Renee Chen (she/they) is a firm believer in owning your voice and telling your story in a way that feels reflective, genuine, and powerful to you. As a business owner, she understands how important self-care and clarity are to your overall mission.

Renee is the co-founder of HeartWorks Writing where they take care of all your personal & business writing needs: book coaching, content coaching, copywriting, editing, and ghostwriting. She is also a leader in their Memoir Mindset series teaching others how to write their memoir, as well as their wRITE to Heal series, which is therapeutic writing in community. 

Renee was born in Houston, TX, and she was raised between Houston; Kingston, Jamaica; and Toronto, Canada. She graduated from Sam Houston University with a double major in International Business & Economics. She spent the majority of her career in management and training, but also building businesses from the ground up. She loves problem solving and thinking outside of the box.

Tired of being a part of a system that values profit over people, she spent time teaching and traveling abroad before working in nonprofits within the mental health field and art world. There is strength in your story and brand, and she aims to help individuals and business owners see their vision through.

Check out their website at www.heartworksw.com and email Renee at admin@heartworkswriting.org to set up a quick discovery call to discuss your project.

@annievovan

I’ve always wanted to be a business owner. I went to school for business management & marketing. I just never knew what kind of business I wanted to own and operate. I knew I could run a business not only because I had my degree but because that just came naturally to me, I was good at it, and I had a ton of experience managing other businesses, like over 15 years of experience doing that. In 2016, my husband decided to enlist in the Army. I left my career, our house, family & friends and followed him to his duty station. Here I became a mom for the first time in July 2017 and again in November 2019. We decided that being a stay-at-home mom was the better choice for us because the Army’s demanding schedule and the job market in the area didn’t have the pay I was looking for to justify leaving my children in the care of others. 

So I started Latina Print & Design. I recruited my best friend, Christina, who is a teacher full time, and now our Illustrator. While I’m a pretty good logo and brand designer, I am not artistically talented like Christina is. So we evolved from a small business helping other small businesses build their brand to also having unique and original art prints and stickers of all types! We’ve recently added on T-Shirts!

 I look back at why I wanted to start my own business and where we are now. I’ve realized that I was meant to start this company to not only help small businesses get their start with beautiful, meaningful logos, brand building, and other small business needs but also to hire my best friend to get her art into the world and hopefully one day, be a full-time Illustrator.  

We plan on growing the business and adding in different elements but still focusing on small businesses. With that, we’ll be creating jobs and changing the way employees see “work” by restructuring the traditional way employees are treated, expectations, and priorities that not only allow the work to be done and customers be served but, most importantly, allow our employees to enjoy life at home. A true work-life balance.

@latinaprintanddesign on Instagram and Facebook

Catrina began her business by chance.

It may be a surprise to some, but she never set out to create a natural skincare line. In 2016, while working remotely as the Lead Operational Manager for a company in Utah, Catrina was laid off after they began to fold. It just so happened that months before, she had begun researching and formulating a natural moisturizer to help her daughter with her eczema.

The result was the famous Healing Body Butter, and people started taking notice of the drastic improvement of her daughter’s skin and wanted to purchase a jar of their own. It was only then that Catrina realized how many individuals were suffering from similar skin issues, and she instantly knew that she had the power to help them. Since then, Catrina has created several natural products that extend from skincare to haircare to healthy home products.

As her amazing brand, Pure Skin Repair, continues to grow and reach those in search of natural and healthy products despite the pandemic, Catrina promises to continue to be a company of solutions. Pure Skin is not just a line for individuals with skin issues but a community of people that expect and demand more from their skincare.

Catrina shares with all of us a custom-created candle that you can only find in our Love Your Journey June Pride Pamper Box. It’s called Summer Love, and it is an elegant iridescent glass covered with embossed waves with a wood-wick an aromatic scent profile of black cherry, pineapple, and orange-lily.

It all started with an eczema diagnosis for Stacie’s son Ismael. Three steroid doses increased later, and a warning from his dermatologist to watch for his skin to become translucent and Stacie’s own Calming Calendula Butter was born! That was the product that kickstarted her on this beautiful journey.

During her research into eczema and natural ways to aid it, Stacie discovered just how horrible most of the products we had around the house were for all of us, even if we had no outward signs of the side effects that most soap, lotions, and other everyday products we were using caused our bodies. So Stacie decided to aim for a cleaner, better lifestyle by removing the harmful chemicals from our everyday products.

Stacie and her team believe you should love the skin you’re in, and they want to provide a natural way to keep you glowing and smelling good. She created Purely Sunnah, which provides people with handcrafted skincare products made from only the finest raw natural materials. Every item created under Purely Sunnah is formulated with organic, non-toxic ingredients.

It only takes 15 seconds for products to absorb into your skin and bloodstream, this is the reason Purely Sunnah uses organic, fair trade ingredients that combine essential vitamins, minerals, and botanicals to restore skin to its optimum health and vitality. You will not find Parabens, SLS, Phthalates, or Formaldehyde in any of their incredible products. Stacie and her team strongly believe that bathing and skincare rituals should be an enjoyable part of your day

 Best known for her incredible work as the Chief Bath Scientist of BB Bombs, Angela Hadl is a mother and an entrepreneur who has always had a knack for business even at a young age.

Angela is no stranger to hard work and perseverance. As a matter of fact, Angela opened her first business in Memphis at the age of 21, a grass-cutting business that later on allowed for the foundation of the first dry cleaning business in downtown Memphis.

In 2018, after acknowledging her desire to spend more time with her family and her own need for self-care, Angela began to experiment with creating her first bath bomb. The experiment was a success, and the idea for BB Bombs was born.

For the Oranguglad It’s Spring box, Angela shares with us a custom-made 4 oz Orange, Patchouli, Bergamot Candle (that has approx 15 hours burn time). This candle burns slow and low, creating a fresh and earthy scent throughout your space.

She also shared with us 2 Blood Orange Shower Steamers which can clear your head when you breathe it in deep, and transport yourself to somewhere peaceful (an orange grove, perhaps?) while you take a moment for yourself – just you, your thoughts, and the water.