Today, we’d like to introduce you to Carissa Mendoza.
Hi Carissa, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I think it’s hard to pinpoint how I started. As a woman, I have been shaping my story my whole life through the ups and downs and the many transitions I have experienced. As an entrepreneur, I’d say my journey started when I was about 14.
I learned early on if I wanted to do something, I needed to make it happen. I started waiting tables at 14 (they listed me as answering the phones and paid me under the table because that is not the “legal” age to wait tables). I loved meeting customers and interacting with the other employees. Before long, I helped with scheduling and other responsibilities. I felt like I had a purpose and was valued. I got a taste of it and wanted more. I went on to get a second job working at a hair salon. I fell in love with the salon and knew at some point in my life, I would be a hairdresser.
After high school, I really wanted the college experience, so I pursued a teaching degree and taught for 4 years when I got out. The whole time I was teaching, I felt like I loved mentoring and teaching peers a skill, but I did not love teaching children a subject. Let’s face it: teachers are underappreciated, underpaid, and do not have the schedule freedom many think they do. If you’re reading this and a teacher knows that you are a badass, and I commend you.
After all 4 years of teaching, I still had the itch to do hair, so I quit teaching, got my cosmetology license, and started assisting and working for myself. I was immediately drawn towards entrepreneurship. What I love most about hairdressing is the personal connections I make and how I get to be a part of my client’s stories. Talking to women daily was also huge in my growth and development, personally and professionally. I started to realize my clients were sharing the same struggles and wins as me and each other, but they often felt alone.
Through that and my own healing journey, I realized I wanted to offer more; I wanted to take what I loved from all the jobs I had had and life experiences and support women in a new way. Last year, I launched a coaching business to focus on just that. So, that leads me to where I am today. I still work 2-3 days behind the chair, and then I host workshops and work 1:1 with individuals to help them experience joy and a beautiful relationship with their favorite selves.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. Starting, I worked at least 2 jobs from age 14-27. This allowed me to try lots of things and meet lots of people, but it was also exhausting. I have experience working with and for supportive and unsupportive people.
I moved through many transitions, including moving to Texas, where I knew no one except an aunt, uncle, and young cousins. I started over several times and had to prove to others and myself that I could do it. The biggest struggle was becoming a mom. I always wanted to be a mom and have kids. When I actually did, though, it was nothing like what I had expected, read about, or was told. I went from feeling confident in myself, my life, and my career to feeling lost, lonely, and depressed. I used work to avoid it because working was what made me feel purpose and accomplished.
It took about 9 months for me to realize I had postpartum depression. This changed me and also changed how I showed up at work. Most of my clients are women, and many of them are moms. I was so frustrated and felt like the world was lying and hiding the reality of motherhood. I started to be honest about my struggles with my clients and allowed space for them to share as well.
In the end, this was a huge turning point and led me to want to go beyond the chair and work with women on a deeper level, especially moms and entrepreneurs.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
These days, I am more focused on growing that. I am currently in the baby phase and am already doing some rebranding. I think this is something that will evolve with me. I want this business to grow with me and the stages of life I am in as I go through them.
I am super passionate about working with women to help them uncover their desires and experience joy. The number of times women share with me that they don’t feel joy or fun anymore, that they are the task managers of their house, and don’t have room for themselves is alarming. It is something I have felt as well. I want to create space for them to uncover who they are, free from all the titles society and family give them (mom, wife, daughter, employee, coworker, SAHM, working mom, friend).
The most important human relationship you will ever have is with yourself; don’t you want to enjoy it? As women we often feel like we need permission; I want to rip up the permission slip. We have disconnected ourselves and silenced our intuition. I want to help you find your way back to your inner knowing.
You have all the answers and abilities within you. I am just here to help uncover that and provide a mirror for you. I offer 1:1 coaching, group/organization coaching, and customized workshops.
Networking and finding a mentor can positively impact one’s life and career. Any advice?
We are not meant to do life alone. Having a support team and resources is so important. When looking for a mentor, go with an open heart and mind. Be careful not to put anyone on a pedestal; this is not fair to you or them.
Spend time getting to know those you may want to enter a mentorship with. Get to know them as an expert in your field and also as a human being. They may be great at what they do, but if your values don’t align, it may not be the right partnership. Remember a mentors role is not to create a carbon copy of them, it is to support your growth and help you use your unique gifts to be the best version of you, your favorite version not theirs.
Treat it like dating, and don’t go based on first looks. Networking can help with this. Get plugged in so that you have lots of resources and community. I wish I had done this earlier in my career. I now have amazing coaches and mentors I know can count on, empower me, and want to see me succeed.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/Carissamendoza
- Instagram: @_Carissamendoza
