Today we’d like to introduce you to Luisa Buitrago.
Hi Luisa, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
Ironically, everything started at the beginning of the pandemic, when if there will be a tomorrow was uncertain for all of us. I began to reflect that I had to fulfill my dream of having my fashion and beauty business. I couldn’t let it go or extend it for a longer time. By then, I had 1 year of having my second child. I was in that stage, which moms call postpartum depression, where you don’t feel comfortable with your body, where everything you wear feels like it doesn’t fit you. When you watch TV (and in quarantine, we watched TV a lot, Netflix, etc.), you see all those beautiful women, actresses, singers, show hosts, models who have children and still have that spectacular figure and how their clothes fit perfectly. Then, you look in the mirror the real moms and ask: why I don’t look like that.
Between my “frustration” on how my body looks after having my second baby and my desire to fulfill my dream, one afternoon in the dining room speaking with my husband Victor, my confidant, friend, and support, I told him about how I was feeling. I opened my heart, my feelings about my dreams, and that I wanted to do it right now like there is no tomorrow. But that determination raised one big question, what product to offer to real moms like me? My dream has always been to design and create my own products. That’s the reason why I studied Industrial Design in my homeland, Colombia. Something I was clear about is that I wanted to start entering the world of the E-commerce with a product from my country Colombia. I feel that in one way or another, I can contribute with my grain of sand to the Colombian economy. Also, to bring to this country (the United States) a product that everyone would like to have, so the moms here could see the quality of the products that are manufactured in Colombia.
As a Colombian and an industrial designer, I grew up watching fashion shows on TV how cosmetic surgeries become more popular in my country. At the same time, how as a specific 100% Colombian design became more and more popular worldwide, and the first Colombian product I brought to Texas was the famous Colombian butt lifter jean. The biggest goal or the golden dream of every woman who wants to show off a slim figure. The butt lifter jeans bring that results, but without having to go thru painful and expensive surgeries. Also, without the sacrifice of a very strict exercise routine and diets and the best of all, feeling really comfortable with a versatile garment that combines with everything and can be worn at any season of the year. A garment that does not go out of style and that increasingly adapts to the active woman of today.
As an entrepreneur I dedicated various months looking for the best authentic Colombian suppliers with the better product, educating myself about E-Commerce, creating our online store, and start to being active on social networks and to be ready to offer an excellent service to our potential clients. With God’s blessing on September 2, 2021, we officially open our Booty and The Beast online store.
Thanks to the support of our clients, family, and friends, our store celebrated its first year. We have had the blessing of participating also in a few pop-ups, which has allowed us to get to know our buyer customer more closely, face to face, being able to listen, to know their real and actual needs, what products they want to find in the store, etc. Satisfying and responding to my client’s needs, on October 17, 2022, we included in our inventory the famous Colombian post-operative girdles. I have to say that, from the beginning of Booty and the Beast (and the people knowing that I offered Colombian products), this product was requested at every event that I attended. As we always say, Booty and The Beast is not our store, it is the store for all the moms who wants to look and feel beautiful on any occasion. That is why we work hard to bring what they need. Thanks to E-Commerce we have been able to take our products to different states of the country, which has allowed us to make ourselves known outside of Texas.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
To be honest, it’s been a challenging road. The world of the entrepreneur, I compare it to a roller coaster. You have a few days when everything is running very well, making you feel motivated, but then you have days where it is the opposite, and you doubt if you are doing the right thing. It is at that halfway point, where the purpose for which you decided to undertake needs to be really strong (I mean being your dreams and goals) being decisive in making the decision of whether to quit or continue on this path that you started.
Another of our great challenges has been the constant change of the famous algorithm in social networks. When you think you already know everything and you become familiar with a format, they change the rules of the game, and you must start all over again. The positive thing about those changes is that every day you realize how quickly we can learn a topic or format, how we learn to leave fears behind, making you stronger, and how we can adapt more easily.
As you know, we’re big fans of Booty And The Beast. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
In Booty and the Beast, as a Colombian and an industrial designer, I want to bring and offer to the worker moms 100% Colombian fashion products. That is with world-renowned exclusive designs and quality that have been popular worldwide, butt lifter jeans and post-surgical girdles.
As I mentioned at the beginning, our clients are mothers who have their children from newborn babies to teenagers and also needs to keep working, having their full-time jobs. That means they don’t have much time on their side to take care of herself. With that on mind, we are very proud to be able to share this news with you. We are working and growing Booty and the Beast to start selling our Colombian products wholesale. Doing this we can help and provide those moms the opportunity to earn extra income without having to leave home through their own E-Commerce business. Creating this space to wholesale our Colombian products we also provide those moms with guidance on how to run their business, manage social networks, etc.
As stated before, creating the wholesale of our products, we also are trying to make a dream come true of every mother. Being able to work from home is the dream of every mother, whether she is new mother or not, not having to leave her baby in the care of another person. Usually, most of the mother would like to have time to spend and raise their kids and be throughout their growth process. It’s what we all want. And with this project that we are working on, we are going to be able to help many mothers to achieve it. It really is something that makes us proud and sets us apart because we not only seek to grow ourselves but also, more women achieve that dream they have always had come true.”
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
Start a new business has taught me that everything in life takes time. That we should not compare our process with that of another, even if we are in the same niche or have started at the same time. That we must stand firm and not give up before the first, second, or third difficulty that comes our way. Like Napoleon Hill mentioned in his famous book Think and Grow Rich, each setback tells us that we are closer to achieving it.
God has a very different plan for you than others; sometimes our process should take a little longer so that we appreciate what we are going to receive. Like the popular saying, “Rome was not built in a day.”
Another of the lessons that I have learned is that we should surround ourselves with people who are always looking for growth; surround yourself with those people who have already gone through where you are going to go, because you will learn from them, and you will stay motivated and inspired to move forward.
And last but not least, the key to everything is to keep educating; investing in your education is the best investment you can make in life.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bootyandthebeastshop.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bootyandthebeastusa/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bootyandthebeastshop
Image Credits
Karla
Yessenia
Liliana
Lucia
Sol
Camila
Chat Ballenger
Josben Rodriguez
Edison Araque
