June 22, 2020 • 40 mins
FYI!!! Carla Marie is no longer the host of a morning show in Seattle but she is still supporting small businesses in every way possible. She’s even started her own small business with her radio cohost and best friend, Anthony. All of the links below will help you stay up to date!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Side Hustlers podcast. I'm your host from
my Heart Radio Carla Marie. In each episode, I talked
to someone different who is following a passion outside of
their day job, or someone who has taken that side
hustle that passion and turned it into their full time job.
Now my day job, my full time job is hosting
the Carla Maurie and Anthony Morning Show on one or
(00:21):
six point one Kiss FM in Seattle. You can listen
live on your radio in Seattle or live on our
I Heart Radio app, or you can also catch it
wherever you listen to podcasts. Now, enough about me, this
week's guest is Erica, and Erica is the founder and
creator of Made by Erica, which is a graphic design
social media company that is really just launching. And when
(00:44):
you hear Erica's story and how she finally launched her
own company in the most epic time to launch her
own company, You're gonna be super inspired. I know I was.
This is Made by Erica for a lot of people.
You know, why are you way? Do you know what
you want to do? And this is something you want
to do, you do it. I'm a hustles side side Hustle.
(01:06):
Do it. I'm a hustle do it. I'm a hustless
love come on ask about yo yo. It's the Side
Hustless podcast we call The Roof and this week joining
us from Bayonne, New Jersey, is Erica Rivera. Hello, Erica, Hi,
Carla Marie. How are you doing? Okay, I'm live from
(01:28):
my closet. This is amazing. So, Erica, let's talk about
what your side hustle now hustle is, and then we're
gonna get into your whole story because you really do
have an incredible story. But so for reference, what is
made by Erica? So basically, I'm an industrial designer and
graphic designer, So I kind of designed made by Erica
as a creative services website where I do logos, social
(01:50):
media posts, content, branding, anything like that. And then in
addition to that, because I'm a creative, I also offer
my own posters custom um recipe car And yeah, that's
kind of it is just kind of my brand based
on who I am, and part of my culture is
a lot of what I based my art on. Well,
and people can follow along. It's made by Erica dot
com and your work is incredible and it's bright and
(02:12):
it's fun, so they can see there. And then your
Instagram is underscore made by Erica, so they can see
what we're talking about. As we're talking about it, somebody
else has been made by Erica and I couldn't take
it back. Of course, it happens. It happens to the
best of us. I get it. I got the Carla
Marie because Carla Maurie was like a basket weaving person.
I mean, come on, that is so not my my thing.
So yeah, I get it. It's all good. So your
(02:34):
day job though kind of well former day job, and
we'll get into that, but it bled into this world
of your side hustle. So what was your day job? Sure?
So I went to school for industrial design and basically
what that is, in particular to what I did, was
building in three D. So I did drawings in three
D programs for displays. For example, for a company so
like Sally Hanson, a lot of their plastic trays that
(02:55):
went into their stores. I did all the drawings for
every plastic tray in there until we lost them as
a client last year. So like for the past five
six years, every single try it passed through my hands.
That you'd see in a store a Target, A Walmart, CBS, Walgreens,
and then other companies like we launched Dove Baby in Canada.
So I basically did the engineering drawings. They would take
my drawings, manufactured the display, and then it would go
(03:17):
into stores. So what, like what kind of background do
you need to be able to know how to do
store displays? Like, yeah, you you just said you know design,
but that seems very intricate. Oh Like they did not
prepare me in college for that, like absolutely absolutely. It
was just I mean they prepare you in a sense
of like, okay, you learn a little bit of everything.
Because my nature was industrial design. I went to Cane
(03:37):
or Cane. I always screwed that up, just basically learning
how to build in three D and then like you
draw it flat and you can just like I don't
know how to describe it, but like extrude it and
lift it up and build it and so like if
you get an Ikea catalog and like the how to
put things together. I also did those things. So I
would draw every part and have to say where the
school goals, what kind of screw goes in there, what size?
It is hard for us to actually put ikea stuff together.
(03:58):
I can't imagine what it's like for you to draw
on how to put it together, right. That's that's and
it's just a high stakes thing because there's very little
room for error. And it's also just a culture of
like people are waiting for you to screw up, so
like if you put a hole in the wrong place,
like that was. I don't miss is the culture of
it because it was like somebody peeple, certain people would
(04:19):
wait to pounce on, Oh, somebody screwed up, the shell
fell down, you know. And it's like so every time
you did something, it's like quadruple checking to make sure
that like you didn't screw anything up, because it's you
get one shot, like it's you know, it's hard when
they're cutting things out of wood and metal. They cut
one time, you know, it's not like it's made a mistake.
Like cardboard displays my company also did, but I didn't
really do too much of that that you can just
kind of new one. It's cardboard like everywhere. But yeah,
(04:41):
so that was just very like high stakes with that
making sure that your work is accurate. That's not a
job that like I even think about existing like what
you had to do so that it's just crazy to
me that you did that and now you've turned it
into something not completely different. I mean you have obviously
the background, but what you're doing now is is so
different and how you up there is really cool. So
(05:02):
you're so new to this world. You're made by Erica world,
unbelievably knew at this point of when we're recording this.
So this year has been a crazy year for a
lot of people and you as well. So when you
kicked off, where was your head at with your career
and what you wanted to do? What was it looking
like for you? In January? Started out literally January five,
(05:22):
I had a new apartments, my mom moved to Florida,
So I already knew the year was going to be
like my mom's and my best friend. You know, I
have two sisters, uh, you know, once in Florida ones
up here. But like I was already in a transition
of that then thinking about Okay, I was highly aware
that I did not want to be at my day
job forever, but I knew that like in order to
transition to something for my own, I had to start
something on the side, so that was kind of in
(05:43):
the back of my head, like what are the skills
I have? What can I do? You know? So after
I got I moved in and rearranged everything. Then the
virus happened and it was like, oh, okay, you know,
adjust to working from home. That's one thing. Then was
the you know, okay, then organizing the apartment because when
I'm stressed, I rearranged furniture all I need to move something.
(06:03):
So then you know, I started laying out because I
went to school for dusher design, but before that, I
had an associates and graphic design, so I had always
done like graphics, like and breading invitations or things like
that in the back of my head, and I learned
from my other side hustles that like I enjoyed making things,
but I didn't want to turn into like a manufacturer
of things because you can get really into that very easily.
(06:24):
And it's like, okay, that didn't bring me joy. I
learned those lessons what can I do? And then that's
how kind of Made by Erica came about. Then what
was the first thing you did for Made by Erica?
And how did you get to that point? So it
started out last year I turned forty, and I on
my sister was like, oh, you know, we're gonna throw
it because they can't surprise me. I'm just terrible with that.
And so they told me and I said, oh, well,
(06:45):
since I'm I mean, my family is creative, but they're
not creative in the sense like they don't waste their
time doing nonsense. And I love the nonsense. So I
was like, can I do the centerpieces for the party
and the favors and all this stuff? And picked the theme,
you know, and I was like, listen, if you really
want to be happy, that's all that I asked for.
So I tried to look for decorations I wanted in
Puerto Rican, so I wanted like a Latin theme, but
a lot of things out there was stereotypical, like sombrero
(07:09):
and and part of it is like offensive, and part
of it is like it's not my culture either. So
then I made all of my own table center pieces
and everything, and I had this dessert table and I
made a giant poster of Salia Cruz because she's the
queen of salsa and so you know, and one of
her famous lines was asuka, which is sugar and Spanish
and I'm like, oh, that'd be great for the table.
(07:29):
So unknowingly, that was the first real piece that I
did for made by Erica. And then it was until
I moved and I was looking to hang up art
in the wall that I remembered that. And then I
turned it into a vertical poster and I was like,
I hung it over my sofa. So when you say
you turned it into like you redid the art, like
you didn't just take that same poster and spin it. No,
because when it was horizontal, it was just a different
like layout. I didn't save it. It wasn't framed it.
(07:51):
It just wasn't you know. It was just busier than
I would want it. So then I said, you know
what if I was making a poster that i'd want
to find in homewoods, let me because that's the other thing.
I couldn't find anything and home goods that I liked
or wanted to, you know, just hang up in my apartment.
That kind of represented me. That was vibrant and powerful.
You sitting here saying, oh, I just you know, I
just made my center pieces, and like you just said
(08:12):
it so matter of fact ly, and so like hey,
and I'm like you did what, Like you realize how
crazy that is? Well, when I tell you what they were,
they were crazy because I found a shape of a
pineapple in Target, and it was like a wood thing.
There was the shape of a pineapple, So then you're
gonna laugh. But then I three D printed black sunglasses
so that the pineapple could have sunglasses. Then I put
(08:33):
the pineapple on top of a box that was a
different city in Puerto Rico, and then each box they
decorated it with things that were signature to that city.
So like old San Juan, it's famous for like their
colorful houses and stores, and then you know different cities
are ocean themed beach surfing. So that was kind of that.
So when people show up to your birthday party that
(08:54):
was thrown by your family, but really you did it.
But yeah, did they say about the decorations, Well, they
knew was me, and they knew. I was not surprised
because then they know because they were my one cousin's wife.
She was wondering. She's like, I was wondering how they
were going to pull it off, knowing how you are
and how you are. But I'm assuming people love the decorations. Yeah,
they did. Definitely if someone wanted to do something like
that for themselves. Now, like a party, is that something
(09:16):
you would do with Made by Erica. Yeah, and that's
definitely because it's so new. I'm still in the phase
of what is it that I wanted to be? I mean,
I kind of know what I wanted to be, but
I'm just slowly Like my first release was the posters, like,
I'd love I love to make things, but I'd love
to have my own line of things. You know. Obviously
I'm a smaller scale of the center pieces so that
I'm not physically making each one. But but yeah, like
(09:36):
if I could have my own party pack of design
paper plate, snapkins, you know, just some colorful stuff. That's
that's uh, you know, maybe like phase too, since we're
talking in everywhere yeh right, every everything is a phase now.
So you said earlier that you wouldn't want to be
a manufacturer. But say you make these party packs and
then Target sees them and says, hey, we want to
work with you and buy these or buy your design.
(09:57):
Is that something you'd be interested in? Yeah, definitely. I
asked that as I like, I work for a Target,
but I don't. But I'm curious to where you want
to go with this. Well, and you know what's funny
is obviously listence your podcast and I forget her name,
who owns a layer Shandon, Yes, So I just love
her store, and I thought if I could turn that
into an online store, and you know, at some point
(10:19):
it doesn't have to be everything I make, but you know,
I could have my own line of things, whether it's
greeting cards or things like that, just you know, knickknacks,
key chains, just like fon stuff. You know that I
love like to curate a collection of things, and then
Shannon could sell yourself in her actual store. To look
at this, this is amazing. I love that we're talking
to you. There have been a few guests on this
(10:40):
podcast who are at the very beginning of something of
something amazing, and I love that we're at that point
with you because I can see all of the excitement.
I can see your gears going of all the things
you want to do. But it did take a little
bit for you to get to this point. So you
had a really cool moment earlier here with Gary Vaynerchuk.
(11:01):
Gary v a lot of people know him on Instagram,
is that He's a super cool guy. The first time
I heard of him, I watched him speak at a
big event for college students and it was about his company,
the Wine Library. Now he launched Empathy Wines, where one
of my friends Jake, actually worked Jake from Elvis around
in the Morning show. He now is an Empathy Wines
with Gary V. So you got to do something with
(11:24):
Gary V earlier this year, so tell us about that.
So I like to scare myself into doing things, much
like how we got on this podcast. You know, I'd
like to push myself to the edge of the cliff
and then I'll figure out how I'm going to land.
So Quarantine started a couple of days in he started
to see with Gary V and at nine am in
the morning he would do like an hour to two
hour live just basically call in show but like video
(11:45):
chatting and whatever with like people with small businesses or
people that just had questions. And so one day he
was like, oh, posted on your Instagram feed, you know,
the screenshot of this and if you want to be
on or whatever, or why do you listen? So I did?
I said, you know, what, what are the chances? It
was four days and you know, maybe they'll notice. So
they did, and then his team comments it and that
was like, oh, okay, this is the thing, and they
(12:05):
were like, hey, can you chat tomorrow. What did you
say in your comments? I just took a screenshot and
I just said that this has become part of my
new routine because working from home, you know, you got
to develop routines of like what I'm doing in the morning.
You know. It's easy to put the TV on all day,
you know, but I need, like, you know, just to
create some structure. Yeah, they obviously love that you watching,
(12:28):
but for people who don't know Gary V, like, he
is super motivational and he is incredible. So the fact
that you then got time with him is crazy and awesome.
So what was your time like with him? And tea
with Gary V? So I was like just sweating trying
to think of what question I'm gonna ask, because you know,
what do you ask? Like some of the stuff you
I listened to his content so much I knew the
(12:49):
answer to already, but then it's like, you don't want
to make it a dumb question, you know. And it
wasn't until I was in the shower that morning that
I just was like I asked him because I knew
people pay a lot of money for his time. CLAIM
knew I needed to make it worth it. You know.
I didn't want to blow it because then I think
madded myself and I was like, Futureika would not be
happy if you blew it. And so I basically asked him,
being a jack of all trades, like a creative person
(13:11):
with so many different things, what can I do with it?
And then he noticed the Sally A Cruise poster hanging
behind me in my living room, and then he was
like that and then he was like, just sell those,
make more of that. And then that's kind of how
that happened. And it went by so quick. It's nuts
to be so because you and everyone is like this,
you needed someone else to tell you that, Like you
(13:32):
knew you could do that, you knew it was something
you love. But he was like do that And I'm like, oh, duh, yeah,
did you tell him? Like, oh, I made this poster?
Like how did it come up? He asked for a
little bit of context what I did, and when I mentioned,
like I make things, and I said this was one
of the things that I made, and then and then
he just interrupted me it was like, well, then make
more of that, you know, and it was like, oh okay,
(13:54):
and then you did. So you hung up with Gary
V on that call. What was the first step to
really like jump into by Erica? Step one was panic
and then uh right, and then step two was make
a plan. I knew I only had one poster, and
so I was like, all right, I need to create more.
So I said, all right, let me launch with maybe
like four or five different posters and then kind of
(14:17):
develop a color scheme and what my theme is going
to be. So that and then kind of did some
research and okay, that's a big poster. I want to
do smaller prints people can buy. Then it was like,
so I have them in eight by tens and then
also five by seven postcards as well. So it was
kind of like, okay, that was the already have the
name made by Erica. I just didn't know what to
do with it. I own the domain already for like
a year, and I was just sitting on it. And
(14:39):
so then it was just you know, after panic, create
and then make a plan and then get the website going.
And yeah, so your style of art, you would describe
it as indie war yeah, sort of like pop, kind
of very colorful, b vibrant, like Indie warhol ish. Yeah,
I love it. Like I went on your robs and like,
oh my god, all of this is so fun, Like
(14:59):
I want to these things in the studio. It's super
cute what you have. But you talk a lot about
like social media. You can help people with social media.
So have you gone to do any part of that
with Made by Erica or do you just have like
a game plan for what that will be. I'm working
on a logo for actually, funny enough, this woman I
used to three D print cookie cutters for, which was
another side hustle. We'll get the um. I'm doing her logo,
(15:22):
redoing her logo for her business. And then I also
did two different social media posts for this woman who
was a life coach and she was having an event
and she just needed a post to promote her events
on I G Lives. And then somebody else I did
another event for another person that I used to ask
red print cookie cutters for. So when you were really
launching Made by Erica, deciding Okay, I'm gonna put these
posters up after talking to Gary, you still had a
(15:44):
full time job, right. It's luckily working from home, you're
able to you know, do some of that stuff, but
not all kind of got flipped on its head, and
your side hustle became your main hustle very quickly without
really you making any decisions. I was sort of expecting
it only because I work for had just a history
of randomly were not randomly when they do whatever year,
laid off people, just like five or six people at
(16:04):
a time. So, you know, when I got I was
not expecting it. That day particularly, you know, I went
to the post office and I was like, oh, I'm
going outside. It's an event to put a mask on,
you know, met your outfit, you know, I have a
neon sneakers on, Like this is great. And then my
phone rang at my headphones and then I heard my
boss and I'm like, oh no, it's not fantastic with
I'm a job. And so then I was like running
back to my apartment because the computer was still on
(16:25):
to make sure that you know, I closed out anything
and I had anything on there, and I was like, oh,
I had seconds to I get my stuff off of there.
Not that I saved anything on there, but I saved
open tabs, whatever, and so yeah, so it just happens
like just so fast. Yeah, so in that moment, are
you Obviously you lost your job, so that's kind of
like that is a big deal. That's where your income was,
that's you know, that was your livelihood. But did you
(16:48):
have a moment of relief at all or what was
it like to Okay, now you get to die. It
was such relief. It's like breaking up with somebody that
you didn't that you knew it wasn't good for you,
but you hunger on anyway, and it's a really hard
thing to do, and then they broke up with you,
and you're like, oh, thank you. As much as like,
as much as I was appreciative for my time there,
(17:09):
I it was also just a relief to be like
I don't have to do something that didn't feel good anymore.
Because I was there for about nine years, so whoa,
that's a long time. Yeah, because I went back to
school a little later in life, so then that was
the first job out of by the time I finished college. Okay,
so you were like none, you were forced into your
side hustle, now main hustle. It was it was on
(17:30):
my mind and then after I was like, you know,
freaking out about money. Then it was relief, and then
it was like, okay, well I started America. I need
to move faster. And that's when I added all also
in the graphic design services and stuff, because I know
Sheel was going to be the posters and the pop art.
But then, you know, when you're thinking about money money,
I'm like, oh, well, what else I've done, you know,
graphics for for other people, So why not just keep going?
(17:52):
And I enjoyed doing it. And the timing is kind
of crazy when you look at it, because if you
didn't have that conversation with Gary V month before you
got laid off, Like where would your brain have been
when you got laid off? Like where would your mind
have been? You wouldn't have had this thing to put
your time into and all your energy and something I'll
fall back on mentally in most cases. So it's just
(18:12):
that whole go for it thing. It's so it is
so important and it's not easy. You said you were scared.
You you like throwing yourself into things. But if you
didn't do that, look at all the things you wouldn't
have had, right, And it's just so funny because even
thinking about it, Like, after the Gary V thing, I
kind of felt guilty. It was a weird sense of
guilt because I knew like I had been blessed with
(18:33):
a free conversation with Gary. You gave me free advice,
and it wasn't really advice that I need because I
knew it myself. But then I was like, I guess
you you you feel able guilty sometimes when good things
happen to you, and I'm like, I don't want to
blow it, like I'm very fortunate at this moment. You know.
Also I'm healthy. You know, there's tons of people out
there sick, you know, so it's like, you know, so
for a minute there said that's when I started sewing
(18:53):
masks because after the Gary V thing happened, I just
felt so guilty. I'm like, all right, I gotta do this,
but you know, I wish I could help people out,
you know. And I was concerned about going out and
volunteering because I have asthma, so you know, that's like
a health concern. I was like, oh, I can make
mass found somebody on Facebook. So I made like about
two d masks, like I wouldn't even know where to start. That.
I love that You're just like, yeah, so I just
started making masks and I made two hundred of them.
(19:14):
What like, how did you figure that out? How? What
was that whole process? And you did that just because
you felt like you needed to give back because Gary
V did something for you. Yes, So I followed this influencer.
Her name's Mimi Ge. She happens to be Puerto Rigane
as well. She makes her own patterns, like clothing patterns,
and so she posted on Instagram a tutorial for a mask,
and I was like, oh, I have tons of fabric
(19:35):
left over from another side hustle of when I did
canvas bags, and so I said, a starting machine sitting
in the closet, and I said, I can dust this
thing out and I haven't used in like four years,
and let me cut a pattern. And so I ordered
elastic and then figured that out and found someone I
would drop off the mask. A few of my friends
had asked for some masks. I didn't want to sell
that because I wasn't going to get into like the
(19:56):
mask selling business that you know. I just wanted to
and then I to stop doing the masks once I
got laid off, because then I needed to shift my
focus and put that energy into made America. So you
made two masks in what kind of time? I want
to say, about three weeks. I think you're maniac. I
don't remember where April went. I don't remember what March
(20:17):
was like, I remember half of March May, so like
all that happened I think in the span of April. Jeez, yeah,
because it's been four weeks since I got laid off,
so that probably puts it like first weekend, oh May fourteen,
to be particular, at four p m bos counting. But
we always hear people that are like, oh, pay it forward,
do a good deed, but no one really thinks of
(20:39):
it as like you got good advice or someone gave
you their time. I'm going to go do something else.
Often it's it's a physical thing, or someone did something
for me. That's not the thought of advice. And I
think if we all start taking a page out of
your book in the sense of this person gave me
their time, I should do that for other people too.
I think we'd have a much better world at this point.
(21:01):
And I know there's nothing to do with side hustling, really,
but it's such a good character trait of yours. I
think that people can take a page out of and
I hope so. And I think it ties into gravy
because he named his wine wine empathy wines. And I
think that something that I wish more people would have
a little bit of in this world. And I think
it would be better, like to just be able to
put yourself in somebody else's shoes for a minute, you know,
(21:21):
just to take a time out and be like wow,
you know, like you know, I was super grateful in
a terrible time that was going on. I was able
to realize, wow, some people are having the worst days
of their lives. I was doing good in quarantine. You know.
My family was like, they're very extroverted to be like, oh,
I'm mis going to the stores. I'm like, no, I'm
fine inside. You know, I'm ready for this. You know,
we're good. I have enough things to can be busy.
But you know, I just think I wish people thought
(21:43):
of other people a little bit more when they operated
their daily life. And then maybe, you know, people would
be so angry. No, I couldn't agree or say that
any better than you just did. You keep mentioning other
side hustles or other side hustles, and they're all different things.
So let's talk about the other Erica side hustle as
you've had over the years. Where do we even start
(22:03):
with them? I used to make wedding invitations, but that
wasn't really ever a business that was more for like
friends and family. But the first real one was the
House of Beati, which was the handmade jewelry line that
I had sent you some jewelry for What's Trending and
ze one hundred. What year was this? That was twenty?
I want to say, I think, yeah, it's crazy because
(22:24):
when you first wrote to me, you mentioned that you
sent me jewelry from What's Trending and I didn't know
the name of the company, but right before we started
talking you said that, and I was like, I actually
remember that company, and I remember talking about it on
the air, And it's crazy that you've been You've been
at it since then. So you made this jewelry, What
what happened? Why didn't it become more and why does
(22:45):
it not exist? Um? Well, one of the things I mean,
I started with that because I knew I had wanted
to start a business. That was around the time that
I also started listening to podcasts, realized I wanted to
make something. I wanted to side hustle. I wanted to
side business. So I knew I didn't, you know, want
to just work in an office every day. And so
I started looking at things as I like, and I
like wearing jewelries. So then I went on YouTube, how
do you make a bracelet? So then I did that.
Then I took the trains to the city, bought a
(23:06):
bunch of jewelry supplies and I did that, and then
you know, it doesn't exist anymore because I just at
the end of the day, my heart wasn't into it,
and it wasn't really telling a complete story. And it's
also a difficult thing to do. And because I wasn't
physically making like I was making the pieces, but I
was buying beads and I was buying straining everything to
put it together. So I felt like because I wasn't
(23:26):
like hand forging or you know, just actually welding the
pieces together myself, it wasn't as creative as I could be.
So I kind of shelved that and I said, I
knew once a let it go. I tried it out
for like a good two years and then After that,
I kept the name, but then I wanted to do
canvas backs because I'm obsessed with not using plastic, like
a local plastic for like as long as I can remember,
(23:48):
I've been crying about recycling, and so then I was like, oh, well,
maybe I can do canvas bags and screen print designs
on them. But I didn't know how to screen pat
So then I went on the internet and how do
you use screenprint? Ordered all the stuff, did that, but
then that was screenprinting process is a lot when you
live in a one bedroom apartment. I don't have a garage,
I don't have a studio. It's a lot, and it's
(24:09):
just mesty and it was just you know, so and
it was hard. It was a hard sell. I remember
doing a street fair in Bayonne and some people like,
oh were these free? And I was like, oh, no,
they are not. You know what were you screenprinting on
them the word free like a People think they were free.
I think because other businesses from the town were there,
like banks, and banks give out free stuff, so I
(24:30):
think people thought like I was a bank, we can
get free pens. So you know, they weren't not so much,
you know, and you can't like people. And I even
I yelled at because I left the thing early because
I was out there for like it was like it
went I think like eight hours, but by like our five,
I had had enough and I was just And then
the next day it was a two day thing, and
they came back and they were like, you left early yesterday,
And I said, well, it wasn't busy yesterday, you know
(24:52):
it was. I was just. That's when I knew, like,
maybe I don't put along in street fairs. Okay, not
everybody's knocking off for streepirs, Listen, it is markets and
street fairs that is. Those are long days, grueling days
and exhausting days and like full days full weekend. So
if you're got a full time job and then you're
doing a market on the weekend, you're just NonStop working.
(25:13):
So that's a whole another world. I think it was
too generic of a market, like if I had picked
something that was smaller and more concentrated. Now I look
forward to possibly doing markets again because now I know
what I'm looking for. I'm not going to do a
regular street fair. But there were still more side hustles, right,
But you did, yes, So I did the bags, and
then I also did like little hand pouches that I sewed,
and then um, so I shelled that as well. And
(25:35):
so then a couple of years went by, and then
we got a three D printer at work, and I
remembered vaguely learning about three D printing in school. But
then I knew already how to draw in the programs
to make the files. I just needed the thing. So
I started three D printing some things at work, and
then I thought, well, what do I like to do
at the bake And I don't know why. I honestly
don't know what. I think. It was just trying to
(25:55):
three D print things at work, and I made like
an emoji cookie cutter and and then it's something licked,
and I'm like, oh, I can make cookie cutters and
like sell them to people. So then I went and
how did it? Is crazy? To me? The best way
I could describe it is like the forty tabs I
have opened. Okay, then maybe I've got the same tabs.
I'm hoping that I can then take them into ideas
(26:15):
at some point. So thank you for that inspiration. So
you buy your own three D printer four at home? Yes? Yes,
and I spent a good probably for day to fifty
hours learning how to use it, fix it because there's
no stores, there's no technicians to fall. It's still so
new that you you know, figuring out the material that's
food safe, then going out to websites getting customers. And
(26:37):
so I did that for good I think three years. WHOA,
So I would stopped that, And I was actually doing
it up until this fall, but then the printer kept
breaking down and every time to try and fix it
was like five, six, seven, eight hours looking at YouTube
videos and like I just I just couldn't do it anymore,
fixing the stupid machine, Like it's just a lot, and
there's no place I can bring it to you, and
(26:57):
and you know, I appreciate the techie people, but I
can't code. I don't know, like I already replaced wires,
you know, I did all the things. In my brain
was like I I just I couldn't anymore. So I
shuts h I shut that website down. WHOA, So the
business died with the printer, yes, and then there was
nothing else in between that and made by Erica right,
noot it now. But you did do a cool freelance
(27:19):
gig was that earlier this year with Alta November to January?
How did you personally get to work with Alta if you,
you know, weren't really launching made Erica at that point.
How did that happen? The way it works as different
companies do different displays for different brands. So like my
day job, we had a contract with Sally Hanson Cody
as their parent company. We do all that. Then at
(27:41):
night I would do freelance for various other manufacturing companies
that needed three D parts drawn and things like that.
And so that was one of the companies. They had
a client and it was for now Neo Polished, that's Vegan,
and so they said they need this display. You get
a picture and then it was like, well, how would
you make it? And so then I need to draw
the parts and tell them how I would make it
this and be would how thick is the wood? These
are where the shelves go, lots of like That's probably
(28:04):
the hardest I worked in a single thing, because there
was so many revisions. Working at night, just like late
into the night, because again I couldn't do it during
the day. I had a day job. Is it in stores?
It's in a box in the back of the store
because it was supposed to come out right as a
Corona hit. Okay, so eventually it will be in an
Alta store. Are you allowed to tell us the name
of the mail company so people can see it? Oh? Sure, Yeah,
(28:24):
it's inn al Topia. Okay, that's super vegan nail polish line.
And they basically were launching and they got a really
good spot in Alta, so it's kind of a big
deal for them as well to showcase they're vegania polish.
That'll be really cool for you though, to get to
see it in an Alder store. Yeah. And I think
what makes that cool and different than anything I've done
at my day job is like it was mine as
(28:45):
and I didn't have anybody breathing down my neck thinking
they knew more than me or telling me what to do.
That can happen a lot in corporate America, especially being
a woman, you know. And it's like I would at
a chime in and you gotta put the face like,
you know, I respect your opinion, and it sounds like
such a good idea that somebody else gonna moment, you know,
you keep telling me more. I don't know anything about
what happens, and now I listen, I get it, And
(29:08):
that is part of the reason why I love this
podcast because guess what, no one can tell me what
to do because it's mine. So I get it and
I understand the whole like how you said you felt
like the relief and having your own thing and it's
yours and no one else had their hands in it,
Like I fully understand that. I think a lot of
people listening right now are thinking the same thing and
maybe feel trapped in their job right now because of
(29:31):
the world that we're currently living in, but are listening
to you thinking, Okay, there is light at the end
of the tunnel, there is something I can do. What
can I do with my time? What are the little
things I can do? Like do they have that poster
hanging up near them or something that they've made? And
I think a lot of us will try to dive
too deep, And most recently I had Tuanisha from Law
(29:51):
Beauty Essentials back on the podcast and one of the
things she said to me in her original episode was
don't go too deep. Everyone tries to go too deep
to find your passion when really it's just what do
you like and for you, it was the posters right
there on your wall. You saw it every day, so
it's kind of crazy when you look at that and
it's it's something that's right there. And I think definitely,
(30:12):
I think people I'm definitely a way overthinker. But and
I think the best time to start is while you
have a job. It also takes the stress off of
if you aren't looking forward to going to your job,
you can be excited about what's going to get you
out of that job, you know, And it's a perfect
time to try things. And I've always been the I'll
try and if it doesn't work, I'll move on from it,
like I'm not married to it, Like, oh it failed,
I'm a failure. Now what's the next thing? You know,
(30:34):
I'm not defined by the things that I do, you know,
unless they're really good things, and then then yeah, it
would give me to find about it. No, I think
your case in point was exactly what you just said,
with all the ideas you had, and I'm sure you
loved doing those things at some point, and that's okay
that they didn't work out because you moved on. It
wasn't the end of the world. And I think that's
incredible that you were able to continuously find things and
(30:55):
almost turn a love and a hobby into a side hustle.
And that's the goal at the end of the day,
do that and then hopefully make it your main hustle.
And that's where you're at right now. I want to
remind everyone made by Erica dot com. The links are
also clickable in the description so that they can check
out what you're doing and follow along because this is evolving.
I mean, by the time this podcast post, you'll probably
have different things on your website and and different game plans.
(31:17):
So how you got to side Hustlers Now you listen
to Elvis around in the morning show. That's how you
knew me because you know born I'm born and raised
in New Jersey. You grew up there, and then you
kind of follow along on social media. I would catch
you sharing my podcast and I was like, what the heck?
Who is this person? How cool is that? So thank
you for sharing Side Hustlers because that is like one
(31:38):
of the biggest compliments I can get at all, is
you thinking this was good enough for someone else to
hear it. So thank you for that. But recently you
shared the episode with Shanika and Kita, and I thought
it was super cool because I said to you that
episode meant so much to me for so many reasons,
and you said to me, as a Latino woman, you
would have hoped to have more repert sentation on this podcast.
(32:01):
And I was like, well, what do you do? And
we got to talking and I was like, wait, why
did you tell me you at a side hustle? And
that's how I realized how new it was. So I
appreciate you for being honest with me and saying that.
So thank you for that. You know. One of the
things I shared. I love podcasts, and it's back to
the I share them all the time because I wish
more people listen to them because you can learn so much.
The people think learning stops at school, and it doesn't,
(32:23):
you know, And every podcast I've listened to is helped
me become part of who I am today. And I
love your podcast because it's just so many stories of
whether it's the brewery or the chubby glass, you know,
the roosevelts. Everybody's got a thing, and so you know,
it also keeps my motivation when I'm not feeling that
I know that they at some point where I was.
(32:43):
And then when I saw I was listening to your
podcasts and you started about revisiting your small businesses because
of the virus and how everybody's doing, I thought that
was great. And then when you have the conversation with
Shanika and Kita, I just thought it was just I
loved your honesty and your willingness to ask questions what
should I do? What can I do? And just opening
up and letting them speak to from from their point
(33:05):
of view, what's it like as a woman, let alone,
what's it like as a black woman to run a business?
And you know, it's just uh. I thought that was
really awesome to just open the door so that people
can just hear a different conversation they wouldn't normally hear. Yeah,
And I never had thought about doing that before, and
I was like mad at myself for that, But like
Keita said, what are you going to do moving forward?
And that's what when you kind of like came to
me in that moment, I was like, oh my god,
(33:26):
this is like, let's get you on the podcast. And
why hadn't we done this before? Well, because you're sign
as a little so new. So I was like, all right,
let's do this for real. I love that. But in
your case, then, as a Latino woman, is it different
for you to run a business and what kind of
things are you thinking of because of your your culture
and your nationality and your heritage. I think it's And
I was thinking about this all day too. I listened
(33:47):
to your most recent episode and it was so funny
some of the similarities, like when they talked about hair,
like hair is such a big thing in our culture too,
Like my hair is curly now, I have a lot
of it, but I wear it straight a lot, and
that's the whole thing. Like I feel more confident when
it's straight. But then it's like that's a whole dynamic,
like love your natural hair and all that. So that's
one of the things, Like I've never been on an
interview with curly hair, but just because it's just one
(34:08):
of those you look more professional with straight hair, you know,
Like it's like how she said with the braids, way
do you get in the job then you wear your hair.
It's so many you know, different uh dynamics. So even
just culture wise, because like the Latino culture is so broad.
I mean, Puerto Rican is different than Mexican different than Colombian.
So there's so many things within the culture and and
(34:28):
it's just like sometimes I'll I don't feel Spanish enough,
you know, like Latino enough, and then sometimes I'm too
Latino from my wife, friends, or you know, it's just
like that mix of like my parents were born in
puert Rico was born and raised in Brooklyn, but you know,
like I can understand Spanish, my speaking is okay about it.
But you know, there's always be not feeling enough in
your culture too. So that's one of the things I
(34:49):
struggle with, which is what helps with the theme of
my website was Okay, I don't feel enough, but I'm
gonna share the things that I love about my culture,
whether it's music, whether it's strength, whether it's you know,
just food or anything. You know, that's kind of helping
me work through falling in love with my culture. Also
just showing you know, I may not be where I
want to be or maybe just too hard on myself.
(35:09):
You can also fill a void in the creative world
for your culture right now. Because you did mention how
when you were planning your birthday there was no decoration
that wasn't stereotypical or wasn't cheesy and you made it
and I think you being that person, you know other
people need that. Obviously, there's there is a world for that,
(35:30):
so you can kind of fill that void for your culture.
And it's incredible that you're giving yourself this platform to
be able to do that and still do what you
love and create this art that you love but have
fun with it. And we need more people like you
from different cultures who are stepping out and doing what
you're doing to fill those voids so that other people
don't feel like you felt like, oh this is too stereotypical,
(35:52):
or I don't have this, or I don't feel enough
of my culture or whatever it may be. It's people
like you using a platform to change that. And it's
incredib all that you're doing it, and I want people
to support you. Made by Erica dot Com go now
go do that. Thank you know, but it's it's incredible,
so proud of you for that. I'm excited to be
in the beginning step of this for you. So since
it's so early on, then for Made by Erica, what
(36:14):
is the very next step you're going to take? Like
after this, Like what is the next big thing you
have to do or get done well. So I mentioned
before we started the podcast that I blew a fuse
in my apartment. That's right, the heat press. Yes, so
I'm actually wearing one of the shirts that I'm trying
to figure out what is the next thing I wanted
to get in it. So it says it feels so
good to be us. Oh I like that. Oh my,
(36:36):
did you design that I did? Yeah? I love that.
I want that on, Like I want to do T
shirts and I also want to revisit the canvas. So
this is a to get the design on the shirt.
It's a heat transfer, but it's something else somebody else
makes and then I order it and it comes to me.
So all I have to do is put the heat
on the shirt. So I'm kind of figuring that out.
Today is temperatures and literally the logistics of how do
(36:59):
you make a shirt without burning it? And like, I'm
gonna watch this later to see if it falls off
and whatnot and right exactly which you know we'll learn,
Thank god, you know, one piece. But it's funny how
losing the internet and electricity and you're like in a panic,
Oh my god. Yeah. So that, and then the canvas
totes in addition to the Prince is where I want
(37:20):
to go as well. So I have two different canvas totes,
one that says Bodega Life on it because I grew
up in Brooklyn Bodega's and I kind of wanted to
put a funny spin on it, and then the other
one says bag it Up. So I want to launch
those as soon as I figure out, you know, how
to how to do that, because I want to get
into like apparel and actual things. So that plus two
back to the being environmentally friendly, Like just canvus picks.
(37:40):
They're just so boring looking the ones you get from
the supermarkets, and I'm like, maybe if it was fun,
people would want a cool bag to bring the groceries in,
you know, so or like if you live in a
city and you're walking from place to place, you don't
want like a an ugly looking bag if you're going
to store to store. So that's kind of where I
can merge my love of like the environment with also
being super fun and creative. I don't really hear people
(38:02):
often from New Jersey talking about their love from the environment,
So I'm loving that you're saying this. It is. It
is weird my family till this day because I don't
use paper plates, like I don't, you know, use plastic slowware,
Like I'm just there and they're like oh, and I'm like, well,
you know, you come here, you're getting a paper straw
or not. Like it's just just how it is. It's
weird because like I remember, like my parents always recycled,
(38:25):
and like I was obsessed with recycling, like you said
that to me earlier. But there is still some sort
of disconnected where I'm like you in the sense of
I don't want any waste at all. My family's like
you're a tree hugger, and I'm like, what what is
wrong with that? Why do we need to kill the environment?
I don't understand. You live here, what is the problem?
So keep spreading these please. I think it was like
(38:47):
a TV movie that Bette Midler did in like the
nineties where she played Mother Earth and then she died
or was like dying, And I don't know if that
was like so traumatic in my head that was back
for the ozone layer was like, you know, so big
and it's like, oh my god, you know the soun's
going to come through and it just me you off,
you know, right, So I think that was part of
like super impressionable, like oh my god, the environment, you know,
(39:07):
and like living in Brooklyn, like you don't grow up
thinking about the environment. You know, you go to walk Park,
but it's in the middle of the city. Like if
you just don't like camping, wasn't a thought. Like there's
just so many things, you know, but it's just certain
things that stick in your head that you're like, oh okay,
and now it's spilling into your business and it's a
good thing. So that's really cool. So if anyone wants
to reach out to you to do anything custom at all,
(39:28):
they can do that, right, Yeah, they can DM me,
they can email me as well. You know, I have
a link to my email on my website or you know,
just DM on Instagram. All right, Erica, Well, um, we're
gonna be watching. We're gonna see where Made by Erica
goes all the things that I'm sure you're gonna do
and add and steam and heat press and all of
it as a part of Made by Erica. I'm excited
for you. Good luck, Thank you for supporting this podcast
(39:50):
and for being on this podcast. Yes, Thank you so
very much for having me, Thank you so much for
listening to side Hustlers and for supporting Erica. You can
go to made by Erica dot com. You and also
click on any of the links below in the description.
You've got all the info you need right there. Thank
you as always for supporting anyone who has been on
this podcast. And if you have any questions, comments, concerns,
(40:12):
guests that you would love to hear from on this podcast,
you can reach out to me Side Hustler's Podcast at
gmail dot com and you can always follow me. Is
that the car Lo Marie on Instagram. Thank you, thank you,
thank you for being here. Until next week, keep hustling
and be a good human
Welcome to the Side Hustlers podcast. I'm your host from
my Heart Radio Carla Marie. In each episode, I talked
to someone different who is following a passion outside of
their day job, or someone who has taken that side
hustle that passion and turned it into their full time job.
Now my day job, my full time job is hosting
the Carla Maurie and Anthony Morning Show on one or
(00:21):
six point one Kiss FM in Seattle. You can listen
live on your radio in Seattle or live on our
I Heart Radio app, or you can also catch it
wherever you listen to podcasts. Now, enough about me, this
week's guest is Erica, and Erica is the founder and
creator of Made by Erica, which is a graphic design
social media company that is really just launching. And when
(00:44):
you hear Erica's story and how she finally launched her
own company in the most epic time to launch her
own company, You're gonna be super inspired. I know I was.
This is Made by Erica for a lot of people.
You know, why are you way? Do you know what
you want to do? And this is something you want
to do, you do it. I'm a hustles side side Hustle.
(01:06):
Do it. I'm a hustle do it. I'm a hustless
love come on ask about yo yo. It's the Side
Hustless podcast we call The Roof and this week joining
us from Bayonne, New Jersey, is Erica Rivera. Hello, Erica, Hi,
Carla Marie. How are you doing? Okay, I'm live from
(01:28):
my closet. This is amazing. So, Erica, let's talk about
what your side hustle now hustle is, and then we're
gonna get into your whole story because you really do
have an incredible story. But so for reference, what is
made by Erica? So basically, I'm an industrial designer and
graphic designer, So I kind of designed made by Erica
as a creative services website where I do logos, social
(01:50):
media posts, content, branding, anything like that. And then in
addition to that, because I'm a creative, I also offer
my own posters custom um recipe car And yeah, that's
kind of it is just kind of my brand based
on who I am, and part of my culture is
a lot of what I based my art on. Well,
and people can follow along. It's made by Erica dot
com and your work is incredible and it's bright and
(02:12):
it's fun, so they can see there. And then your
Instagram is underscore made by Erica, so they can see
what we're talking about. As we're talking about it, somebody
else has been made by Erica and I couldn't take
it back. Of course, it happens. It happens to the
best of us. I get it. I got the Carla
Marie because Carla Maurie was like a basket weaving person.
I mean, come on, that is so not my my thing.
So yeah, I get it. It's all good. So your
(02:34):
day job though kind of well former day job, and
we'll get into that, but it bled into this world
of your side hustle. So what was your day job? Sure?
So I went to school for industrial design and basically
what that is, in particular to what I did, was
building in three D. So I did drawings in three
D programs for displays. For example, for a company so
like Sally Hanson, a lot of their plastic trays that
(02:55):
went into their stores. I did all the drawings for
every plastic tray in there until we lost them as
a client last year. So like for the past five
six years, every single try it passed through my hands.
That you'd see in a store a Target, A Walmart, CBS, Walgreens,
and then other companies like we launched Dove Baby in Canada.
So I basically did the engineering drawings. They would take
my drawings, manufactured the display, and then it would go
(03:17):
into stores. So what, like what kind of background do
you need to be able to know how to do
store displays? Like, yeah, you you just said you know design,
but that seems very intricate. Oh Like they did not
prepare me in college for that, like absolutely absolutely. It
was just I mean they prepare you in a sense
of like, okay, you learn a little bit of everything.
Because my nature was industrial design. I went to Cane
(03:37):
or Cane. I always screwed that up, just basically learning
how to build in three D and then like you
draw it flat and you can just like I don't
know how to describe it, but like extrude it and
lift it up and build it and so like if
you get an Ikea catalog and like the how to
put things together. I also did those things. So I
would draw every part and have to say where the
school goals, what kind of screw goes in there, what size?
It is hard for us to actually put ikea stuff together.
(03:58):
I can't imagine what it's like for you to draw
on how to put it together, right. That's that's and
it's just a high stakes thing because there's very little
room for error. And it's also just a culture of
like people are waiting for you to screw up, so
like if you put a hole in the wrong place,
like that was. I don't miss is the culture of
it because it was like somebody peeple, certain people would
(04:19):
wait to pounce on, Oh, somebody screwed up, the shell
fell down, you know. And it's like so every time
you did something, it's like quadruple checking to make sure
that like you didn't screw anything up, because it's you
get one shot, like it's you know, it's hard when
they're cutting things out of wood and metal. They cut
one time, you know, it's not like it's made a mistake.
Like cardboard displays my company also did, but I didn't
really do too much of that that you can just
kind of new one. It's cardboard like everywhere. But yeah,
(04:41):
so that was just very like high stakes with that
making sure that your work is accurate. That's not a
job that like I even think about existing like what
you had to do so that it's just crazy to
me that you did that and now you've turned it
into something not completely different. I mean you have obviously
the background, but what you're doing now is is so
different and how you up there is really cool. So
(05:02):
you're so new to this world. You're made by Erica world,
unbelievably knew at this point of when we're recording this.
So this year has been a crazy year for a
lot of people and you as well. So when you
kicked off, where was your head at with your career
and what you wanted to do? What was it looking
like for you? In January? Started out literally January five,
(05:22):
I had a new apartments, my mom moved to Florida,
So I already knew the year was going to be
like my mom's and my best friend. You know, I
have two sisters, uh, you know, once in Florida ones
up here. But like I was already in a transition
of that then thinking about Okay, I was highly aware
that I did not want to be at my day
job forever, but I knew that like in order to
transition to something for my own, I had to start
something on the side, so that was kind of in
(05:43):
the back of my head, like what are the skills
I have? What can I do? You know? So after
I got I moved in and rearranged everything. Then the
virus happened and it was like, oh, okay, you know,
adjust to working from home. That's one thing. Then was
the you know, okay, then organizing the apartment because when
I'm stressed, I rearranged furniture all I need to move something.
(06:03):
So then you know, I started laying out because I
went to school for dusher design, but before that, I
had an associates and graphic design, so I had always
done like graphics, like and breading invitations or things like
that in the back of my head, and I learned
from my other side hustles that like I enjoyed making things,
but I didn't want to turn into like a manufacturer
of things because you can get really into that very easily.
(06:24):
And it's like, okay, that didn't bring me joy. I
learned those lessons what can I do? And then that's
how kind of Made by Erica came about. Then what
was the first thing you did for Made by Erica?
And how did you get to that point? So it
started out last year I turned forty, and I on
my sister was like, oh, you know, we're gonna throw
it because they can't surprise me. I'm just terrible with that.
And so they told me and I said, oh, well,
(06:45):
since I'm I mean, my family is creative, but they're
not creative in the sense like they don't waste their
time doing nonsense. And I love the nonsense. So I
was like, can I do the centerpieces for the party
and the favors and all this stuff? And picked the theme,
you know, and I was like, listen, if you really
want to be happy, that's all that I asked for.
So I tried to look for decorations I wanted in
Puerto Rican, so I wanted like a Latin theme, but
a lot of things out there was stereotypical, like sombrero
(07:09):
and and part of it is like offensive, and part
of it is like it's not my culture either. So
then I made all of my own table center pieces
and everything, and I had this dessert table and I
made a giant poster of Salia Cruz because she's the
queen of salsa and so you know, and one of
her famous lines was asuka, which is sugar and Spanish
and I'm like, oh, that'd be great for the table.
(07:29):
So unknowingly, that was the first real piece that I
did for made by Erica. And then it was until
I moved and I was looking to hang up art
in the wall that I remembered that. And then I
turned it into a vertical poster and I was like,
I hung it over my sofa. So when you say
you turned it into like you redid the art, like
you didn't just take that same poster and spin it. No,
because when it was horizontal, it was just a different
like layout. I didn't save it. It wasn't framed it.
(07:51):
It just wasn't you know. It was just busier than
I would want it. So then I said, you know
what if I was making a poster that i'd want
to find in homewoods, let me because that's the other thing.
I couldn't find anything and home goods that I liked
or wanted to, you know, just hang up in my apartment.
That kind of represented me. That was vibrant and powerful.
You sitting here saying, oh, I just you know, I
just made my center pieces, and like you just said
(08:12):
it so matter of fact ly, and so like hey,
and I'm like you did what, Like you realize how
crazy that is? Well, when I tell you what they were,
they were crazy because I found a shape of a
pineapple in Target, and it was like a wood thing.
There was the shape of a pineapple, So then you're
gonna laugh. But then I three D printed black sunglasses
so that the pineapple could have sunglasses. Then I put
(08:33):
the pineapple on top of a box that was a
different city in Puerto Rico, and then each box they
decorated it with things that were signature to that city.
So like old San Juan, it's famous for like their
colorful houses and stores, and then you know different cities
are ocean themed beach surfing. So that was kind of that.
So when people show up to your birthday party that
(08:54):
was thrown by your family, but really you did it.
But yeah, did they say about the decorations, Well, they
knew was me, and they knew. I was not surprised
because then they know because they were my one cousin's wife.
She was wondering. She's like, I was wondering how they
were going to pull it off, knowing how you are
and how you are. But I'm assuming people love the decorations. Yeah,
they did. Definitely if someone wanted to do something like
that for themselves. Now, like a party, is that something
(09:16):
you would do with Made by Erica. Yeah, and that's
definitely because it's so new. I'm still in the phase
of what is it that I wanted to be? I mean,
I kind of know what I wanted to be, but
I'm just slowly Like my first release was the posters, like,
I'd love I love to make things, but I'd love
to have my own line of things. You know. Obviously
I'm a smaller scale of the center pieces so that
I'm not physically making each one. But but yeah, like
(09:36):
if I could have my own party pack of design
paper plate, snapkins, you know, just some colorful stuff. That's
that's uh, you know, maybe like phase too, since we're
talking in everywhere yeh right, every everything is a phase now.
So you said earlier that you wouldn't want to be
a manufacturer. But say you make these party packs and
then Target sees them and says, hey, we want to
work with you and buy these or buy your design.
(09:57):
Is that something you'd be interested in? Yeah, definitely. I
asked that as I like, I work for a Target,
but I don't. But I'm curious to where you want
to go with this. Well, and you know what's funny
is obviously listence your podcast and I forget her name,
who owns a layer Shandon, Yes, So I just love
her store, and I thought if I could turn that
into an online store, and you know, at some point
(10:19):
it doesn't have to be everything I make, but you know,
I could have my own line of things, whether it's
greeting cards or things like that, just you know, knickknacks,
key chains, just like fon stuff. You know that I
love like to curate a collection of things, and then
Shannon could sell yourself in her actual store. To look
at this, this is amazing. I love that we're talking
to you. There have been a few guests on this
(10:40):
podcast who are at the very beginning of something of
something amazing, and I love that we're at that point
with you because I can see all of the excitement.
I can see your gears going of all the things
you want to do. But it did take a little
bit for you to get to this point. So you
had a really cool moment earlier here with Gary Vaynerchuk.
(11:01):
Gary v a lot of people know him on Instagram,
is that He's a super cool guy. The first time
I heard of him, I watched him speak at a
big event for college students and it was about his company,
the Wine Library. Now he launched Empathy Wines, where one
of my friends Jake, actually worked Jake from Elvis around
in the Morning show. He now is an Empathy Wines
with Gary V. So you got to do something with
(11:24):
Gary V earlier this year, so tell us about that.
So I like to scare myself into doing things, much
like how we got on this podcast. You know, I'd
like to push myself to the edge of the cliff
and then I'll figure out how I'm going to land.
So Quarantine started a couple of days in he started
to see with Gary V and at nine am in
the morning he would do like an hour to two
hour live just basically call in show but like video
(11:45):
chatting and whatever with like people with small businesses or
people that just had questions. And so one day he
was like, oh, posted on your Instagram feed, you know,
the screenshot of this and if you want to be
on or whatever, or why do you listen? So I did?
I said, you know, what, what are the chances? It
was four days and you know, maybe they'll notice. So
they did, and then his team comments it and that
was like, oh, okay, this is the thing, and they
(12:05):
were like, hey, can you chat tomorrow. What did you
say in your comments? I just took a screenshot and
I just said that this has become part of my
new routine because working from home, you know, you got
to develop routines of like what I'm doing in the morning.
You know. It's easy to put the TV on all day,
you know, but I need, like, you know, just to
create some structure. Yeah, they obviously love that you watching,
(12:28):
but for people who don't know Gary V, like, he
is super motivational and he is incredible. So the fact
that you then got time with him is crazy and awesome.
So what was your time like with him? And tea
with Gary V? So I was like just sweating trying
to think of what question I'm gonna ask, because you know,
what do you ask? Like some of the stuff you
I listened to his content so much I knew the
(12:49):
answer to already, but then it's like, you don't want
to make it a dumb question, you know. And it
wasn't until I was in the shower that morning that
I just was like I asked him because I knew
people pay a lot of money for his time. CLAIM
knew I needed to make it worth it. You know.
I didn't want to blow it because then I think
madded myself and I was like, Futureika would not be
happy if you blew it. And so I basically asked him,
being a jack of all trades, like a creative person
(13:11):
with so many different things, what can I do with it?
And then he noticed the Sally A Cruise poster hanging
behind me in my living room, and then he was
like that and then he was like, just sell those,
make more of that. And then that's kind of how
that happened. And it went by so quick. It's nuts
to be so because you and everyone is like this,
you needed someone else to tell you that, Like you
(13:32):
knew you could do that, you knew it was something
you love. But he was like do that And I'm like, oh, duh, yeah,
did you tell him? Like, oh, I made this poster?
Like how did it come up? He asked for a
little bit of context what I did, and when I mentioned,
like I make things, and I said this was one
of the things that I made, and then and then
he just interrupted me it was like, well, then make
more of that, you know, and it was like, oh okay,
(13:54):
and then you did. So you hung up with Gary
V on that call. What was the first step to
really like jump into by Erica? Step one was panic
and then uh right, and then step two was make
a plan. I knew I only had one poster, and
so I was like, all right, I need to create more.
So I said, all right, let me launch with maybe
like four or five different posters and then kind of
(14:17):
develop a color scheme and what my theme is going
to be. So that and then kind of did some
research and okay, that's a big poster. I want to
do smaller prints people can buy. Then it was like,
so I have them in eight by tens and then
also five by seven postcards as well. So it was
kind of like, okay, that was the already have the
name made by Erica. I just didn't know what to
do with it. I own the domain already for like
a year, and I was just sitting on it. And
(14:39):
so then it was just you know, after panic, create
and then make a plan and then get the website going.
And yeah, so your style of art, you would describe
it as indie war yeah, sort of like pop, kind
of very colorful, b vibrant, like Indie warhol ish. Yeah,
I love it. Like I went on your robs and like,
oh my god, all of this is so fun, Like
(14:59):
I want to these things in the studio. It's super
cute what you have. But you talk a lot about
like social media. You can help people with social media.
So have you gone to do any part of that
with Made by Erica or do you just have like
a game plan for what that will be. I'm working
on a logo for actually, funny enough, this woman I
used to three D print cookie cutters for, which was
another side hustle. We'll get the um. I'm doing her logo,
(15:22):
redoing her logo for her business. And then I also
did two different social media posts for this woman who
was a life coach and she was having an event
and she just needed a post to promote her events
on I G Lives. And then somebody else I did
another event for another person that I used to ask
red print cookie cutters for. So when you were really
launching Made by Erica, deciding Okay, I'm gonna put these
posters up after talking to Gary, you still had a
(15:44):
full time job, right. It's luckily working from home, you're
able to you know, do some of that stuff, but
not all kind of got flipped on its head, and
your side hustle became your main hustle very quickly without
really you making any decisions. I was sort of expecting
it only because I work for had just a history
of randomly were not randomly when they do whatever year,
laid off people, just like five or six people at
(16:04):
a time. So, you know, when I got I was
not expecting it. That day particularly, you know, I went
to the post office and I was like, oh, I'm
going outside. It's an event to put a mask on,
you know, met your outfit, you know, I have a
neon sneakers on, Like this is great. And then my
phone rang at my headphones and then I heard my
boss and I'm like, oh no, it's not fantastic with
I'm a job. And so then I was like running
back to my apartment because the computer was still on
(16:25):
to make sure that you know, I closed out anything
and I had anything on there, and I was like, oh,
I had seconds to I get my stuff off of there.
Not that I saved anything on there, but I saved
open tabs, whatever, and so yeah, so it just happens
like just so fast. Yeah, so in that moment, are
you Obviously you lost your job, so that's kind of
like that is a big deal. That's where your income was,
that's you know, that was your livelihood. But did you
(16:48):
have a moment of relief at all or what was
it like to Okay, now you get to die. It
was such relief. It's like breaking up with somebody that
you didn't that you knew it wasn't good for you,
but you hunger on anyway, and it's a really hard
thing to do, and then they broke up with you,
and you're like, oh, thank you. As much as like,
as much as I was appreciative for my time there,
(17:09):
I it was also just a relief to be like
I don't have to do something that didn't feel good anymore.
Because I was there for about nine years, so whoa,
that's a long time. Yeah, because I went back to
school a little later in life, so then that was
the first job out of by the time I finished college. Okay,
so you were like none, you were forced into your
side hustle, now main hustle. It was it was on
(17:30):
my mind and then after I was like, you know,
freaking out about money. Then it was relief, and then
it was like, okay, well I started America. I need
to move faster. And that's when I added all also
in the graphic design services and stuff, because I know
Sheel was going to be the posters and the pop art.
But then, you know, when you're thinking about money money,
I'm like, oh, well, what else I've done, you know,
graphics for for other people, So why not just keep going?
(17:52):
And I enjoyed doing it. And the timing is kind
of crazy when you look at it, because if you
didn't have that conversation with Gary V month before you
got laid off, Like where would your brain have been
when you got laid off? Like where would your mind
have been? You wouldn't have had this thing to put
your time into and all your energy and something I'll
fall back on mentally in most cases. So it's just
(18:12):
that whole go for it thing. It's so it is
so important and it's not easy. You said you were scared.
You you like throwing yourself into things. But if you
didn't do that, look at all the things you wouldn't
have had, right, And it's just so funny because even
thinking about it, Like, after the Gary V thing, I
kind of felt guilty. It was a weird sense of
guilt because I knew like I had been blessed with
(18:33):
a free conversation with Gary. You gave me free advice,
and it wasn't really advice that I need because I
knew it myself. But then I was like, I guess
you you you feel able guilty sometimes when good things
happen to you, and I'm like, I don't want to
blow it, like I'm very fortunate at this moment. You know.
Also I'm healthy. You know, there's tons of people out
there sick, you know, so it's like, you know, so
for a minute there said that's when I started sewing
(18:53):
masks because after the Gary V thing happened, I just
felt so guilty. I'm like, all right, I gotta do this,
but you know, I wish I could help people out,
you know. And I was concerned about going out and
volunteering because I have asthma, so you know, that's like
a health concern. I was like, oh, I can make
mass found somebody on Facebook. So I made like about
two d masks, like I wouldn't even know where to start. That.
I love that You're just like, yeah, so I just
started making masks and I made two hundred of them.
(19:14):
What like, how did you figure that out? How? What
was that whole process? And you did that just because
you felt like you needed to give back because Gary
V did something for you. Yes, So I followed this influencer.
Her name's Mimi Ge. She happens to be Puerto Rigane
as well. She makes her own patterns, like clothing patterns,
and so she posted on Instagram a tutorial for a mask,
and I was like, oh, I have tons of fabric
(19:35):
left over from another side hustle of when I did
canvas bags, and so I said, a starting machine sitting
in the closet, and I said, I can dust this
thing out and I haven't used in like four years,
and let me cut a pattern. And so I ordered
elastic and then figured that out and found someone I
would drop off the mask. A few of my friends
had asked for some masks. I didn't want to sell
that because I wasn't going to get into like the
(19:56):
mask selling business that you know. I just wanted to
and then I to stop doing the masks once I
got laid off, because then I needed to shift my
focus and put that energy into made America. So you
made two masks in what kind of time? I want
to say, about three weeks. I think you're maniac. I
don't remember where April went. I don't remember what March
(20:17):
was like, I remember half of March May, so like
all that happened I think in the span of April. Jeez, yeah,
because it's been four weeks since I got laid off,
so that probably puts it like first weekend, oh May fourteen,
to be particular, at four p m bos counting. But
we always hear people that are like, oh, pay it forward,
do a good deed, but no one really thinks of
(20:39):
it as like you got good advice or someone gave
you their time. I'm going to go do something else.
Often it's it's a physical thing, or someone did something
for me. That's not the thought of advice. And I
think if we all start taking a page out of
your book in the sense of this person gave me
their time, I should do that for other people too.
I think we'd have a much better world at this point.
(21:01):
And I know there's nothing to do with side hustling, really,
but it's such a good character trait of yours. I
think that people can take a page out of and
I hope so. And I think it ties into gravy
because he named his wine wine empathy wines. And I
think that something that I wish more people would have
a little bit of in this world. And I think
it would be better, like to just be able to
put yourself in somebody else's shoes for a minute, you know,
(21:21):
just to take a time out and be like wow,
you know, like you know, I was super grateful in
a terrible time that was going on. I was able
to realize, wow, some people are having the worst days
of their lives. I was doing good in quarantine. You know.
My family was like, they're very extroverted to be like, oh,
I'm mis going to the stores. I'm like, no, I'm
fine inside. You know, I'm ready for this. You know,
we're good. I have enough things to can be busy.
But you know, I just think I wish people thought
(21:43):
of other people a little bit more when they operated
their daily life. And then maybe, you know, people would
be so angry. No, I couldn't agree or say that
any better than you just did. You keep mentioning other
side hustles or other side hustles, and they're all different things.
So let's talk about the other Erica side hustle as
you've had over the years. Where do we even start
(22:03):
with them? I used to make wedding invitations, but that
wasn't really ever a business that was more for like
friends and family. But the first real one was the
House of Beati, which was the handmade jewelry line that
I had sent you some jewelry for What's Trending and
ze one hundred. What year was this? That was twenty?
I want to say, I think, yeah, it's crazy because
(22:24):
when you first wrote to me, you mentioned that you
sent me jewelry from What's Trending and I didn't know
the name of the company, but right before we started
talking you said that, and I was like, I actually
remember that company, and I remember talking about it on
the air, And it's crazy that you've been You've been
at it since then. So you made this jewelry, What
what happened? Why didn't it become more and why does
(22:45):
it not exist? Um? Well, one of the things I mean,
I started with that because I knew I had wanted
to start a business. That was around the time that
I also started listening to podcasts, realized I wanted to
make something. I wanted to side hustle. I wanted to
side business. So I knew I didn't, you know, want
to just work in an office every day. And so
I started looking at things as I like, and I
like wearing jewelries. So then I went on YouTube, how
do you make a bracelet? So then I did that.
Then I took the trains to the city, bought a
(23:06):
bunch of jewelry supplies and I did that, and then
you know, it doesn't exist anymore because I just at
the end of the day, my heart wasn't into it,
and it wasn't really telling a complete story. And it's
also a difficult thing to do. And because I wasn't
physically making like I was making the pieces, but I
was buying beads and I was buying straining everything to
put it together. So I felt like because I wasn't
(23:26):
like hand forging or you know, just actually welding the
pieces together myself, it wasn't as creative as I could be.
So I kind of shelved that and I said, I
knew once a let it go. I tried it out
for like a good two years and then After that,
I kept the name, but then I wanted to do
canvas backs because I'm obsessed with not using plastic, like
a local plastic for like as long as I can remember,
(23:48):
I've been crying about recycling, and so then I was like, oh, well,
maybe I can do canvas bags and screen print designs
on them. But I didn't know how to screen pat
So then I went on the internet and how do
you use screenprint? Ordered all the stuff, did that, but
then that was screenprinting process is a lot when you
live in a one bedroom apartment. I don't have a garage,
I don't have a studio. It's a lot, and it's
(24:09):
just mesty and it was just you know, so and
it was hard. It was a hard sell. I remember
doing a street fair in Bayonne and some people like,
oh were these free? And I was like, oh, no,
they are not. You know what were you screenprinting on
them the word free like a People think they were free.
I think because other businesses from the town were there,
like banks, and banks give out free stuff, so I
(24:30):
think people thought like I was a bank, we can
get free pens. So you know, they weren't not so much,
you know, and you can't like people. And I even
I yelled at because I left the thing early because
I was out there for like it was like it
went I think like eight hours, but by like our five,
I had had enough and I was just And then
the next day it was a two day thing, and
they came back and they were like, you left early yesterday,
And I said, well, it wasn't busy yesterday, you know
(24:52):
it was. I was just. That's when I knew, like,
maybe I don't put along in street fairs. Okay, not
everybody's knocking off for streepirs, Listen, it is markets and
street fairs that is. Those are long days, grueling days
and exhausting days and like full days full weekend. So
if you're got a full time job and then you're
doing a market on the weekend, you're just NonStop working.
(25:13):
So that's a whole another world. I think it was
too generic of a market, like if I had picked
something that was smaller and more concentrated. Now I look
forward to possibly doing markets again because now I know
what I'm looking for. I'm not going to do a
regular street fair. But there were still more side hustles, right,
But you did, yes, So I did the bags, and
then I also did like little hand pouches that I sewed,
and then um, so I shelled that as well. And
(25:35):
so then a couple of years went by, and then
we got a three D printer at work, and I
remembered vaguely learning about three D printing in school. But
then I knew already how to draw in the programs
to make the files. I just needed the thing. So
I started three D printing some things at work, and
then I thought, well, what do I like to do
at the bake And I don't know why. I honestly
don't know what. I think. It was just trying to
(25:55):
three D print things at work, and I made like
an emoji cookie cutter and and then it's something licked,
and I'm like, oh, I can make cookie cutters and
like sell them to people. So then I went and
how did it? Is crazy? To me? The best way
I could describe it is like the forty tabs I
have opened. Okay, then maybe I've got the same tabs.
I'm hoping that I can then take them into ideas
(26:15):
at some point. So thank you for that inspiration. So
you buy your own three D printer four at home? Yes? Yes,
and I spent a good probably for day to fifty
hours learning how to use it, fix it because there's
no stores, there's no technicians to fall. It's still so
new that you you know, figuring out the material that's
food safe, then going out to websites getting customers. And
(26:37):
so I did that for good I think three years. WHOA,
So I would stopped that, And I was actually doing
it up until this fall, but then the printer kept
breaking down and every time to try and fix it
was like five, six, seven, eight hours looking at YouTube
videos and like I just I just couldn't do it anymore,
fixing the stupid machine, Like it's just a lot, and
there's no place I can bring it to you, and
(26:57):
and you know, I appreciate the techie people, but I
can't code. I don't know, like I already replaced wires,
you know, I did all the things. In my brain
was like I I just I couldn't anymore. So I
shuts h I shut that website down. WHOA, So the
business died with the printer, yes, and then there was
nothing else in between that and made by Erica right,
noot it now. But you did do a cool freelance
(27:19):
gig was that earlier this year with Alta November to January?
How did you personally get to work with Alta if you,
you know, weren't really launching made Erica at that point.
How did that happen? The way it works as different
companies do different displays for different brands. So like my
day job, we had a contract with Sally Hanson Cody
as their parent company. We do all that. Then at
(27:41):
night I would do freelance for various other manufacturing companies
that needed three D parts drawn and things like that.
And so that was one of the companies. They had
a client and it was for now Neo Polished, that's Vegan,
and so they said they need this display. You get
a picture and then it was like, well, how would
you make it? And so then I need to draw
the parts and tell them how I would make it
this and be would how thick is the wood? These
are where the shelves go, lots of like That's probably
(28:04):
the hardest I worked in a single thing, because there
was so many revisions. Working at night, just like late
into the night, because again I couldn't do it during
the day. I had a day job. Is it in stores?
It's in a box in the back of the store
because it was supposed to come out right as a
Corona hit. Okay, so eventually it will be in an
Alta store. Are you allowed to tell us the name
of the mail company so people can see it? Oh? Sure, Yeah,
(28:24):
it's inn al Topia. Okay, that's super vegan nail polish line.
And they basically were launching and they got a really
good spot in Alta, so it's kind of a big
deal for them as well to showcase they're vegania polish.
That'll be really cool for you though, to get to
see it in an Alder store. Yeah. And I think
what makes that cool and different than anything I've done
at my day job is like it was mine as
(28:45):
and I didn't have anybody breathing down my neck thinking
they knew more than me or telling me what to do.
That can happen a lot in corporate America, especially being
a woman, you know. And it's like I would at
a chime in and you gotta put the face like,
you know, I respect your opinion, and it sounds like
such a good idea that somebody else gonna moment, you know,
you keep telling me more. I don't know anything about
what happens, and now I listen, I get it, And
(29:08):
that is part of the reason why I love this
podcast because guess what, no one can tell me what
to do because it's mine. So I get it and
I understand the whole like how you said you felt
like the relief and having your own thing and it's
yours and no one else had their hands in it,
Like I fully understand that. I think a lot of
people listening right now are thinking the same thing and
maybe feel trapped in their job right now because of
(29:31):
the world that we're currently living in, but are listening
to you thinking, Okay, there is light at the end
of the tunnel, there is something I can do. What
can I do with my time? What are the little
things I can do? Like do they have that poster
hanging up near them or something that they've made? And
I think a lot of us will try to dive
too deep, And most recently I had Tuanisha from Law
(29:51):
Beauty Essentials back on the podcast and one of the
things she said to me in her original episode was
don't go too deep. Everyone tries to go too deep
to find your passion when really it's just what do
you like and for you, it was the posters right
there on your wall. You saw it every day, so
it's kind of crazy when you look at that and
it's it's something that's right there. And I think definitely,
(30:12):
I think people I'm definitely a way overthinker. But and
I think the best time to start is while you
have a job. It also takes the stress off of
if you aren't looking forward to going to your job,
you can be excited about what's going to get you
out of that job, you know, And it's a perfect
time to try things. And I've always been the I'll
try and if it doesn't work, I'll move on from it,
like I'm not married to it, Like, oh it failed,
I'm a failure. Now what's the next thing? You know,
(30:34):
I'm not defined by the things that I do, you know,
unless they're really good things, and then then yeah, it
would give me to find about it. No, I think
your case in point was exactly what you just said,
with all the ideas you had, and I'm sure you
loved doing those things at some point, and that's okay
that they didn't work out because you moved on. It
wasn't the end of the world. And I think that's
incredible that you were able to continuously find things and
(30:55):
almost turn a love and a hobby into a side hustle.
And that's the goal at the end of the day,
do that and then hopefully make it your main hustle.
And that's where you're at right now. I want to
remind everyone made by Erica dot com. The links are
also clickable in the description so that they can check
out what you're doing and follow along because this is evolving.
I mean, by the time this podcast post, you'll probably
have different things on your website and and different game plans.
(31:17):
So how you got to side Hustlers Now you listen
to Elvis around in the morning show. That's how you
knew me because you know born I'm born and raised
in New Jersey. You grew up there, and then you
kind of follow along on social media. I would catch
you sharing my podcast and I was like, what the heck?
Who is this person? How cool is that? So thank
you for sharing Side Hustlers because that is like one
(31:38):
of the biggest compliments I can get at all, is
you thinking this was good enough for someone else to
hear it. So thank you for that. But recently you
shared the episode with Shanika and Kita, and I thought
it was super cool because I said to you that
episode meant so much to me for so many reasons,
and you said to me, as a Latino woman, you
would have hoped to have more repert sentation on this podcast.
(32:01):
And I was like, well, what do you do? And
we got to talking and I was like, wait, why
did you tell me you at a side hustle? And
that's how I realized how new it was. So I
appreciate you for being honest with me and saying that.
So thank you for that. You know. One of the
things I shared. I love podcasts, and it's back to
the I share them all the time because I wish
more people listen to them because you can learn so much.
The people think learning stops at school, and it doesn't,
(32:23):
you know, And every podcast I've listened to is helped
me become part of who I am today. And I
love your podcast because it's just so many stories of
whether it's the brewery or the chubby glass, you know,
the roosevelts. Everybody's got a thing, and so you know,
it also keeps my motivation when I'm not feeling that
I know that they at some point where I was.
(32:43):
And then when I saw I was listening to your
podcasts and you started about revisiting your small businesses because
of the virus and how everybody's doing, I thought that
was great. And then when you have the conversation with
Shanika and Kita, I just thought it was just I
loved your honesty and your willingness to ask questions what
should I do? What can I do? And just opening
up and letting them speak to from from their point
(33:05):
of view, what's it like as a woman, let alone,
what's it like as a black woman to run a business?
And you know, it's just uh. I thought that was
really awesome to just open the door so that people
can just hear a different conversation they wouldn't normally hear. Yeah,
And I never had thought about doing that before, and
I was like mad at myself for that, But like
Keita said, what are you going to do moving forward?
And that's what when you kind of like came to
me in that moment, I was like, oh my god,
(33:26):
this is like, let's get you on the podcast. And
why hadn't we done this before? Well, because you're sign
as a little so new. So I was like, all right,
let's do this for real. I love that. But in
your case, then, as a Latino woman, is it different
for you to run a business and what kind of
things are you thinking of because of your your culture
and your nationality and your heritage. I think it's And
I was thinking about this all day too. I listened
(33:47):
to your most recent episode and it was so funny
some of the similarities, like when they talked about hair,
like hair is such a big thing in our culture too,
Like my hair is curly now, I have a lot
of it, but I wear it straight a lot, and
that's the whole thing. Like I feel more confident when
it's straight. But then it's like that's a whole dynamic,
like love your natural hair and all that. So that's
one of the things, Like I've never been on an
interview with curly hair, but just because it's just one
(34:08):
of those you look more professional with straight hair, you know,
Like it's like how she said with the braids, way
do you get in the job then you wear your hair.
It's so many you know, different uh dynamics. So even
just culture wise, because like the Latino culture is so broad.
I mean, Puerto Rican is different than Mexican different than Colombian.
So there's so many things within the culture and and
(34:28):
it's just like sometimes I'll I don't feel Spanish enough,
you know, like Latino enough, and then sometimes I'm too
Latino from my wife, friends, or you know, it's just
like that mix of like my parents were born in
puert Rico was born and raised in Brooklyn, but you know,
like I can understand Spanish, my speaking is okay about it.
But you know, there's always be not feeling enough in
your culture too. So that's one of the things I
(34:49):
struggle with, which is what helps with the theme of
my website was Okay, I don't feel enough, but I'm
gonna share the things that I love about my culture,
whether it's music, whether it's strength, whether it's you know,
just food or anything. You know, that's kind of helping
me work through falling in love with my culture. Also
just showing you know, I may not be where I
want to be or maybe just too hard on myself.
(35:09):
You can also fill a void in the creative world
for your culture right now. Because you did mention how
when you were planning your birthday there was no decoration
that wasn't stereotypical or wasn't cheesy and you made it
and I think you being that person, you know other
people need that. Obviously, there's there is a world for that,
(35:30):
so you can kind of fill that void for your culture.
And it's incredible that you're giving yourself this platform to
be able to do that and still do what you
love and create this art that you love but have
fun with it. And we need more people like you
from different cultures who are stepping out and doing what
you're doing to fill those voids so that other people
don't feel like you felt like, oh this is too stereotypical,
(35:52):
or I don't have this, or I don't feel enough
of my culture or whatever it may be. It's people
like you using a platform to change that. And it's
incredib all that you're doing it, and I want people
to support you. Made by Erica dot Com go now
go do that. Thank you know, but it's it's incredible,
so proud of you for that. I'm excited to be
in the beginning step of this for you. So since
it's so early on, then for Made by Erica, what
(36:14):
is the very next step you're going to take? Like
after this, Like what is the next big thing you
have to do or get done well. So I mentioned
before we started the podcast that I blew a fuse
in my apartment. That's right, the heat press. Yes, so
I'm actually wearing one of the shirts that I'm trying
to figure out what is the next thing I wanted
to get in it. So it says it feels so
good to be us. Oh I like that. Oh my,
(36:36):
did you design that I did? Yeah? I love that.
I want that on, Like I want to do T
shirts and I also want to revisit the canvas. So
this is a to get the design on the shirt.
It's a heat transfer, but it's something else somebody else
makes and then I order it and it comes to me.
So all I have to do is put the heat
on the shirt. So I'm kind of figuring that out.
Today is temperatures and literally the logistics of how do
(36:59):
you make a shirt without burning it? And like, I'm
gonna watch this later to see if it falls off
and whatnot and right exactly which you know we'll learn,
Thank god, you know, one piece. But it's funny how
losing the internet and electricity and you're like in a panic,
Oh my god. Yeah. So that, and then the canvas
totes in addition to the Prince is where I want
(37:20):
to go as well. So I have two different canvas totes,
one that says Bodega Life on it because I grew
up in Brooklyn Bodega's and I kind of wanted to
put a funny spin on it, and then the other
one says bag it Up. So I want to launch
those as soon as I figure out, you know, how
to how to do that, because I want to get
into like apparel and actual things. So that plus two
back to the being environmentally friendly, Like just canvus picks.
(37:40):
They're just so boring looking the ones you get from
the supermarkets, and I'm like, maybe if it was fun,
people would want a cool bag to bring the groceries in,
you know, so or like if you live in a
city and you're walking from place to place, you don't
want like a an ugly looking bag if you're going
to store to store. So that's kind of where I
can merge my love of like the environment with also
being super fun and creative. I don't really hear people
(38:02):
often from New Jersey talking about their love from the environment,
So I'm loving that you're saying this. It is. It
is weird my family till this day because I don't
use paper plates, like I don't, you know, use plastic slowware,
Like I'm just there and they're like oh, and I'm like, well,
you know, you come here, you're getting a paper straw
or not. Like it's just just how it is. It's
weird because like I remember, like my parents always recycled,
(38:25):
and like I was obsessed with recycling, like you said
that to me earlier. But there is still some sort
of disconnected where I'm like you in the sense of
I don't want any waste at all. My family's like
you're a tree hugger, and I'm like, what what is
wrong with that? Why do we need to kill the environment?
I don't understand. You live here, what is the problem?
So keep spreading these please. I think it was like
(38:47):
a TV movie that Bette Midler did in like the
nineties where she played Mother Earth and then she died
or was like dying, And I don't know if that
was like so traumatic in my head that was back
for the ozone layer was like, you know, so big
and it's like, oh my god, you know the soun's
going to come through and it just me you off,
you know, right, So I think that was part of
like super impressionable, like oh my god, the environment, you know,
(39:07):
and like living in Brooklyn, like you don't grow up
thinking about the environment. You know, you go to walk Park,
but it's in the middle of the city. Like if
you just don't like camping, wasn't a thought. Like there's
just so many things, you know, but it's just certain
things that stick in your head that you're like, oh okay,
and now it's spilling into your business and it's a
good thing. So that's really cool. So if anyone wants
to reach out to you to do anything custom at all,
(39:28):
they can do that, right, Yeah, they can DM me,
they can email me as well. You know, I have
a link to my email on my website or you know,
just DM on Instagram. All right, Erica, Well, um, we're
gonna be watching. We're gonna see where Made by Erica
goes all the things that I'm sure you're gonna do
and add and steam and heat press and all of
it as a part of Made by Erica. I'm excited
for you. Good luck, Thank you for supporting this podcast
(39:50):
and for being on this podcast. Yes, Thank you so
very much for having me, Thank you so much for
listening to side Hustlers and for supporting Erica. You can
go to made by Erica dot com. You and also
click on any of the links below in the description.
You've got all the info you need right there. Thank
you as always for supporting anyone who has been on
this podcast. And if you have any questions, comments, concerns,
(40:12):
guests that you would love to hear from on this podcast,
you can reach out to me Side Hustler's Podcast at
gmail dot com and you can always follow me. Is
that the car Lo Marie on Instagram. Thank you, thank you,
thank you for being here. Until next week, keep hustling
and be a good human
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