The world needs to hear more realistic, actionable stories about this critical part of the business building journey. Tell us your scaling up story – bring us along so we can understand what it was like making the decisions you had, implementing the strategies/tactics etc.

Well, I will just start by saying that this is not my first business or career path. I have definitely failed and fallen and will more than likely fail and fall again. That is just life, that is how we learn and grow or at least that is what I tell myself. I am not afraid of failing anymore, what I am afraid of is not trying at all. I am in the business of death, and it has made me extremely aware of living. Depending how long the reader has known me or if this is there first-time hearing about me, they will come to learn about my first passion which was for fashion. I was involved with anything and everything that industry had to offer. Ultimately leading up to operating my own brick and mortar and traveling for regional trade shows. It felt like a real-life fairytale, a little girl’s dream come true. Then 2020 happened and Covid was traumatizing for everyone, me included as that was the year that my dad died from cancer. It was also the year I now consider to be my spiritual awakening and when I found my calling. The universe pushed me even more forward the following year when the doors of my boutique closed unexpectedly and permanently. This ending felt like another death. I found myself crying on the couch having a full identity crisis and not knowing what I was to do next. Death was not something I was unfamiliar with but, it was finding me faster and faster, and I didn’t want to be afraid, so I learned to take death and face it head on.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

So, I yielded all of my grief and turned it into forward momentum. The world of oddities had found me when my dad died, I went on a hike and found a dead beetle that I felt strongly compelled to take home with me that day. A few YouTube videos later and I was creating my first relaxing chamber so that I could stretch out and pin the small creature. It all felt so natural and funny enough reminded me immediately of sewing. The crossovers continued to reveal themselves the further I found myself down the rabbit hole along with new discoveries. I began to preserve bugs, dry out foraged florals, piece together nature dioramas, and before I knew it, I had voices of friends and family in my ear asking if I was planning on selling these creations. Thanks to those people I began to realize that this was something I was wanting to pursue but, I was still pretty apprehensive to start a new business so there was a bit of a side quest that began where I was working at a funeral home. This experience was the push I needed though, it helped me realize that I was getting close to answering my calling, but I also realized that working at the funeral home just was not for me. It was the push I needed to get over my fears and start my own business. It started as nature art being infused with the awareness and conversations around death, it has grown into grief education, holding space for conversations around death, a death podcast, monthly community nights, and alternative pet death care. Through the art of natural memorial work, I strive to create a resting state that reflects a gentle transition from life into stillness, where our memories can remain grounded.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

There are countless times when you have to pivot in business, career, and life. I feel that I have also come to realize that this is a never-ending cycle for as long as we live. We just get better at pivoting. My current business, CC Oddities by Cera, has pivoted so much since it first started. The first year was full of networking, social gatherings, pop-ups, and in-person markets. I must have participated in somewhere near 200 events, not even exaggerating. The second year is when I launched my podcast, started selling my art to local shops, and I started to raise my colony of beetles that have really become the heart of the business with their incredible bone cleaning skills! I celebrated my fourth year of business in 2025 and as I go into the fifth year all I see are pivots. What has worked to get me to this point is no longer working. Other aspects of my business are needing my energy and time unlike they have in the past, and this is not by any means a bad thing. If anything, it is affirming me of my growth and it is up to me as the owner of this business to observe these things and recognize when things need to change or shift or pivot.

If you have multiple revenue streams in your business, would you mind opening up about what those streams are and how they fit together?

Yes, I could not keep this business afloat on just one note. That is where my mindfulness as to maintaining the balance of it all is so important.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.shopccodditiesbycera.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ccodditiesbycera/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ccodditiesbycera/
• Other: https://linktr.ee/ccodditiesbycera