Daily Inspiration: Meet Luciana Colón

Today we’d like to introduce you to Luciana Colón.

Hi Luciana, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today. 
I’m a character development and self-empowerment life coach and own my own consulting company. A lot of my clients that seek out my services come from some kind of abusive background or trauma and need help with overcoming their circumstances. A character development and self-empowerment coach is someone who teaches how to become the individual they’ve always aspired to be or help teach them how to develop a noble character within them and how to reflect and express that character with confidence in social settings. As with most things mental health related a lot of my clients who need my services the most simply can’t afford it, so I found myself coaching a lot of people for free. In order for me to be able to continue helping those in need, I needed to come up with a way to generate an income for to be able to sustain myself. I came up with something that ties into the health and wellness aspect of life which is self-care. Since everyone nowadays seems to create their own skincare line, I decided the best way to be different, unique, and stand out while being myself was to pay homage to my Caribbean lineage and ancestral island of Puerto Rico, which doesn’t have much representation here on the west coast. 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, it’s been rough. Trying to build a brand where you’ve put in countless hours trying to produce a quality product is a lot of work on its own, but getting people to try it and buy it is another, especially when you live in a small town like Ramona. Consumers, especially locals, have more of a loyalty to their favorite products, be it store-bought or from other local small businesses than they do a new business. Very much like Caribbean culture, my business and products are vibrant, unique and are designed specifically to stand out in a crowd. Most small towns are conservative which means most people are trying to fit into the already set local trends and aesthetics. When I’m out working as a vendor, I get side-eyed and ignored a lot. However, those who gravitate towards me and give my products a try are guaranteed repeat customers. 

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I grew up, and I’m from Florida, which is the state with the highest population of Caribbean immigrants and people. Moving to San Diego, not only did I find myself homesick because my environmental culture isn’t well represented, but my skin and hair dried out because of the drastic climate change. Florida is humid, so my skin was always moisturized and glowing, and my hair was always healthy and shiny. In order to take care of my skin and hair, I found products that either didn’t work very well or would work but out of my price range. I didn’t like the idea of something as simple as having healthy skin or well-maintained hair not being accessible because of someone’s income restrictions. I didn’t find it fair, especially as a woman of color who already faces discrimination and adversities due to things I have no control over, such as my hair texture or skin color, or cultural background on top of my tax bracket. I wanted to create a product that not only worked, was unique, but also was affordable on any budget, including single moms and struggling college students because no matter what you are or where you come from, everyone deserves to feel uniquely beautiful and valued enough to have access to the right of self-care. 

What would you say has been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
If you believe in yourself, continue forward. Life has a funny way of testing how bad you truly want something to the extent where it’ll set you up in ways to see how much you’re willing to work towards what you want and ask for. 

Pricing:

• 4 oz body butters $8 or 3 for $20
• 4 oz sugar scrubs $8 or 3 for $20
• 4 oz leave in conditioners $8 or 3 for $20
• 2 oz liquid hand and body foam wash $4
• 8 oz body butters, sugar scrubs, leave in conditioners $16 or 3 for $40

Contact Info:

• Website: Ilovelucilifecoachingllc.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/caribbean_fine?igshid=MzMyNGUyNmU2YQ==