Meet yazmin reyna | Xenia Salazar and Yazmin Reyna / Candid photo booth founders / aspiring entrepreneurs

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

Hi yazmin, how do you think about risk?
Starting our Photo booth business alone was the product of many risks along with trials and errors for my partner Xenia and I. We both have concluded that without risk there is no lesson to be learned in order to grow. If we risk it all now, we bet to know for sure we have lived entirely without a doubt or regret. The price you pay when you take a risk is more of an investment that helps you grow strong over time. So one day you can get up and lift the weight off your shoulders, a weight full of all the wonder of what something could have been if you ever tried. To risk is to dig down into the unknown, with the ambition of building a skyscraper. To risk is to open doors and pavement roads with your name on it for those who dare to follow. With risk comes endurance, experience and new ideas. To risk it is to trust yourself to pedal until the training wheels come off and if you fall you will only learn that you can get back up again. While Xenia loves technology and photography. I love to design, create, and decorate. Although we know one another for over 18 years neither of us had ever pursued none of it entirely. We were caught up in different chapters of our lives, in the midst of trials and life lessons that soon after lead us to one another. Where eventually our bonded desires gave us the strength and courage to just swing the door open and take the bull by the horns to start our photo booth business. As we both are the daughters of immigrant parents, hustle runs through our blood. Without a doubt I couldn’t have chosen a better business partner that will stand by me to conquer this world and nourish the foundation of our business. This is only the tip of the iceberg. We joined together to bet it all on the table because we know we Can and we will know we did.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
What sets us apart from others is Ambition. My father once told me “if everyone could do it, then everyone would do it” he quoted this to me at a very young age and it stuck with me. This helped me find value in everything I do. It encouraged me to challenge myself, to not be afraid to fall short from the crowd. With this I encourage Xenia to deviate from comparing our work with the world. To focus on following her passion, consistently have a why and to know that ambition is limitless. Never fail to trust the struggle. Wisdom is not born in paradise, It is born in the dirt of the hands of the beholder. Xenia and I grew up very differently. While she was born in the United states where her parents gave her the tools to succeed as a strong woman. I was born in Mexico with parents that taught me to use my bare hands. I had to learn how to create my own way since very young. If I wanted something I had to figure out how to work for it to get it. My first business was selling cartoon character drawings. It was when I was about 6 years old. I really wanted money to go to the corner store and just buy some candy. So I would set up myself outside of my home in Mexico and sit out front. I would just draw and the kids playing would come watch. I would tell them to bring me a picture of anything and I will draw it for you, for ten Mexican cents. With a couple of drawings I would be able to go get what I wanted at the corner store and save the rest in a tin can that I had converted into a “piggy bank”. There my entrepreneurship was born. Shortly after my parents decided to migrate to the United states I sold all I could on the back of my moms van . When my family and I arrived to the United States I couldn’t help but to start another business above all the circumstances. It all started with my aunt’s boyfriend giving me $10 for my birthday. With $10 I went to the store and bought a 12 case of cokes and a pack of chips. Posted a sign outside the door of the apartment we lived in and business grew from there. Went from 12 case of sodas and pack of chips to a few kinds of candy and sorts of ice-cream, Being an immigrant child coming from a whole different country, to a whole new language and culture was not easy. Being bullied for not speaking the language, wearing the same clothes and for the way I looked is profoundly the deepest scar I wear on my sleeve, That little girl right there gets all the credit for who I am today, I am the most proud of her. Giving up has never an option. Ambition runs through Xenia’s and I bond in this entrepreneurship world. We put our best foot forward each and every time. Although the opportunities lay for everyone ahead of them. Soul into your work can not be unauthenticated. It takes a special person to conquer through over and over again. We have learned that your dreams do not always have to be set in stone. It is ok to venture, to wake up and create your desires. There is treasured beauty in exploring and evolution. Xenia went to college to pursue a career in the medical field. Where later she found it was not her passion and broke off, to now be a protective security officer with the Department of Homeland Security and entrepreneur. Still evolving. While I was the first in my family next to my sister Lizeth with Down syndrome to graduate High School the same year. I attempted college but it was not easy being undocumented and paying your own college. Soon after Deferred action for childhood arrivals DACA was passed by President Obama where I could finally apply for a Job and enter the corporate world. It was a great blessing. With that I was able to have enough money to get by and start my own business later on which brings us to today. If you do more than dream and get up to create. Life will pick up Its course along the way and the universe aligned with God will do its work to make you and your business stand out. We do not get tired of being buried by competition for they do not know where are born seeds . The way to stand, is not to out stand everyone, because we all bring different things to the table that may work for some but not for others. We greatly appreciate all the creators because we learn from one another everyday. We named our Business Candid, because the only competition is with the person we were yesterday. We endure our growth ensuring that we have done everything we CAN and DID everything with heart. This is only the beginning. Embracing the grace of the journey is the goal of everyday life. Capturing people’s best candid moments it’s personal to us. We do not take the power to freeze time on our fun photos lightly. We love to capture those Candid moments for all because to live, even if it’s for a moment, It is everything. A superpower that can capture a moment for everyone to look back at, on their fridge, at their desk or at their night stand is fulfilling. The fun in stuffing the photo somewhere and finding it unexpectedly, years from now and getting lost in the captured candid moment while staring at it. The magic that comes when you get taken back to the Candid moment is inevitable and you simply can’t help but smile. It is a beautiful feeling. Time is something we can’t pay for, race, fight for, find or take back. Today you are the youngest you will ever be. Time, life and things change. Living the moment in the present is something we oftentimes forget. But a Candid Photo will be the only thing that no matter what will capture that one moment we sometimes wish will never end. Candid photo booth photos are the perfect keepsake for any occasion for ever more and that is our superpower.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We are big foodies we love to try new places and try new foods since the pandemic we haven’t been able to enjoy many things in houston but we love these places Laredo taqueria in 915 Snover St best mole tacos ever there, then definitely glazed donuts they are 24/7 so we literally crave it randomly and drive there in the middle of the night, la calle restaurant downtown is super cute we love their birria, l events we are also big on vegan places we love cascabel plays live music on fridays, veegos. bella green, true food kitchen, for a fresh squeezed juice Tropical Fruit on fondren and harwin is a must, flower child, u maki sushi burrito is a must try if you love sushi. We also love brunch at the Rustic. They have a 3 course brunch in the galleria area,We love to go for walks and enjoy the downtown scenery at Eleanor Tinsley park. You can even ride an electrical scooter there and just ride around. We also love to hang out at the discovery park on occasional art events, Cidercade is an awesome unlimited play and place to go drink some cider beer. Truck Yard is a cool outside bar with a cool ferris wheel. We like to visit the Houston graffiti building for cool art. For nightlife we love to go dancing Glorias in downtown has the best latin club with the best live music to dance your heels off. We also love to go to the Gayborhood where we visit croker bar for drinks, Jrs for karaoke, Boheme and hamburger marys have the best drag shows ever, loads of fun. Crystal club with latin music is another after hours to finish the fun night. We love all these places. They are all extremely welcoming and we go back every chance we get.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Foremost we want to thank god and his grace. He has taught us very valuable lessons through it all. Gave us the strength, courage and light we needed when the skies went dark. We embrace him in every step we have taken. He walks before our lead. God has definitely had a huge impact in our lives and our business. We also thank everyone who has supported us in the journey of bringing our dream into reality. We say everyone because all of our family and friends have in one way or another helped us get here. We also thank those who did not believe in us, they too have an effect on where we are today. This vision would not be possible without God, the love and support of everyone who has contributed to help us grow.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/candidphotoboothxy/

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

Image Credits
BPOSTEL ARTISTRY