We were lucky to catch up with Tiara Guadayo recently and have shared our conversation below.

Tiara, appreciate you joining us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

The way I see the field of business from my experience as an entrepreneur, it tends to be very technical and adamant for an individual to subjectively see themselves, moreover their business, as a successful story.

For me, harboring and developing your personal quality and mastery is key to that workplace mindset, especially when managing a business-oriented venture.

I’m lucky to have been raised with the culture and perspective of being hardworking, prudent, and always keeping up the standard of efficiency no matter what. I think that when it comes down to work and personal growth, productivity, confidence, and character holds a lot of value for one to be innovative and in turn, find that spark in them.

The bottomline for all of us in the industry lies in how we view the resources we are given, the time we use, the effort we make do with, and ultimately, how we use them to build up and continue to step forward into our better selves.

Being successful also has to do with seeking less validation from others and starting to hone your goals and expertise in a place and profession that you derive your passion and drive from the most.

Most importantly, I truly believe that success equates to finding what is ideal and in-check for you at most and less about wasting time to be perfect.

Tiara, 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?

Hello there! I’m currently based in Miami and I’ve been in the marketing and visual industry for – years ever since I migrated from the Philippines to here. I’m also the proud founder of Coco Handcrafted, a dedicated business that is independent and woman-owned that specializes in making and selling quality care products like scented candles, organic and handmade soaps and creams, as well as a variety of bath and body items that are made with natural and preservative-free ingredients and materials. Our line of products focuses on the ethical and natural use of resources which incorporates their purpose into being eco-friendly, 100% vegan, parabens-free and phtalate-free to ensure that they are nourishing and healthy for everyone!

When I first arrived in the States, I struggled to manage my work and my personal life as a former manager for a clothing and fashion company and had eventually shifted from that to stemming out and building my career from scratch. In the midst of it, I found a quirky and innovative way to incorporate my hobby into a market that specializes in self-care and wellness.

What started from simple DIY candle-making sessions slowly expanded into a line of products that I, along with close friends and business partners have come to know now as Coco Handcrafted, with continuous new additions to products and clothing merchandise that we’ve worked on and have developed as successful projects and ventures into the growing market!

As an entrepreneur, founder, and creative director of Coco Handcrafted, I am most proud of seeing how my story has unfolded into the making of my business, the products and ideas that we’ve come up and developed. Ultimately, I’m also happy and grateful to have met a lot of fellow entrepreneurs in the time I had to promote and make myself known out in the market.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When COVID-19 was moved over into a full-blown pandemic it sparked a global lockdown that cost a lot of recession and risk within the economy and the marketplace and no doubt did it make a lot of businesses and companies topple down and shrink for a long time. My venture was no exception. I had a lot to lose back then and there was definitely a lot at stake for me had my worst-case scenario happened which meant entirely shutting the business down.

Aside from the decrease in public engagement and visibility, I also had to put my health on priority which meant less work and more isolation on my part.

Eventually, the market stabilized and I was able to find balance between proper time and career management along with personal health and self-care. Thankfully, Coco Handcrafted was fit with the purview of body and mental health wellness which did have some leverage on my narrative as a business and an entrepreneur to which I was able to bounce back and steadily gain a better outlook on which products to sell and which field to venture out to.

The pandemic was an immense journey that I had to traverse with a lot of risks and compromises at every turn, but looking back at what I went through, it’s definitely a confidence booster for me to have made it during those trying times where my business and career were pushed down by a significant recession.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

When Coco Handcrafted first started, I incorporated the help of my family and friends to spread the word onto their social circles significantly within my local reach as a means of jumpstarting my visibility in the business and in the market. Apart from personal interactions, the use of social media and digital marketing channels was also a huge opportunity and medium to take up on and be able to interact with potential customers and groups of people who shared a related interest or perspective towards my field of business.

I primed my personal social media feeds with promotional materials and designs on Coco Handcrafted and later on, started an account that prioritized and displayed the business’s model and products altogether.

A helpful piece of advice that I learned as a visual and creative director for my business is that always go for methods and pitches that will elevate your audience and captivate them into your market, and venture with resources and media that is of professional quality as a priority.

Social media is very critical and candid on digital designs and frameworks like how your product gallery and pictures are taken, and their overall quality and theme, as well. as their descriptions and captions so establishing a social media presence means working on those with an elegant and ideal justification for your business’s character, purpose, and vibrance on the web!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.cocohandcrafted.com
• Instagram: @cocohandcrafted
• Facebook: @cocohandcrafted