We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Deyanira Galvan. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Deyanira below.
Deyanira, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you have a hero? What have you learned from them?
As a daughter of immigrants , I can honestly say my parents are my hero’s! Starting with my dad , he left his home in Guatemala at the young age of 14! he ventured out on his own to try and have a better life. He was 16 working the farm lands in Mexico and doing odd jobs until he was able to cross over to the US. Growing up I didn’t see him much because he worked 2-3 jobs at a time so that we would always have clothes and food on our table. I could probably count on one had the times he ever called in sick or missed a day. Tired , sick, and probably some sleepless nights but he made it happen. His motto is that you rest when you die , until then you keep grinding!
Now that he is retired I love spending time with him and I can not thank him enough for the work ethic he embedded in me. My mom, the most selfless , compassionate , patient and loving person I know. She migrated to the US at a young age as well . She started working at 15 and wasn’t able to finish school. She had to help my grandmother and siblings make ends meet. After a couple of years she was able to get her GED. Once she had me , she “stopped working ” I use quotations because we all now that house wives are the real MVPS and the hardest job out there. She not only took care of me and my dad but she also had my grand mother , aunt and 2 little ones to care for. For years she took care of everyone except herself, and she never once complained. I strive to be like her every day. She is truly one of a kind!
Through my business journey she has been my number 1 fan and helps me out so much I could not make this happen without her.
Deyanira, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I started Accesorios Ixchel in 2018. At that time I guess you could say I was having a mini life crisis . I was working full time and pursuing my nursing degree. But I felt so unaccomplished, just going through the motions of life. Work , school, sleep, and repeat. After talking to my husband I told him to give me six months to figure out what I wanted to do and if things didn’t work out, then I’d go back to school. In that time Accesorios Ixchel was born. I choose to go with jewelry making because growing up I loved going to community events and seeing all the beautifully hand crafted Mexican inspired jewelry. I am self taught , Youtube was my best friend when I started. Don’t let not knowing be the thing that stops you from achieving your dreams. Although the jewelry business is saturated , we try to stand out by making our own and offering our clients the best metals and stones. We are known for our evil eye jewelry and our hand wired sacred heart earrings. A year into our journey we started doing pop-up events throughout the city. And then COVID hit. We didn’t let that stop us , my mom and I started making masks. We had orders from all over the country. We also started doing live sales on Instagram and they were a hit! We have continued to do those and they are one of our biggest sources of revenue. Accesorios Ixchel has grown into something that I could not have imagined . We value our customers because they are the heart of this business. We recently celebrated our 5 year anniversary and hosted our very first event Loteria con Mama. One of many, I hope !
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
Knowing your audience is the most important thing! Who is your target audience? Once you establish that, then you can start engaging with them. I have learned that the number of followers is not that important. You can have 10k followers but only 100 interact with your page. It’s better to grow organically and have those potential customers that are really there for you and your brand, Also people want to connect with not just your band but you! They want to know the person behind the brand. That was a tough one for me. I am so shy but once I started showing my face online , I noticed a significant growth to the business. We currently have 3.1K followers on Instagram and are working to grow our TikTok and Face Book presence.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
We take pride in our product which is why we use quality materials and we offer our customers a replacement if anything happens to one of our items. This ensures that the customer is happy with our products and they can trust us for future purchases. This is what sets us aside and helps build brand loyalty with our clients.
Contact Info:
- Website: accesoriosixchel.com
- Instagram: AccesoriosIxchel
- Facebook: Accesorios Ixchel