My story
Leaving the 9 to 5
For the woman who looks like she has it together and feels completely stuck inside.
Where I come from
I'm Latina, a Southern California native, and I came up wild. My mom had me when she was 14. She'll tell you her childhood was crazy, and honestly, so was mine. Growing up with a very young single mom shaped how I think about success.
What the pictures don't show
People look at me and my mom and think we have the perfect life. We earned it. My mom raised me alone. My dad struggled with addiction and was incarcerated for most of my life. He's doing great now, hallelujah. Addiction touched several people in my family, and some are still fighting it.
My mom was on welfare. She never went to high school and had no degree. She built multiple businesses anyway, overcame her own addictions and family pain, and is now a certified life coach. If you think your story disqualifies you, ours says otherwise.
Pretty things
Before Instagram was even a thing, I was 15 on MySpace, teaching myself to code. I made graphics. I built websites. I was obsessed with colors, fonts, and how things looked online. I studied fashion houses and how they made you feel something before you ever touched the clothes. Nobody taught me. I just loved pretty things, and I wanted to build that whole experience myself.
The 9 to 5
I dropped out of college in my second year because it wasn't getting me where I wanted to go. I went to work in staffing, with my mom, and I moved up fast. I became the youngest person at my company overseeing 200+ employees. I ran my own staffing agency office. Then I became the marketing director for a multimillion-dollar staffing agency. Big title. Six figures. On paper? Winning. In real life? I was unfulfilled. I wasn't doing what I loved, and I knew God had greater plans for me.
The leap
In 2015, at 24, I launched a clothing brand while I was still working in staffing. Then Izu and I sat down at a Starbucks, both hating our 9-to-5s, and came up with Riches & Saint. I left staffing and we built it together. Walking away from a steady paycheck was a leap of faith, and I meant it. Everything I taught myself at 15 is what I got to build with.
Faith
My Christian faith is a big part of how I build and how I live. I think a lot about ambition and purpose, and about what happens when the life you built stops fitting who you're becoming.
Mental health
Through all of this, I've dealt with anxiety and panic attacks, and I talk about it openly. I healed with therapy and with God, and I'll tell you it took both. Faith and therapy aren't opposites. Discipline is great. Letting achievement become my whole identity? Not great. Mental health is something I love talking to women about, because most of us are carrying more than we show.
I'm not here to show you a perfect, curated life. Real is better anyway.