MARCIA ANGUIANO: Female Founder Spotlight
Tell us a little about your business?
Website: www.missionchandlery.com Social Media (FB IG) @missioncraftschandlery
Mission Crafts Chandlery was founded in 2019 as the namesake of an iconic product brand revived from San Antonio's arts and crafts movement circa 1930. With passion and purpose, we are sharing pieces of a local legacy Mission Crafts’ services include Custom Fragrance Product Creation, Candle Making Parties, Signature Fragrance Collections and Pour Your Own Candle Bar.
We will be moving to our new location at 1010. S. Flores San Antonio, TX 78204 with opening to the public mid-October 2022.with our customers by not only introducing them to the story behind the brand, but also by providing high-quality artisanal scented products and hands-on experiences for people who love the world of fragrance just as much as we do.
What has been your greatest success? My greatest success has been taking what was once “just an idea” and transforming it into something tangible that can be shared and enjoyed by family, friends, and our loyal customers.
What has been your biggest challenge and how did you face it/overcome it? My biggest challenge in running my small business has been inventory. Currently, we offer all handcrafted fragrance products designed and made by me which means on the retail front it’s hard for these hands (my hands) to keep up with producing the amount of product needed to have a healthy stock turn. Moving forward we have overcome this challenge by bringing in talented makers from all over the country whose products we will offer at our new shop location.
What advice would you give to yourself if you could go back in time? If I could go back in time, I would have told myself to practice more patience. Everything happens at the time it is supposed to happen.
What advice would you give other entrepreneurs? Advice I give to other budding entrepreneurs is cash flow management really is an artform so the sooner you master it the easier the operations side of your business will become. Second, have multiple verticals built into your business that generate revenue which pretty much is like the saying, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” – an oldie but definitely a goodie when it comes to advice.
September is Hispanic Heritage Month. What does that mean to you personally and to you as a business owner? As a business owner this means to celebrate the strides that those who came before me have made in creating opportunities in business for Latinos. The door wasn’t always open for Latinos to receive funding from banks or even neighborhood support when trying to build a business, especially for women. My current location (2915 Roosevelt) is a part of an old flower shop that was once owned by a woman named Elida Gonzalez who in the 60s was bold enough to break a glass ceiling by not only securing a loan but also by operating a successful business for more than 30 years at a time when this wasn’t heard of at all. She believes she could, so she did. I practice this every day in my business when it comes to WAGS (wildly ambitious goals) and risks. Hispanic Heritage Month to me personally means deep reflection on my roots and who I am and where I came from. My paternal grandparents are from Aguascalientes, Mexico and they traveled a great journey to settle on the border town of McAllen, Texas in the 1920s. Their ambition alone is admirable. They are the ones I think of the most during Hispanic Heritage Month because if it weren’t for their tenacity and determination to create a better life for themselves, I wouldn’t be where I am today. My heart is forever grateful.
Does your culture play a role in your business? YES, ABSOLTUELY! Mission Crafts is the namesake of an iconic brand that was built by a woman named Ethel Harris circa 1930s San Antonio. She owned three business ventures the first being Mexican Arts and Crafts, second San Jose Potteries and the last Mission Crafts. The artisans who decorated the hand painted tiles at Ethel’s company were predominately Hispanic women from the neighborhood which four of them were my husband’s great aunts.
Who are your role models? When it comes to creativity and crafting beautiful products with your hands, I would have to say my mom, Sue. She taught me everything I know in creating beautiful products people love because she too had a fragrance company called Old San Antonio Soap Co. many, many moons ago. She has since passed but my mom is my motivation to push through even when things seem bleak. I keep a picture of her right next to me in my office. Other public role models would Gisel Ruiz (Executive VP and COO, Sam’s Club, a division of Walmart), Maria Fernanda Mejia (SVP, Kellogg Company and President, Kellogg Latin America), Jessica Alba (Founder, The Honest Company) and so many other strong, smart Latina leaders in this world!
How do you support other minority owned businesses? I support other minority businesses by retailing their products in my shop or also by recommending their services and products to my network. Some of my favorite local, woman, minority owned small businesses are Dezynr and Not So Mexican Canary.
What's next for your business and how can others help you grow? Our new location at 1010. S. Flores Suite 106 San Antonio, TX will offer fragrance products crafted by Makers from all over the country, plus an open “pour bar” where you can swing by and make your own candle, and we will also host super fun candle making “parties” for both children and adults. Custom fragrance products will still be produced as well. Others can support us by shopping online or in-store, attending one of our classes or ordering something beautiful that’s custom and smells amazing!