We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Leticia Cabrera Calvo a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Leticia thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

Color Switch began in a college classroom. I was tasked to come up with a business idea for a “Shark Tank” type classroom. Right before the class started, I was out home doing my makeup. I usually would grab a tissue paper right before I did my makeup so that I can wipe my brushes clean in between colors. This particular day, I had forgotten to grab that tissue paper and was a bit frustrated to have to stop and go grab one. This is when I had that AHA moment. I stopped doing my makeup, grabbed my phone a googled, dry brush cleaner. I couldn’t find anything! That is when the idea of Color Switch® was born. I created a prototype, presented it in class and blew away the judges. Within a few months, we had a full blown business out of our tiny garage in Los Angeles.

Leticia, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am the oldest of 4 siblings and first generation Mexican-American. My father always encouraged me to reach for the stars and made sure I knew there was never a dream to big. This fueled my confidence over the years and I knew that if I went to college, I could make all my dreams come true. I did just that and worked many corporate jobs that were very fulfilling. Until the recession of 2010 hit and I was laid off. I was forced to take any job available at the time. I landed in a tiny desk as an account’s receivables manager. I felt defeated. I decided to go back to school to obtain my MBA and this is when my life changed forever.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I first started with friends and family and ran an Indiegogo crown funding campaign. We raised around three thousand dollars and that was all it took to buy the materials we needed to build the Color Switches from our garage. Our margins were amazing, which meant that we immediately started to make enough money to sustain production and meet demand. Our first month, we made over ten thousand dollars in sales and it started to double every month.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Once Color Switch became a staple product, large companies started to copy us. We had to pivot by elevating our packaging and continue to educate our customer base on the quality of our original product.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.veramona.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vera_mona/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/veramonabeauty/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/letty-cabrera-calvo-mba-69415041
• Youtube: @veramona7412

Image Credits
Ernesto Rubi