Hey Clever Girls!
You may already know through my posts, products, and give back program that I’m passionate about empowering women to live their best life. In my own journey, I’ve had a tribe of powerful women advocating for me and I continue to meet incredible women every day. I think of the Clever Girl Squad as a community focused on encouraging, mentoring, and advocating for others doing good. I wanted to do more to bring you the stories and wisdom of other women so we can learn from and help each other rise to equality and fully reach our potential. SO. I introduce to you a new blog series, What A Clever Girl!, which will spotlight inspiring women living their best life.
Today, we're featuring Eliana from Hippies and Granola. This fierce warrior for women of color is taking huge steps to make our world better from her diversity and inclusion courses to her ethically made clothing line. Eliana practices what she preaches and isn't afraid of a challenge. Keep reading to learn more about how she's changing the world...
Tell us a little bit about you + your biz.
Constanza Eliana Chinea
Yoga Teacher, Activist, Writer, Designer, Producer
Constanza Eliana is a Yoga teacher of color focusing on diversity and inclusion, tackling race and bias through powerful yoga sequences and meditations both in person and online. She has been teaching for over 6 years and devoted her work on centering Women of Color in Yoga.
She created the Embody Inclusivity program teaching diversity and inclusion using Yoga and Meditation as a medium to deal with discomfort that arises when discussing race and bias. She teaches the online course Unpacking Spiritual Bypass, and offers resources to teachers and students all around the world.
She is currently creating a virtual yoga studio for women of color. Stay tuned for more details.
She lives in Los Angeles, CA with her 3 dogs and partner by the beach. She is the founder of hippiesandgranola.com and https://www.patreon.com/hippiesandgranola
What inspired you to start?
As a woman of color I experienced bias within the yoga community and I wanted to do something about it. I couldn't land a teaching gig at a good studio so I decided to create my own online yoga courses. Then when I decided to open a shop on my site I knew I wanted all the marketing to showcase women of color like myself and represent my community. And when I decided to build a diversity and inclusion yoga training, I made sure that my guest teachers were all women of color. Every time I had a business idea my first thought would be "this has to be diverse and inclusive" and I'd come up with a plan to make that happen first and foremost. I've always been guided by my passions and my activism doesn't stop at protesting on the streets. My activism is highly intertwined in everything I do and create. I don't believe that the goal of business is just to make money, the goal is create positive change and make an impact.
How has mentorship played a role in your success?
I've never had a mentor that helped me in my business until very recently, but I have had friends as mentors. I find they are the best mentors to have even if they don't know it. The connection you have with a friend is much deeper than a mentor that isn't emotionally invested in your success. I've tried to have mentors in other areas of my life and was always disappointed by them. But friends have a different energy, they have a deeper investment in you. That said, my current mentor is fantastic and we are becoming closer every day. Her name is Sonali Fiske and she is the sweetest mentor I've ever had! Her entire purpose is to lift up the voices of BIWOC (Black, Indigenous, Women of Color) and her style is both nurturing and energizing. She helps me get clarity around my message, she is there for me when I need to cry, and she celebrates my accomplishments. I've never had a mentor like her before and I am grateful on a daily basis. Mentors shouldn't just focus on giving tactical advice, they should be there as emotional support and to lend a shoulder when all you want to do is cry.
What would you say is most important for other clever girls just starting a biz or wanting to take the leap?
Have a spiritual practice you can lean on when times get tough, frustrating, or overwhelming. Being an entrepreneur is a beautiful thing and it is also incredibly challenging at times. You'll trust the process more if you can remain grounded and committed to your mission. I personally have a yoga practice and recently took up tarot. I practice some form of meditation or ritual daily to keep me stable and connected to my work. I don't have an assistant at the moment so it has become super important that when I get overwhelmed with the workload that I lean on my practice and take deep breaths. You have no idea how many times this has saved me!
If you could go anywhere in the world tomorrow for free, where would you go and why?
I've been wanting to travel for a while and honestly I'd love to go to Costa Rica. Something about it draws me in! I'm Puerto Rican so I already love tropical countries and I feel Costa Rica would feel like home! I'm drawn to its jungle and beaches.
What kind of jewelry trends are you into right now?
Bohemian style silver rings are my favorite at the moment. Really culturally eclectic and unique. I wear so many rings on my fingers lately that people always compliment them! It's a great conversation starter!
Where can we go to buy your goodies?
You can buy my shirt designs and online courses at HippiesAndGranola.com
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Hey Clever Girls!
You may already know through my posts, products, and give back program that I’m passionate about empowering women to live their best life. In my own journey, I’ve had a tribe of powerful women advocating for me and I continue to meet incredible women every day. I think of the Clever Girl Squad as a community focused on encouraging, mentoring, and advocating for others doing good. I wanted to do more to bring you the stories and wisdom of other women so we can learn from and help each other rise to equality and fully reach our potential. SO. I introduce to you a new blog series, What A Clever Girl!, which will spotlight inspiring women living their best life.
Our very first spotlight is Ashley from Wander and Lust Jewelry. If you haven’t seen her pieces all over social media yet, go check them out! She hand makes her gorgeous, dainty jewelry in Florida and got her start on Etsy! Keep reading to learn more about this sweet + talented clever girl and her tips for starting a successful business.
Tell us a little bit about you + your biz.
I’m Ashley. A mama to a 16 month old baby boy Finn, a wife, & jewelry entrepreneur. I started Wander + Lust Jewelry in 2014 as a hobby. I wanted to do something fun & different, so I started to make and design jewelry! As I got better and better at my craft, I started making sales and I realized this could turn into a REAL business. 4 years later here I am with a thriving business where I can work wherever I want, set my own hours, and have unlimited creative freedom with every aspect of my business.
I design dainty + delicate jewelry with a touch of bohemian flare. I want my pieces to be unique, yet simplistic enough to be worn everyday. I use high-quality materials such as gold fill and sterling silver so the jewelry will last, but will still be affordable for the everyday woman. I am a full-time work at home mama, so I juggle running a business while running after my baby. It's a handful, but I stay focused on my tasks at hand and in the end, I always get the job done.
What inspired you to start?
I was inspired to start my business because I was bored in how my life was. I was 25 working at a monotonous job and didn't like how my life was turning out. I thought - "I need something new in my life other than just working at a job I hate, coming home watching TV, getting up to do the same thing again and again." I knew that sort of life was not going to be fulfilling, and I needed to make a change. At first, I hoped my new "hobby" of jewelry making would give me something new to do on my off time, but as the weeks went by, and people started to love my jewelry, I started to dream bigger and really worked on making this my full-time gig. Jewelry has always been one of my favorite things to shop for, and I thought I had a good sense of style. With my drive for success, and eye for jewelry design, I was excited to start working towards my new goal of being a full-time business owner.
How has mentorship played a role in your success?
I really haven't had a specific mentor. Being a one woman show, I have to do a lot of research on every aspect of my business whether it be taking better photography, tax questions, SEO, following the fashion trends, etc. I rely a lot on Facebook groups with like minded people, discussion boards and working with influencers in my industry. I listen to a lot of business podcasts and women entrepreneur audio books. I'm always learning and trying to grow. Also, I have started to outsource things I used to do myself. It's hard to let go of the control, but in the end it's worth the time saver.
What would you say is most important for other clever girls just starting a biz or wanting to take the leap?
The most important thing I would tell someone just started out would be to KEEP GOING. There are so many people who reach out to me asking how I became so successful on Etsy and how they can too. It's really about pushing yourself and learn something new everyday. You truly have to work day and night and treat your business like a BUSINESS. Pour your blood, sweat and ALL your tears into it. Treat it your dreams and goals like your life depends on it, and you will see results. Mistakes will happen, but every mistake or misstep is a learning experience. Don't TRY to be successful, just BE successful, no matters what that means in your book. Make a decision and a promise to yourself that you will always do your best work towards achieving your goals every single day. You can do it, you just have to work hard at it. If success was easy, everyone would do it, right?
If you could go anywhere in the world tomorrow for free, where would you go and why?
That's such a hard question! Since it's free, I would choose somewhere very expensive normally such as Bora Bora or Moorea and stay in one of those over water bungalows. That is definitely on my bucket list for obvious reasons. Would wouldn't want to wake up overlooking clear turquoise water??
What kind of jewelry trends are you into right now?
I'm obsessed with the dainty layered looks. You can never have too many dainty gold necklaces on! Also, rose gold is my obsession, and in my most recent Fall Collection, I've been using it a lot in my designs in combination with rose quartz. It's the most beautiful duo!
Where can we go to buy your goodies?
Thanks for asking! You can shop my jewelry on my website at www.wanderandlustjewelry.com or my Etsy shop at www.wanderandlustjewelry.etsy.com. I just released my new Fall Collection entitled, "Love Is Kind". It's inspired by self-love and self-care. Each piece in the collection has a special meaning behind it, so I encourage you to check it out!
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