Do what makes you happy!

 

Most of us, nowadays, work because we need the money to pay our debts and in the long run end up unhappy. What would happen if you created something that could change all that?

Today in Inspired by Paws, we will meet the Canine Boss, Mariko Miyake, the creator of Pawmiscuous.

How did your project began?

I was working in Real Estate prior to starting this business and was unhappy for the longest time. Pawmiscuous started in 2016 as a dog walking/dog sitting business initially but it grew into a brand of dog apparel/accessories.

Who or what inspired you?

What inspired me was my love for dogs. I didn’t have my own dog at the time but I loved running into all the dogs in the buildings I used to work at. I would always see dog walkers in the neighborhood I used to work at, and thought I can do that too! I fostered for the first time and that gave me my dog fix while still building the business.

How did you come up with the name?

It’s funny because I spent so much time trying to figure out names for my business. Since it was initially a dog walking/sitting service, the name was difficult to come up with but I’m so glad I ended up choosing Pawmiscuous since my business went in a different direction. My coworker at the time had a Pomeranian and she would jokingly tag her photos with #pomiscuous and she suggested using Pawmiscuous. That’s how that name came out.

Does your dog’s personality influences in the branding of Pawmiscuous?

Absolutely! I didn’t adopt my dog Penny until the end of that year but she definitely fits the Pawmiscuous brand. She’s sassy, smart assy but also classy and that is what our brand is all about. I love making stuff for those dogs with a little attitude. It’s what Pawmiscuous is.

What is your dog’s name? breed?

Penny, Penelope (when she’s in trouble). She is a mutt. She was a rescue from Florida. I did the DNA testing and it came back as Beagle, Maltese and Dachshund.

What motivated you to do it?

I was so unhappy with my job and it made me into a person that I didn’t like. It was scary as hell to quit my job and give up salary/benefits but as hard as being an entrepreneur is, it was the best decision I made.

What steps did you take to make your dream come true?

I gathered the emails of all the clients I had worked with and just said: hey I am no longer with the company but I started a new venture in dog walking/sitting. Somebody from that email list complained and I ended up getting a cease and desist. From that one email I got some clients and I just had to network and market myself. Eventually, my primary focus became the dog apparel/accessories but I learned a lot from the dog walking/sitting part of it.

What do you think is the next step for the business?

I would like to build more wholesale accounts and collaborate more with likeminded brands. There’s just always room to grow when you own a small business.

Anything else that you would like to share with us?

Have patience when building your business. Always be nice to your clients, customers, people you meet in the industry. It goes a long way when you genuinely care about your customers and people you do business with.

Any advice that you can give other who want to open their business?

Be genuine and be yourself. I’ve built my brand around who I am and who my dog is. People can sense when you’re real and can relate to you.

 

 

My products might not be for everybody but that’s okay because there is something for everybody.

Muchos queremos cantarle cumpleaños a nuestros hijos perrunos, ¿cierto?

 

Max siempre lo he tenido en mente para esto,

es gracias a él que han llegado cosas buenas a mi vida.

Hoy conocemos un poco sobre la Canine Boss, Luz Marie Jiménez.

 

¿Cómo surgió tu proyecto?

Mi proyecto de Sweet Paw Gallery surgió después de comenzar a estudiar repostería. Me di cuenta que deseaba hacer bizcochos, pero no para humanos, sino para perros. Ahí fue que dije: “esto es lo que quiero y hacia allá voy”.

¿Cuál fue tu inspiración?

Mi inspiración total fue mi perro Max, un Siberian Husky, lo tengo desde los 40 días de nacido y ya hoy tiene casi 4 años. Cuando cumplió el primer año, le quería hacer un bizcocho para celebrar su vida, pero no había encontrado quien lo hiciera, hasta el año pasado que fue cuando dije: “lo haré yo, me voy a lanzar a esto, que pase lo que tenga que pasar”.

¿Qué cualidades de Max se ven reflejadas en la empresa?

La personalidad de mi perro es dulce y amorosa, justamente por eso la primera palabra del nombre de mi empresa es: “sweet”. Las cualidades que tiene Max que pienso que se ven más reflejadas en la empresa son: la amistad y el ser amoroso. Estas dos palabras que lo describen a él por completo son las mismas características con las cuales tratamos a todos nuestros clientes peludos, el trato está lleno de mucho amor y dulzura para todos los perritos.

¿Qué te motivó?

Lo más que me motivó fue mi deseo de hacerlo realidad. Las primeras veces no fue perfecto, pero continué, hasta que dí con el resultado que quería. La motivación más fuerte creo que fue escuchar cómo me retaban verbalmente y me decían que estaba loca, que eso no daría resultados y que nadie compraría mis productos. Esas palabras te hacen fuerte y hacen que digas: “voy a lograrlo y no solo por los que dijeron que no lo haría, sino por mi propia satisfacción, mi propio sueño”.

¿Qué pasos tomaste para hacer tu sueño realidad?

Los pasos que tomé para hacerlo realidad fueron básicamente los esenciales. El primer paso fue estudiar bastante sobre la alimentación de los perros. Me orienté sobre los siguientes temas: los alimentos que sí pueden comer, los que no, los que tienen beneficios para su salud y leí sobre nutrición. Esto fue porque no solo es hacer un bizcocho y ya, tienes que estar consciente de que si utilizas un ingrediente que sea dañino o le cause alergias, estás en graves problemas. Por tal razón, busqué toda la información que necesitaba y me aseguré de que estos bizcochos sean 100% tolerables para todos los perros.

 

¿Metas a largo plazo?

Mi visión a largo plazo es sencilla; quiero darme a conocer  lo suficiente, a tal nivel que no sea solo en Puerto Rico, sino que de alguna forma darme a conocer en los Estados Unidos y que sepan que aquí en Sweet Paw Gallery en San Sebastián, Puerto Rico se hacen los mejores bizcochos para mascotas. Nosotros estamos para complacer a tu peludo.

 

 

You can have all the plans you want, but some things change along the way….

I’m sorry that I’ve been MIA lately. This year started out a little busy, being a teacher during the day, a student during night, and an artist at midnight. Back in 2015, when I finished my Master’s Degree , I thought: “finally, no more classes….after studying more than half my life”….. On January 2017, I came back to college so that I can get my official teacher’s license. I still got a couple of more classes to go, but this isn’t the reason of this blog post. I want to talk to you about what I’ve been up to these past few months.

Those of you that have been following me on this journey since January know that the purpose of this blog is to talk about how life’s obstacles can help you bring out the best in you, always look at the bright side, and my lettering journey. Things have taken a little twist; and if you guys follow me on Instagram, you may notice that it has nothing to do with it.  Something in me came back to life. I used to draw a lot when I was little. My mother said that she loved to see me draw, because I was in my own little world.  Somewhere along the way life hit me and I buried that talent.

Now, thanks to Angely it has come back to life. Like I said: Out of the bad things new good things are born. Now, instead of lettering it’s mostly doodles, drawings, and watercolor paintings based on my Sweet Partner, Angely. Do not get me wrong though, I am still interested in learning lettering, which I will continue later on.

                                                                 

I also started to draw plants and flowers which I love.

I also added to my shop some Puerto Rico embroidery maps, where the people let me know their county and I sew it in. I created this thinking about all of those people that, for different reasons, had to leave our beautiful island. I know they miss it, so this way they can take a little part of it with them.

Last but not least, my dog doodle portraits, which was something that I came up with last month. On March 31, 2018 I had my first pop-up store at West Elm in Plaza Las Américas. I was so excited to have this opportunity, this is when I started to search for something new and fun for the customers. This is when the idea came to mind. I see a lot of artist that do people portraits, I said: “Hey, let’s just do the same but for our four-legged children.”

Plus, I will have a new section called: Inspired by Paws which will debut next week! (Monday- April 23). This will consist of interviews about people whose project or business was inspired by their dogs. I will post the interviews every  Monday. Amazing people that will be featured: @sweetpawgallery @lamasdoglover @holy_doggie @pawsboutiquehotel @yeswecan_ine @megan.creates @petfriendly_pr  and Natalia Angulo de Doggie Cakes! So excited for you guys to learn about these inspiring stories!

If you know someone that has a side project or business inspired by their dog contact me: lettersbyangelie@gmail.com

 

<3

Melissa

 

7 secrets to keep our 2018 New Year’s Resolutions!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

2018 is finally here! The time of hopes and dreams, where many of us start meditating and writing down our new year’s resolutions. Many of us know that we start with excitement and ready to go, but the truth is that three weeks later some of us (including me) go back to where we started or tend to miss it one day and then over and over again until…POOF! Your resolution just disappeared. Meaning that once again you’ve failed and you are back to where you started. Has this ever happened to you? Why do you think this happens? The big question is: What are we going to do about it?!

These are some tips to be consistent:

  1. Your resolutions must be realistic!
  2. The resolutions must be about you not about what your friends or family would want for you.
  3. Many of our resolutions are about changing things about our habits or behaviors. We think that when we complete our resolutions our lives will magically change, but the truth is that sometimes it doesn’t, so keep that in mind -if not you may get discouraged and change your behavior again.
  4. Have a new year’s resolution buddy. Someone that has more or less the same goals that you have or maybe your husband or partner that will be there for you to cheer you on.
  5. FOCUS on what is in front of you, the present.
  6. Take small steps. Don’t focus on doing your 10 or 15 resolutions (which was basically what I did). Try to focus on a couple of them. This way you will have realistic goals.
  7. Just have fun while you do them!

Below you have my 2018 New Year’s Resolutions:

1. Be consistent with my blog-Letters by Angelie and my lettering practices.

2. Open my online shop, which will feature art prints, stationery products, and embroidery.

3. Master Adobe Illustrator so that I can keep turning my sketches into vectors. By the way, the                    featured image above is one of my firsts! Hope you like it!

4. Keep having quality one-on-one time with my husband and travel with him. This year we celebrate         our  5th  wedding anniversary.

Tell me about your new year’s resolutions?! You can send me an e-mail, inbox or dm me on IG =)

Have a good year!

<3

Melissa

Life of a shy introvert

Many of us go through different stages in life alone or don’t talk about it because were afraid of what other people might think. Tell me about it…you’re looking at a shy, insecure, introvert, low voice type of person. Did you know that introvert and shy are not synonyms? I thought they were until I googled it.

An introvert enjoys time alone and doesn’t like to spend too much time with people. He/She prefers to be in a quiet environment.

A shy person doesn’t exactly want to be alone most of the time, she/he is just afraid to interact with others and has the fear of negative judgement.

Many people that haven’t seen me in years tell me: “I can’t believe that you are now a teacher! I have to see it to believe it.” Then they ask: “What grades?” I tell them: “10th and 11th”. Their faces are priceless. I feel proud to say it. I never forgot Babe Ruth’s quote: “Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game” -Thanks to Hilary Duff’s movie-A Cinderella Story back in 2004. I was just 16 years old.

Some knew me as the shy, nervous, laughing girl since I was a teenager. In school, a boy used to call me “la callaita”, in English means “the quiet one”. Growing up I had a difficult time meeting new people too. I remember that if my friends introduced me to someone and later on I would see that person somewhere else I would be too scared to go over and say “hi”. My mom would get so angry because people would think that I was an anti-social person. The truth is that I wasn’t. At first, I may be “the quiet one”, but if you talked about something that I like or have interest in, I can’t stop talking!

Some other times, I used to stay quiet so that I could kind of study the people to see how they acted and that way they wouldn’t reject me, but you know what? It was the worst thing to do because who wants to be around someone that doesn’t have anything to say.  Others used to say to me: “You barely talk, but at least you smile”.  After a year hanging out with the youth group of my church, I started to talk a little bit and when I did talk and speak up they were so surprised and said: “Oh my God! She just said something! Everyone stop talking!” and this made me shy all over again.

During birthday parties, concerts, or other types of activities, I just sat down all awkward wanting to leave.  At concerts, my friends would start jumping, yelling, dancing, and basically singing their hearts out! Me…I was doing the same thing…on the inside of course! I wanted to a have great time, but I was too afraid of what the people in the back seats would think about me. When I was fifteen or sixteen years old, I would cry and pray to God to take away this shyness away like it was some type of illness. Later on, I discovered that it was up to me. I was letting the shyness get the best of me and if I kept going down that road I was going to miss many opportunities. I mean come on; I also wanted to get married lol.

My first job interview: Mr. Pretzels. I was 18 years old and got hired, though my manager told me: “you do know that you have to speak up; otherwise, the clients will eat you up”. With my mission of “no more shyness” and my first job, I developed better social skills, plus college was starting soon and no one else was going to talk for me.

After that, when my friends introduced me to someone new I decided to create “small talks”. This helped me a lot. Till this day it works for me.You can start with simple questions like: Where are you from? Do you work? Is this your first year of college? Some people would say: “Is this a small talk or an interview?” But if it works for you it won’t matter. While the people answer these types of questions, I sometimes think about the next topic depending on their answers. I do everything to avoid the “awkward silence” lol.

Have you ever been through this? Are you shy or introvert? Are you both?

<3

Melissa