15 Years Surviving as an Entrepreneur

Remaining in business strongly as a brand especially a small business, it ain’t easy.

I came to the United States 15 years ago with a mission and vision to create a better future for me and my husband. Then Came Evelyn Brooks Designs LLC, with the vision and mission to create jewelry inspired by my Peruvian heritage fused with modern designs making an impact in people’s life.

Throughout the years I also needed to develop a voice that speaks about my experience as an immigrant trying to live, and sometimes survive living in a different country, respecting the values of my new home country, adjusting to the language barriers (which gave me headaches in the beginning), adjusting to my American husband, etc. I firmly believe that all the experiences professionally and personally I lived could help others so I launched “Two world’s one chica”  my blog, is a combination of style & beauty, cultural issues living my “Two Worlds One Chica” life and business advice to help other mompreneurs achieve the success they want; while balancing my life raising a  family who respects and loves the beauty of our home country Perú and our new country United States. I have two kids, an extremely energetic, fun and friendly ten years old and a very demanding, strong will six years old. I truly hope they love the beauty of living our “TWO WORLDS”.

Building a brand for fifteen years had given me the opportunity to share my knowledge through educational programs at the Montgomery College creating and teaching a course called Making Jewelry “a Creative and Lucrative Experience”. I was also granted the opportunity to host a segment during Buenos Días DC with Silvana Quiroz,we called the segment “Joyeria desde su Casa” or “Making jewelry from home” where I taught how to make easy jewelry projects from home, how to entertain kids while been creative making jewelry, bringing opportunities to our Latin community in the DMV area.

My work began to get noticed by my Embassy of Peru in Washington DC. And since then, I have been deeply involved with projects hosted by the Embassy of Peru in Washington DC. I have served as a speaker at multiple Prom-Peru (Office of Promotion of Perú) and the OCEX Houston conferences in Perú and the United States.

I have also worked closely with the State Department, Treasury Department, International Monetary Fund, IDB, OEA’s among other organization promoting our Peruvian culture in the United States; through different programs like the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Passport DC, Taste of Perú, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Hispanic Heritage Month, Winternational, World Bank Annual Meetings just to name a few.

I have met people I could never ever imagine I would meet, strong women who have impacted the lives of other women in many ways.

 

I consider myself an advocate and worldwide ambassador in charge of helping preserve our heritage in the United States. I also enjoy so much been involved in promoting cultural exchanges with Peruvian teachers to learn about Peruvian Traditional dances, so young kids learn about our culture and traditions through the dance.

And then I am asked how do you do it? with a team of collaborators who are behind       Evelyn Brooks Designs, after all those years my best advice will be WORK, WORK HARD, the rest it will come, my name and professionalism began to be noticed and simply the right people started to pop in my life, people who I am still related, people who have given me the advice to continue growing, even celebrities have noticed me and my work. The truth stays in being true to yourself, and keep pushing forward.

All I hope is to continue having the strength, energy, and creativity to continue pushing forward as a mompreneur inspiring others to do the same.

Our fifteen years could not be celebrated as just another milestone since last year we began working on a new on a project that is finally ready to launch “Peru Gift Shop” It is an online shop that gives the opportunity to shop for sustainable eco-friendly gifts and accessories hand-made in Perú. Each of the products has a meaningful story behind each piece while “Empowering women artisans through personal economic development, with a focus on environmental sustainability” we are donating a percentage of each sale to different social projects in Perú.

Thank YOU for these 15 years and especially to those who are supporting our new venture “Peru Gift Shop by Evelyn Brooks Designs”, stay tuned for details where we will be next.