Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Cevallos de Gonzales.
Hi Rachel, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Identity Plus LLC was created in June of 2016 and our first location was a small boutique shop in the Heights. We were there for four years. In 2018, I hired my son as Creative Director, he had some great ideas for new direction and growth of the company. We started looking for space in the East End. We are a multi-generational East End family and eagerly wanted to move back “home”. In November of 2019 after much thought and prayer – we took the giant leap and signed a lease to a warehouse almost 10 times the size of our Heights Boutique – it was a BIG step for us. We poured all our savings into the new space and into buying additional equipment – we had great plans for our Grand Opening and the growth of the company. The building we leased was a much older warehouse (built-in 1938) we spent a lot of time and money renovating it and bringing up to code for the new machines. Just as we were preparing our grand opening – Covid 19 shutdown hit.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We have been anything but a smooth road. Our biggest struggle was keeping the business afloat during and after the Covid Shutdown. Luckily I have a great relationship with a community banker, we were able to keep paying rent and utilities during the shutdown. We are a Marketing /Branding company all orders for events we had in place were canceled and no one was having events or purchasing products. Yet, before masks were so readily available my favorite T-shirt manufacturer put out a flyer that they were going to start producing masks. I shared the flyer on our social media – adding that we would only charge our cost to anyone that wanted/needed masks. If- only if they were decorating/printing on the masks, would I charge an additional fee. I think that was a turning point, we sold thousands of masks.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I love Branding/Marketing. I love to sit with clients talk about their needs and be the conduit with my creative team to watch their vision come to life. Being located in the East End is my personal dream – it is coming home. Although it has changed a lot it is still home. I think what sets us apart, especially in this community is that our customers know us and know that we give back to the community we make sure we are competitive with pricing. Our design team is from the East End and because as a team we are all involved in making sure our customer receives all of our attention.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
First my team – they work 24 if they need to so we can ensure customers get what they need and then there are 2 individuals without who my company wouldn’t have survived, one a banker and the second a customer. My Banker David Corpus with Allegiance Bank is one of my greatest Mentor, supporter and advocate. During the tough year of Covid, he made sure I was in front of people telling them about myself and my business. I am by far not his largest customer, but he made sure that when Texas Bankers Association was doing a virtual series on why “I love my bank” – that I was one of the companies chosen for this project. That video has been viewed thousands of times and the Texas Bankers Association became one of my clients because of that interview. Winterhill Graphics is the customer, without this particular customer my business would not have survived. The company president made sure to buy all his product from my company – his trust in me and my company goes beyond a client relationship we are a trusted partnership.
Contact Info:
- Website: identityplusllc.com
