Celestina and Co. – Hair Accessories and Petticoats Fit for a Princess

Mompreneur:    
Ethel Faye Bernales


Her business idea:        
Celestina and Co. is an online store selling beautiful handmade baby head bows, clips and petticoats that are unique and with a vintage flare, giving moms fantastic options when accessorizing their baby girls.  Her products boast of great quality at an affordable price.  Price for a chic hairclip starts at P60 and her most expensive handmade headband retails at P250.  Her gorgeous hand sewn petticoats sell for P1,250 to P1,450 each.  


How it all started:
When Ethel had her second child, a darling girl named Celestina, Ethel discovered how hard it was to find nice head bows and clips for her daughter.  She was a choosy mom, wanting only the best, and the local department stores did not offer a lot of options, while accessories from the US were too expensive. Ethel decided then to create her own baby hair accessories.  It took her over two months to do research on styles and search for materials and reliable suppliers.  She was able to finally launch her store in February of this year.  

 

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Future plans :
Since Celestina and Co. is just a few months old, Ethel plans to join bazaars to market her products and promote her store.  She aims to eventually find resellers who can offer her products in baby boutiques so she can concentrate on manufacturing and sourcing items and leave the marketing and selling to distributors.  One challenge she anticipates facing in the future is finding other people who can help her manufacture her products.  She wants to hire people who will ensure that the quality is always perfect.  These are people who have a keen attention to detail.  “I am sure I will have a difficult time letting go and having other people create my products because I always want them done my way.  I am meticulous about quality,” Ethel admits, “but I know that I will eventually have to find people to help me as I am already starting to get large orders.”


Wby being a mom is the greatest:
“My family is my number one priority.  My children are the center of my life.  They bring purpose to whatever I do and to my endeavors.” Ethel shares that her kids bring her great joy.  When she comes home exhausted from work and sees her two kids so excited to see her, she is instantly renewed.  “It’s the little things that matter, such as the hugs that welcome me home from a tiring day at work,” Ethel states.  

 

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On work-life balance:
Ethel works full time at her husband’s business as a finance manager and manages her online shop on the side.  “It’s not in my nature to be a full-time stay-at-home mom,” she says. “I’m the type of person who wants to find an outlet for my skills.”  

Ethel strongly believes that for a working mother to achieve true work-life balance, she has to learn that she can’t always do everything.  She says, “You have to trust other people to do certain things for you.  You have to learn to delegate.”  Ethel shares that she is lucky to have a trusted nanny for her kids, the same nanny who looked after her husband when he was young.  “My nanny helps me oversee the children’s yayas.  I am blessed to have her.  When I am at work, I am assured that there’s someone who takes good care of my children.  When I get home, I can concentrate on just being with my kids and not have to worry about rushing to give them baths.”  


Advice for aspiring Mompreneurs:
Ethel says that doing what you love is very important.  Moms should build their businesses based on what they are really interested in.  They also have to be patient because online selling takes a lot of effort building your site, accommodating customers and catering to special requests, marketing your site and your products by giving promotions, finding partners, joining bazaars and creating blogs.  Make sure you know your customers so you can target them well.


Contact info:
Tel. No.  9520554
Mobile no.  09178451979
Email:  celestinaandco@yahoo.com
Website:  http://celestinaandco.multiply.com