I remember a friend of mine in finance said, “I always get wary of the founders that become too complacent. Those are the companies that usually go under.”  

The day we boldly quit our jobs in 2015, we agreed failure wasn’t an option, but in the back of our minds, failure haunted us.  I dove right into Mestiza with very little consideration of the downside. When we started launching, it didn’t take me long to realize all the things that could possibly go wrong.  

We cold-called 200 specialty stores on the floor of my apartment. No one wanted anything to do with us. Fail. We pre-sold one of our first top designs and in production, everything came out a size too small. Fail. We scored our first specialty store deal and they didn’t pay us. My dad had to show up on our behalf and take back the inventory in his car! Fail. 

There were more failures than I can count but, sometimes, things went the other way too.  

Coming out of a pandemic, and knowing how volatile our industry can be, we never take these precious victories for granted. 

Soon, our fear of failure subsided because, funnily enough, we were so used to failing! But instead, I like to call these failures, “experiences.” Our experiences inform us and are so imperative to setting Mestiza up for future success. Having some “years under our belts” is a true privilege for which I’m so grateful. I can confidently say that after all we’ve been through, and all that we know, Ale and I are incapable of complacency. There is so much more we want to do and so much more to come. Obstacles will come our way, but not without the good fight!

xx,