We recently connected with Victoria Pina and have shared our conversation below.
Victoria , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
The mission behind The Dulce Vida Boutique is to empower women to embrace their unique beauty, style and feel confident through our clothing, celebrating their God given identity. This boutique is faith based and a God given dream brought to life. Each person has something about their beauty that makes them unique, just as they do their own style and identity. It’s what makes you, you. As for me, being the owner of the boutique I saw how important it was for people to feel seen for who they were. I knew what it felt like to not feel seen growing up. I’d get bullied for how curly my hair was and what I’d wear because it’d be funky and different. Little did I know these would be the things that made me stand out. I’m from a small town in West Texas and had immigrant parents. We didn’t come from much, so I always had to make do with the little I had. With the encouragement from my mom who allowed me to choose what I wore and dressing me up growing up, it began to build a passion for styling. When you don’t come from much and have to make do with what you have, it ignites a creativity to style pieces. At least that’s what it did for me; I’d cut up and tie pieces together to make myself tops to wear, despite how funky they were. All that mattered to me was that I loved what I wore. This is why the boutique’s mission is so important to me.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
My name is Victoria Piña and I’m the owner of The Dulce Vida. I’m from a small town in West Texas called Slaton. I’ve always loved fashion and styling pieces together. I knew one day I’d want to own my own boutique, I just never knew I would. This boutique was a God given dream and started in October of 2020, then a year later the online boutique was launched in early October 2021. I had no idea where the boutique would take me, but it has come further than I could have ever imagined. We pride ourselves in building a brand that allows each person to embrace their unique beauty, and style while feeling confident in what they wear and celebrating their God given identity. With that mission alone, I feel like that’s what sets the boutique apart. We want to build a community of women who aren’t afraid to be their authentic selves and truly embrace who they are, what they wear and be confident in that. I am most proud of the trust we have built with our customers and the excitement they share when they receive and wear our pieces. It’s a reminder that our mission is attainable. Not only can customers shop online, but as well as in stores. We have had the pleasure to work with other small business owners and take space in two locations in San Antonio that are open to the public. One is called Bonita Vida off of Fredericksburg Road in the medical center area where you can find some of our jewelry and clothing. The other is called The Fair Goods located downtown inside Make Ready Market Food Hall, this is where you can find selective clothing, accessories and shoes. We are so thankful for these opportunities and can’t thank our customers enough. Our customers have allowed us to reside in these locations by shopping small. My thanks will always and forever, go to them.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
When the boutique first started, it was only some family and friends who purchased. There would be weeks with no purchases online. Without them, we were on the brink of having to close. This can be discouraging because a business is expensive to start from the ground up. When I started, I didn’t realize how much work it would take to constantly put yourself out there and market your business as much as possible. I’d do endless sales and pop up markets but they still weren’t helping. It took 2.5 years to finally start making a profit from the boutique. I have the Ecom Sales Engine to thank for helping me with marketing and a business strategy to start making a profit. This was scary in itself and a risk I was willing to take. You have to be willing to fail and learn from that. I still had to work my 9-5 to continue to fund the boutique and my new marketing agency. This is something to not be ashamed of. When you want your dream to work, you’re willing to do anything. In making this sacrifice for 3 years of continuing to work my 9-5, I’ve now had the luxury to stay home with my daughter and allow the boutique to fund itself.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
When this dream was given to me from God, I knew I needed to make a plan to start being able to fund it. While working my 9-5, I’d put 10% aside each pay period and allowed it to build. This took 10 months for the business fund to reach an amount, I felt was comfortable to open up with. I’d pay for little things at a time. I started with my business license, then in the next two weeks I’d buy my sales tax and continue to work my way down the list until all the important foundation pieces were purchased. I’d do endless research of where I needed to buy from wholesale and all the supplies I’d need to start. This process is what allowed me to be ready to open up my very own online boutique 10 months after the dream was given in 2020. Over the years I had to continue to work my 9-5 to fund the boutique and keep things running. There was a point within this journey where I was working three jobs at a time, just to keep the boutique running. Sometimes that’s what it will take, having to work multiple jobs to fund your dream job.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thedulcevida.com/
- Instagram: @thedulcevidaboutique
- Facebook: The Dulce Vida
Image Credits
Cat Fiscal for the headshot of Victoria Pina.