Life & Work with Maria Mejia

Today we’d like to introduce you to Maria Mejia. 

Hi Maria, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
Well, since I was a little girl, I knew I wanted to do something related to fashion, but I didn’t want to just work in fashion. I wanted to have my own fashion business. 

While I was in school, I got into Corporate America and stayed there for 8 years. But my dream of working in fashion never faded. So in between school and work, I accepted various internships with fashion magazines and key celebrity stylists. So, on my days off, I had to commute to LA for different jobs. At some point, it was a lot, but I knew I couldn’t quit. I had a dream and couldn’t stop until I got there. Then I left Corporate America to be a personal stylist at Nordstrom. Working there and seeing endless pieces coming in daily, learning about different designers, styles and fabrics was truly inspiring. I would always get compliments on my outfits or get asked where I would get my clothes, so that’s when I was inspired to start a fashion blog. I was there for 3 years, then decided to start my own personal styling business. Also, worked as a stylists at New York Fashion Week for a few seasons. Which was a dream come true. 

So, all of the experiences I have been through up to this point, made me realize I was ready and fully inspired to start my own business. I felt like I was ready to finally make it happen. I launch my baby MARME in 2021, which I still can’t believe I finally made one of my dreams come true. Being born in the hat capital of the world, Mexico Guanajuato, and seeing the value of hats and what they meant to women was just a beautiful thing. When I was brought to the US as a little girl, I knew one day I would return to start my own hat line and also help the people of my town. I always had love for hats since I can remember. Then I would always make sure to add a hat during my fittings with my clients, and just seeing how happy they were with their results and how a hat made them feel. That just confirmed it all. I knew I was made to be a hat designer. It’s been a year, it’s been a blessing, and it’s only the beginning. 

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Definitely not! Just like everything else. All good things don’t come easy. I had to work extremely hard to get to this point. Even though I’m nowhere near where I want to be. I can sure say I’ve come up a bit from where I used to be hehe. I had to sacrifice a lot of things, and there was definitely many sleepless nights to say the least. I pretty much had to watch endless YouTube videos on how to start a business. Being self-taught and self-funded was not and has not been an easy road. But I can say I don’t regret one bit going after my dreams. With a lot of fear and self-doubt moments, I can say it was the best decision I’ve ever made. 

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
So aside from still being a personal stylist and content creator (for my blog) being a hat designer is what I spend most of my time working on. 

I get my hats made in the little town I was born in Mexico, but I also work on some big parts of the hat-making process here in San Diego. I can say I’m mostly proud of myself for just doing after my dreams. Never in a million years did I ever imagine having my own business. I always knew I wanted to be a business owner but never thought it would actually happen. 

After all, I’m extremely proud of the movement that MARME is creating. We have started a community of powerful women. MARME’s Mission is to empower women one hat at a time. But aside from just providing hats, MARME has bigger plans and we love to help in any way we can. MARME is proud to support Girl Up, a movement to advance girls’ skills, rights, and opportunities to be leaders. Founded by the United Nations Foundation in 2010, Girl Up’s leadership development programs have impacted 95,000 girls in nearly 130 countries and all 50 U.S. states, inspiring a generation of girls to be a force for gender equality and social change. By purchasing a MARME hat, you are directly benefiting Girl Up and its network of youth changemakers. 

How do you define success?
To me, success doesn’t only mean meeting a certain financial goal or anything of that sort. Success to me is defined as something like reaching a goal or accomplishing you’ve set out to achieve. I’m simply provides a source of motivation for people to change their lives and values. 

Also, being able help others lead a better, happier, and healthier life. I’d say helping other succeed is true success. 

Contact Info:

• Website: www.marmehats.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/marmehats
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/marmehats