Meet Blanca Venegas | Journalist & Independants owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Blanca Venegas and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Blanca, we’d love to start by asking you about lessons learned. Is there a lesson you can share with us?
That you have to work VERY HARD for your business’ success. It is quite easy to start a business online. But the true labor starts when you open shop, so to speak. There is so much good competition out there and so many amazing products that you gotta keep those creative juices flowing daily to be a few steps ahead of the rest online small business in terms of innovation. And that, in itself, is hard!

I find myself thinking 24/7 about new products to add to my shop, new ways to promote it on social media, and researching what other jewelry stores aren’t doing so that I can do it and stand out from the rest.

We are pretty new at this and there is a massive world of ideas out there! You just have to really take the time (and have the patience) to observe what your competition is doing, narrow down what your most important goals are and get to work.

I have also learned that, yes, sales are the main goal, of course, but connecting with customers, especially when promoting your business through different social media channels, is of vital importance. People want to be heard, they want to be seen and want to be treated well when shopping at your store. They have questions? Answer them. They need a certain product? Find it for them. They don’t like your store? Politely ask why, use this as constructive criticism and make changes. Do exactly that and sales– plus returning customers– will follow.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I graduated from the University of Texas at El Paso with a bachelor’s degree in print media journalism. I worked in a few newspapers and magazines in Texas and Miami. I love writing, but at the moment, my heart is at home with my two beautiful children.

I worked for many publications in the past, before becoming a mom. When my babies were born, I had to pause my career to focus on raising them. But there comes a point in motherhood that you feel the need to do something for yourself without having to stop caring for your kids at home. I could not go back to working at an office because that meant having to leave my children under the care of someone else and I honestly did not want this. Thankfully, I have the privilege to stay at home to do exactly that, but it can take a toll on your mental health.

So, when the pandemic hit in 2020, I had an urgency to get something started ASAP. I am sure many mothers understand that feeling of wanting to use your brain for something other than raising children. Nothing wrong with it! As a matter of fact, I am a strong believer that God has called us women to do this job and do it well above all other jobs. But I’ve learned that we can also serve others outside our home by opening a business. And that is how Independants was born.

I guess the biggest challenge for me, again, was balancing home and the creation of this small online shop. I had no idea where to begin, but I knew what I wanted to offer my future customers. I wanted women to enjoy wearing beautiful earrings– without regretting having paid so much for them– and feel like they can always come back and find something fun and affordable at Independants. I think this is something that sets us apart from other online jewelry stores: Our fun earrings and friendly prices. We are also open to special orders or simply helping our customers find a specific set of earrings if we don’t have it available already.

The biggest lesson I’ve learned along the way is that any business, whether big or small, is HARD work. Pretty similar to raising a child, I must say. You have the idea, you research and prepare for its birth, and once born, you have to spend your time, money, energy to have it to succeed.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I definitely could not have started this awesome little business without the love, advice and support of my husband, Alvaro. He was my biggest cheerleader when the idea of opening up this online shop popped in my head. Alvaro has been super hands-on in making sure my numbers are where they should be from day 1. I am so lucky I married a financial advisor because it sure did come in handy.

As silly as this may sound, I am also quite thankful COVID-19 forced me to “think outside the box”. In no way am I minimizing the terrible tragedies this virus caused around the world. We faced a couple of them in our family, too. But the way our lives came to a halt for what seemed to be an eternity was key to creating this business. My mind desperately needed some form of escape and building this little shop was exactly that.

And last but not least, my wonderful mother and my best friends’ support was also that little extra push I needed to stop dreaming about my own little business and get off my behind to persue it.

Website: www.shopindependants.com

Instagram: @independants_shop

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shopindependants

Image Credits
Credit: Independants team