Today we’d like to introduce you to Adriana Garcia.
Hi Adriana, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
There was a point in my life where I kept repeating lessons in life with people. I had enough of them taking my energy and never refilling my cup. I like to think of relationships/ friendships like mutualism; we both benefit from the relationship, but I had enough of people never reciprocating the same energy in return. I turned to energy healing to help guide me during my transition of unlearning things I was conditioned to tolerate. So when people ask, “how did you start your journey to healing yourself?”, I tell them Chakra Healing: A Beginner’s Guide to Self-Healing Techniques that Balance the Chakras by Margarita Alcantara, which explains the various energy centers in our body that corresponds to a specific nerve or organ. I love that this beginner’s guide is available in Spanish and also has tons of color illustrations. When your energy isn’t aligned a lot of issues can manifest that can cause us to feel negative or even sick. My goal is to feel positive and happy on a daily basis. As I researched the seven chakras further, it came down to my throat chakra being blocked. I was having trouble communicating with others. Example- When a friend didn’t match my energy, I let it pass and continue to let them take advantage of my kindness. In order for me to align my energy, I had to speak my truth by expressing when I felt something that I didn’t like. When you research the seven chakras, you learn that there are many many ways to help heal yourself such as: crystals, yoga, healthy eating, essential oils, mediations, and behavioral changes. I found crystals to be my first major calling. I got into all the other practices later down the road. I have always felt the need to help others in a similar path. What started off as just an interest to help me heal soon became my business. AQUA GEM SHOP IS SIMPLY WITHIN ME. In October 2021, I started making crystal rings and then expanded to other jewelry designs. Sharing the importance of crystals with others and their healing properties is essentially the main focus. I assist my clients with creating crystal jewelry to re-align whatever area in the body needs more balance. Crystals have many metaphysical meanings and that’s why I thoroughly explain their healing properties. I started to work with wire and evil eyes, but the crystal beads became more of important as soon as the new year of 2022 quickly approached. I had a big vision of having jewelry collections with intentions. My first collection was the Love Collection which included different styles of bracelets, necklaces, and rings. I also added in my Self-Love Collection because it was very vital to me to prioritize self-love first. Those quickly became a hit and my vision expanded into other intentions. My intention bracelets include 5 to 8 different crystal bead combinations to assist with a certain area of the chakras. With my research and cross-referencing, I realized that everything connected to our chakras.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
My biggest challenge has been with myself. I struggled a lot with self-doubt, fears of failure, and insecurities. Around October of last year, I kept going back and forth between launching my business page on social media. I would constantly tell myself I wasn’t going to get any orders or that people wouldn’t like the jewelry I was creating. Little did I know, people would actually follow me and ask for custom jewelry. People would go above and beyond to share their experiences with the items I created. When tapping into my creativity, I always feel like I second-guess the process of starting a new project. Sometimes as far as even uploading the finished product on social media, due to me believing the item wouldn’t sell or reach someone who may need it. There are a lot of times the little voice in my head tries to stop me, but I learned I have to push forward as much as possible to succeed with having a small business. The fear of failure comes from the pressure I put on myself because as a small business owner, you invest a lot of time and energy into it; from buying the materials, researching, learning about crystals and how they relate to certain chakras, having consultations with clients, designing the jewelry, presentation, and promoting on social media. All while handling the financial part of the business. The thought of it being a waste of time used to haunt me. Now I see how much of an impact I have on my community and that reassures me that this is what I am meant to do. I went from a small 32 slot plastic storage container to over 128 different crystal beads and assorted size beads. That’s how I know I haven’t failed and continue to grow. I have to shift my perspective on my fear of failure from time to time to motivate me to grow my business. It’s been a journey of putting myself out there and getting out of my comfort zone. Having to invest in beads that usually don’t get used was difficult for me because people normally go for colors or crystals they know. Running the risk of investing in something that may be overlooked for my business makes me fear the what-ifs. What if I never get orders again? What if people buy elsewhere for a different price? What if I have to close my business down? What if I stay with all these crystals? Those are some of the thoughts that make me feel like all hope will be gone if I fail at having a small business. When you start a business you don’t know all the rules or have the training you need. There’s so much trial and error.
My insecurities were triggered when I made the decision to take my business outside of my home. Displaying all my jewelry in a community of other energy workers and at pop up markets brought more insecurities out. The fear of facing judgment about my business haunted me. My husband – Marco, would tell me “sign up for a pop up market they messaged you. Just do it!” I would constantly fear that no one would support me because there are so many people that do what I do. I would constantly have to reassure myself that no one is me. I am different. I finally signed up for my first pop up close to home. Before the pop up was scheduled, I told myself, “I need to see my table set up”, that way I had a system of unpacking and a vision of how everything would flow. I would then eventually start buying all my jewelry display racks and add products to them to see how my presentation would look. A few days before the pop up I was excited that I had finally mastered my setup. I was anticipating my first pop as it steadily approached. I worked hard to prepare enough stock, design my presentation, and refresh my product knowledge. I told myself, “you will have a good day and people will love your stuff!” I had to feed myself affirmations to become more confident in what I do. It became a ritual that I use every day when I wake up. Usually, I approached interacting with others by them initiating the conversation but quickly learned that I had to be the one to make the first move. My confidence that day struck a nerve in my body and I continued to book events around Houston. Presently I am now hosting my one-year anniversary pop up market Sunday, October 9th at 14613 Old Humble Rd. Humble, Texas 77396 from 12PM- 6PM. This journey has come full circle for me! The event happens to be with the same market I had my first pop-up experience. I am honored to have gotten off out of my home my comfort zone and into the weekend market life. It has transformed me from being terribly introverted into someone who books every weekend. I even extended myself to a website to reach more customers around the United States.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am an energy worker, is the simplest way to put it. I truly enjoy helping others with their own energy. I am a strong believer that people are placed into our lives to help each other grow and learn more of who they are. As mentioned before- I fell in love with crystals first, meditating with the energy they have with my very own energy. It just felt peaceful. Knowing something so small can hold so much power. I would say I specialize in combination crystal jewelry. I am known for creating combinations to help amplify the energy into certain intentions the body might need. One of the most powerful combinations that I have created is my prosperity and abundance bracelet. I researched and cross-referenced a lot of crystals for prosperity, many believed that Green Aventurine is the only crystal you need for prosperity. When in fact, there are multiple crystals that can be combined to amplify that intention. I do this to go the extra mile to have you fully covered with good energy. It’s important for me to educate my customers on the healing properties of the crystals I use. There’s an abundance of basic knowledge for someone to learn, but you quickly uncover that there’s more than meets the eye. The item I am most proud of is the A.D.S.P Relief Collection. I have met many individuals that suffer from a few or all of those feelings. I noticed people gravitating towards this collection and reminded them it’s a very healing combination regardless if they’re experiencing all of these feelings or just one of them. After I finalize the sale, I love to inform my customers about how to use and care for their crystal jewelry: you can’t wear them in the shower because not all crystals are made to be underwater which will cause damage. To help with longevity, I recommend charging your jewelry with moonlight on new and full moons. There are plenty of ways but I feel as moonlight is very resourceful to everyone. If you forget to charge or cleanse your jewelry, you run the risk of it breaking from it absorbing too much negative energy.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success is obtaining goals that I set up for myself to help me grow as a person, learn from past mistakes, and balance. I set up goals often because I feel like I need to see progress in my growth. It’s very important to me to set up daily, weekly, monthly, and even yearly goals. I usually make a vision board for New Year with things I want to do, and things I want to focus on. When I plan my weekly or monthly goals I go about making sure they are visible. For example, I have several whiteboards in different sizes for different goals. As for my daily goals, I stick to writing them out or a smaller whiteboard so I can check off each box. It’s very satisfying for me to accomplish small goals to even bigger ones. A lot of my success comes from learning from my past mistakes. When I first started my business, I would allow customers to place orders without a deposit. I quickly learned people would take advantage of me. They would say “ oh, I’ll pay later.” I learned that my creations are made with so much love and energy that I should be able to receive payment upfront. From past experiences, I had to implement policies to protect myself and my business from customers who didn’t want to pay.
Recently, I found that balance is important to my success. I have to balance my time and energy because I was too focused on my business. I was forgetting I was a wife, mother, sister, and friend to others as well. There were months when I felt I neglected my kids and my home chores for the sake my business. I sacrificed play time for more work time. I see myself becoming so focused on the business that I forgot about myself sometimes. Becoming aware of my flaws is the biggest part of my life that I am thankful for. Accepting the fact that I am human and I am learning things that help me be a better person. Without seeing my errors, I wouldn’t be where I am now. With that being said, I am very grateful and appreciative for everything I work for and everything I stand for.
Pricing:
- Crystal Intention Bracelets $22-$24
- Crystal Rings $10
- Handmade Thread OJO Bracelets $12
- White Sage $6
- Hair Clip $8
Contact Info:
- Website: www.aquagemshop.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aquagemshop/
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/aquagemshop
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTdv41M68/
Image Credits
Julio Lopez @vsionphotography
Adriana Garcia
