We recently connected with Janet Diaz and have shared our conversation below.

Janet, appreciate you joining us today. Can you tell us a bit about who your hero is and the influence they’ve had on you?

My heroes are my parents.

My parents have always gone above and beyond to provide for my brothers and myself and give us everything we needed.

From when I remember, my parents have always owned a small business of some sort. My mom tells me she used to sells clothes in Mexico, she had a taco stand in Mexico, and also a little tiendita in our house in Mexico.

My parents immigrated to the US after my dad lost his job. They came here with nothing and they gave us everything.
I was 10 years old when we immigrated and my brother was 4 years old.

Regardless of their immigration status at that time, both my parents found jobs right away to be able to provide for us. They’ve owned multiple homes, cars, etc. with their hard earned money and have never asked for anything free.

My dad is now also a business owner.

Why would I look for heroes somewhere else when I have the best role models at home, right?

Their life journey inspires me every day to work hard for my dreams.

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?

My name is Janet Diaz. I am a full-time civil engineer, wife, stay at home mom, and your candle maker.

Morenita Home Fragrances was born shortly after giving birth to my first child, Leonardo. Like many mothers, I began feeling anxious and depressed during postpartum and quickly searched for a new hobby. It didn’t take long before I fell in love with the craft of candle making and decided to launch my business.

What my business means to me now has gone further than just that. I decided to name my business after my own nickname “Morenita” as a representation and reminder of who I am and who my business and I stand for. Our Latin@ community is very underrepresented in many fields and candle making is one of them.

As a first-generation immigrant, mi cultura means so much to me! With these Mexican candles, I feel reconnected with my roots and my goal is to do the same with our customers. I want to bring a little bit of Mexico to your homes ❤️

All candles are created to be non-toxic and environmentally conscious. Therefore, all candles are made with coconut wax, wood wicks, and non-toxic premium fragrances. The container that I use are all authentically and uniquely made in Mexico by Mexican Artesanos. Working directly with Mexican artesanos have made me learn even more things about our culture and traditions. I love being able to give our artesanos the chance to showcase their work in a different country as well and making a positive financial impact in their lives.

Last but definitely not least, as a first-generation college graduate and DACA recipient, I believe in empowering those in the pursuit of their dreams and seeking to enhance the quality of their life through education. Therefore, a portion of sales is donated to first generation scholarships. However, I also love supporting our local Hispanic organizations that service our Hispanic community.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I definitely do not have social media figured out 100% yet, but it is definitely a huge learning curve for every business owner who doesn’t have a social media managers or advertising team.

One of the advices I can give to others is to figure out who their target audience is. Once they know who they are speaking to, who they are selling to, and what those customers want or like from you then it does become just a bit easier to grow on social media.

Consistency is very important, but also keep in mind that quality is always better than quantity.

Put your best work out there! If you don’t show people what you can do for them, they don’t know they need your product or service.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I have experienced a lot of rejection throughout my journey. I’ve also noticed a lot of favoritism within other small businesses.

While these two things have sometimes affected my business negatively locally, I have not given up on my business nor will I.

I’m a huge believer that when one door closes, it’s because a better one will open.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.morenitahomefragrances.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/morenitahomefragrances
• Facebook: www.Facebook.com/morenitahomefragrances
• Other: TikTok: www.TikTok.com/morenitahomefragrances