We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Zulmarie Gonzalez Rivera a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Zulmarie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s jump right into how you came up with the idea?

After a short time chasing dreams and jobs, I was finally making my way back to Jacksonville. My whole life I’ve moved around quite a bit, and I knew this time would be different. I wanted to plant some roots in Jax, but with that came some fears. I was afraid I would become bored or stagnant.

So initially, the idea for my business came from the desire to have a little “fun money”. I wanted to have extra income to travel and do things without giving my budget much thought.

I wanted a name that could grow with me should I decide for it to be more than just a side hustle. I toyed with the idea of simply calling myself “Beauty by Zulmarie” because it would be familiar to clients that already knew me, and a lot easier to grow. But I knew that could be limiting. I also wanted a name that represented my clients, not just me. A name that reflected the flirty side of a woman that comes out when she’s feeling REALLY good about herself.

At the time, I was offering hair services (curl), eyelash extensions (wink), and makeup (blush). However, the first name I came up with was not Curl.Wink.Blush. Funny story… I was set on Wink.Tease.Blush. Until I sent the idea to my mom via text message, who’s Google phone sent her to an adult website! Needless to say, we quickly went back to the drawing board to find some alternatives!

I settled on Curl.Wink.Blush, it felt organic, and I could immediately envision a brand coming to life! I am so glad that I gave the name so much thought. It has certainly grown with me as I’ve rebranded and pivoted many times.

I think I knew I’d succeed because I truly wasn’t putting a lot on it. There was no pressure. I had a fulltime job. This, again, was “fun money”. I didn’t go into it with the intention of it being some great entrepreneurial endeavor. The only plan was to do the thing that I found to be fun, to make money to do more fun things, meet great people and make them feel good! My only mission was to create a positive environment for myself and the people I was going to work with.

Zulmarie, 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 a Jacksonville, FL based Cosmetologist, licensed in Maryland, Florida, and Georgia. I offer hair styling and makeup services on site, for any occasion. I am also the owner of Curl.Wink.Blush (which will be 5 years old in January 2023!). Curl.Wink.Blush is essentially my brand, which has been growing and will hopefully include a team of talented artists this coming year!

The truth about how I started isn’t really one I tell often because it’s not so dreamy. I went into cosmetology because I didn’t have the money to go to college. I also just didn’t know what I would even study if I did go to college. My senior year yearbook teacher forced me to make a choice, and I am so glad he did. I refused to sign up for classes without a goal in mind, so I went to the local cosmetology school and enrolled.

I was always creative, and I grew up with a very body positive mom who loved makeup and doing fun things with her hair. Cosmetology was apparently in the back of my mind since early childhood. I have several yearbooks that state “I want to be a cosmetologist when I grow up”. Fastforward almost 15 years and I can absolutely say 17-year-old me made the perfect choice!

I’ve been in spas my whole career, with a focus on bridal and an “experience”. Every place I’ve worked wasn’t just about how you looked, but what the full experience felt like from the moment you arrived, to the moment you left. That is a huge part of how I approach my business. I want everything to feel seamless, but also familiar. For a lot of my clients, I am touching them within 5 minutes of meeting them for the very first time. It’s extremely intimate and vulnerable. So, it is of utmost importance to me that everyone feels comfortable.

Being in Northeast Florida almost automatically places someone like me in the bridal industry. While I love bridal, I love working with all women for a multitude of occasions. I’ve done makeup for headshots, boudoir and other photography, quinceañeras and bat mitzvahs, television interviews, stage competitions and so much more.

The biggest concern I hear from women, when consulting, is that they don’t want to look in the mirror and not recognize themselves. One of my many missions in my business is just to make women feel good. I specialize in natural results. So, if what you’re looking for is to look and feel like the best version of who you already are, I’m for you. While I am always trying to further my education, I don’t give too much importance to the latest beauty trends. At the end of the day, trends come and go and have absolutely nothing to do with who you are as an individual. I want to enhance your natural beauty and never take away or distract from that.

Without clients, I have no business, but there are so many layers to this. I mentioned my hopes for Curl.Wink.Blush to grow in the new year. As the business grows so does my vision. Starting my business was awkward and unclear. I had to reach out to people I’d never met and ask advice of others who I wasn’t entirely sure wanted to give it. I’d love to create a space for my team to be able to come together to help and inspire one another. The beauty industry can be so competitive, and I have found that when we work to lift each other up we grow so much more quickly.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I think for many solo entrepreneurs money can be a huge mindset obstacle. I say mindset because most of us don’t take blind leaps of faith. Most people are a lot more calculated in their risks than they’re willing to give themselves credit for.

As I mentioned before, I did not grow up with a lot of money. My upbringing taught me a lot about survival, rationing, and self-preservation on many different levels, but especially when it comes to money. I had a lot of negative self-talk about scarcity as it pertained to my finances.

I started my business in 2018, again, as “fun money”. I found however, that while I was having some fun, I was still trying desperately to cling to every penny I could. Mind you, I still had a fulltime job where I made more than enough to support myself.

In 2020 I met this incredible woman at work, who talked to me about all of my hopes and dreams and listened to my grievances of my current life stage. I had no idea that she was a business coach, in that moment she was just a client that brought in a breath of fresh air. In 2021 I started her program. I gave her more money than I’d ever given anyone outside of a car dealership or mortgage company. I gave her more money than I even had in my bank account! (She allowed me to do a payment plan). I gave her my “fun money” and then some.

Her program lasted a year, and I am crying as I type this because it was the most life changing experience I’ve had to date. Trying to unlearn the lies I told myself about my abilities as an artist, as a business owner, even as a person proved to be a lot more difficult than I thought. I thought this woman was going to teach me about SEO and ROI; what I got from her was so much more valuable.

Learning to trust myself and my abilities, believing that because I do in fact know what I am doing, I am and will continue to be successful. Also, it doesn’t hurt that with her guidance, I was able to make back four times the money I invested in her and take my business fulltime! No more side hustle! She helped me to believe that the money would come, and with a lot of commitment and intentional work, it did!

Learning is easy. It’s the unlearning of the beliefs that have been instilled in you, sometimes for decades, that are the hardest obstacle to overcome.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

From the previous question, you now know that I have a fear of not having enough money. So, it may come as no surprise, but I was not willing to invest in something that was going to take a lot of funding.

I started with baby steps. Before I even knew I was going to start a business I started investing. I took three eyelash extension certification courses. This was a few thousand dollars total, that I almost didn’t spend because anything over $500, to me, at the time, required a second opinion from my finacial advisor (my mom). I was terrified to spend large sums of money. In this case the fear was well placed. I certainly did not see a return from that investment, but I wouldn’t say it was money wasted. I believe this planted the seed for the thoughts about starting my business.

Every dollar came from my personal savings. A few hundred for things like insurance, my business license, a logo (that I never used), my hair and makeup kit. It was all very small amounts.

It was a bit of a leap for someone like me. I was always taught the way to be successful was to climb the corporate ladder. Here I was paving a path for myself I knew nothing about. While the idea of starting a business, even just a side hustle, was intimidating, each individual step and dollar spent felt safe.

During my coaching program, I did meet another female entrepreneur who believed in me and made a small investment, which helped me in my decision to take my business fulltime. Outside of that, every dollar that has gone into my business has been from my own savings or reinvested from the business.

I think if I were to give advice to someone with a scarcity mindset, it would be that. Take small steps first. Warm up to the idea, rather than shocking your system with huge numbers. These days I am much more likely to spend money on my business, than I was in the beginning because, in the process, I’ve learned to trust my decision making and my ability to convert.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.CurlWinkBlush.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/curlwinkblush/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/curlwinkblush/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zulmarie-gonzalez-66107495/

Image Credits
Jessica Thomas Photography Kaleidoscope Portraits Photography by Yami Brooke Hendricks Photography Rhonda Bradhams Photography Angelita Esparar Photography Elly Maria Photography