We were lucky to catch up with Velma Medina recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Velma thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

My love for coffee and my love for cardigans is how I came up with Caffeine and Cardigans. I am always with a cup of coffee in my hand whether it is hot or iced, while wearing my favorite cardigan. For some reason I am always cold and I am usually in a cardigan year round, especially during the hot humid summers we experience in Texas.

Velma, 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 was born in Chicago but raised in Houston. I am a mother to three adult kids, Julian-23, Kara-27 and Yasmeen-28. Then there is Savanah age 7, our miracle child. She is how Caffeine and Cardigans came to be. My husband who is my number one fan encouraged me to share my ideas to social media, which I did by creating an Instagram account and a blog. It’s a mommy/ daughter account where I share ideas about travel, fashion finds, places to eat and cute easy treats to make. Especially living in the Houston area there is so many hidden gems of amazing places to see and visit. I’m amazed by how much we have grown over the years, and we are now able to monetize our content. It’s been a great journey so far and look forward to seeing it grow even more.

Growing up without a mom, I had to learn to do things on my own and it was hard and frustrating. It wasn’t an easy journey and I had so many people expecting me to fail since I had no parental guidance. I don’t have any memories of my mother or any pictures of us. The only photo I do have is an old photo when she was a teenager. Having so little knowledge of her makes it seem as if she never existed. I was forty years old when I had Savanah and I didn’t want her to go through what I went through (if anything ever happened to me). I want her to have as many memories of us as possible for her to look back on someday. So, we are always doing stuff to create memories.

As Savanah is getting older, she is wanting to create her own brand. She has a love for drawing and has been creating stickers out of her artwork. We are currently in the process of getting everything set up so she can start selling them online. She has so many ideas of things she wants to do and accomplish that it’s hard to believe, she is only 7 years old. I know she will do great things and I can’t wait to see her thrive in the many talents she has.

When I am not working on Caffeine and Cardigans, I work in education. I went from working at the high school which I did for eight years before being offered a position as an elementary art teacher. It was a big change, but I love and enjoy every minute. And on the plus side, Savanah gets to be at the same school as me. It makes things so much easier because I don’t have to worry about how she is going to get to school or how she will get home. We go to school together and we leave together. My first-year teaching wasn’t easy, but I managed to survive the year and I was also nominated for New Teacher of the Year for 2020-2021. I still work in education, but I currently work as a Tutor/ Aide. It’s not easy teaching during a pandemic but little by little, things seem to slowly be getting back to normal. And I look forward to seeing where my teaching journey will take me in the future.

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

There were so many people in my life that expected me to fail and not accomplish anything with my life. Including an abusive ex. People thought I was incapable of doing things on my own since I grew up without a mom. And the story with my mother is that she didn’t just die, she chose to take her own life. It was the hardest thing I ever had to face at such a young age. It took time, lots of it and some counseling to get through the trauma. I took it day by day while focusing on what I wanted in life.

All I knew is that I wanted to prove everyone wrong and to let them know I was capable of being successful. I stopped hanging around people that had a negative impact on my life whether it was close friends I grew up with or even certain family. Some of my family members can be toxic and I refuse to be part of the drama. I started hanging out with people that have a positive impact on my life and who push me to be better. My husband encouraged me to go back to school to get my college degree and thanks to his help and support, I did just that. I went back to school and received my Associate’s degree, followed by my Bachelor’s and then my Master’s. It wasn’t an easy road especially when you have kids, but I kept pushing forward until I reached my goal.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Building an audience on social media takes time. You want to have the right audience and provide content that will be useful for them. As a mother/ daughter lifestyle blog, I want to create content that caters to moms in need of ideas. When I first had Savanah, I was searching everything I could on social media that would be helpful. It had been 20 years since I was a mom to a baby, and I needed help. Especially when I had a baby that didn’t believe in the word sleep.

Be consistent and reach out to your audience. If they leave a comment, be sure to comment back. There are times when I search through my audience, and I leave comments on their posts. I want them to know that I value their interests as well.

Contact Info:

• Website: Caffeineandcardigans.com
• Instagram: caffeineandcardigans
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/caffeineandcardigans

Image Credits
All image credits are my own. They were taken by Savanah or by my husband Pete Espinoza.