2021 started out rough. I was feeling overworked, depressed and undervalued. Not only was I working on Cadena, I had a full time job and dealing with COVID-blues after a year of stolen travel, stolen time with loved ones and so many other stolen adventures I had planned. Pero como dice el dicho, “uno pone, y Dios dispone.”
So with that saying in mind I decided to go all in on Cadena and let the universe and God do the decision making for me. The deal was - I’d do the work (as hard as I could) and if it was meant to be, it would be.
And so it was. I close out 2021 feeling immensely thankful and quite honestly proud of what I have become. Confident, proud, colorful, joyful, authentic and so many more qualities I always wished I could tap into but didn’t because I was always too concerned by ‘el qué dirán.’
By the end of the year, our work on Cadena has reached over 28,000 followers on Instagram and over 52,000 followers on Tik Tok. Revenue wise, we initially set a goal to reach six-figures to sustain the marketplace and the work we were doing. The first time we surpassed it, my sister and I cried. Today, we can say we surpassed our initial goal by almost tree times.
Why the transparency with our numbers? Because the majority of the revenue went to local businesses, local economies, families and historically marginalized communities.
It matters because we didn’t do this alone. It was you, always you supporting us along the way. We will continue with the transparency for several reasons - we don’t see enough small business owners who look like us sharing their stories of success and because we are proof of concept. Our stories and products matter and our Latinx purchasing power is powerful and growing. We don’t plan on stopping and neither should you if you’re a business owner.
This is only the start for us. Join us on changing the misconception that our products are cheap or should only be reserved for Latin-centric holidays. Join us on changing the face of what it looks like to show up authentically and proud of your cultura. Join us on choosing YOU, every damn day.
Cheers to 2021, a year of growth!
