Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Cil & Mercy Arias. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Ms. Cil Designs was born because of our love for personalized clothing and accessories. 2020 was a year to reinvent oneself because of the pandemic. During that difficult time, we had several ideas why we decided to try some luck with our custom pieces. Designing and creating was one of the things that kept us entertained and stress-free; and at that moment Ms. Cil Designs was conceived but not yet launched. We had started with our custom shirts as add on to Amanda Cil Photos’ services to help little ones and their families have the full experience during their photo session or event. It took us two years to finally share our ideas with the rest of the world. Custom birthday shirts are a staple for any kid. Bringing them to life and seeing how happy entire families get leave us speechless every time. We feel this is just the beginning because birthday shirts and hair bows are not the only things we want to create and offer. As a mother-daughter duo, we want to continue to bring happiness to others and enjoy their smiles. We still have several projects to develop, and we can only hope that our clients love them as much as we love making them.
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?
For us specifically, the road has had some little bumps along the way; it hasn’t been smooth at all. When we decided to start the business, it was very scary. There is a lot of competition and the uncertainty of not knowing if people were going to like what we had to offer delayed the entire process of sharing our products with the world. We had to learn new skills and learn how to properly use new materials. We are talking about months of learning and developing new techniques to bring the best products we could. Our main niche are kids, and we can all imagine how hard to please kids can be and that was also scary for us. Kids can be very demanding with their preferences, and we decided to give it a try anyways. We are seeing results already which eases our tension a little bit. There’s a lot of people that focus only on the results, but we understand that the process to get to said results is as equally important. Other than that, our family supported since day one and our clients have been the most loyal clients ever.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Our creations are based on conjoined effort, patience, creativity, and love. We love to keep in mind that everyone has a different personality and likes, or necessities are never going to be the same. We love for people to be unapologetically themselves and that they have the right to express it, that’s why we make sure to have designs for all people. We are a mother-daughter duo like we mentioned previously. Yet, the creative mastermind is Mercy (mom). Her specialty is hair bows for girls. From designing the fabric to cutting it and ultimately assembling them. My mom creates hair bows like a musician creates music, so effortlessly. Each pair is made with love and lots of patience. She likes to say that she’s a frustrated artist because she loves almost all types of art and just now, after the pandemic, she’s had the chance to create with her own hands our products giving a unique personality to each.
We love to believe that what sets us apart from others is our transparency, modesty, and professionalism when we interact with our clients. We treat our clients with respect and kindness so we can create together a design that makes justice to the ideas they bring. We are beyond proud of the acceptance and support we’ve had so far. We know that in the arts in general creativity is infinite, no piece will ever be the same as a piece from another artist. Because each artist’s mind is a different world. We want to thank VoyageMia Magazine for supporting business like ours and for helping our dreams.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
To those that are just starting out: DO NOT EVER STOP. Don’t stop dreaming; don’t stop working; don’t stop creating. It is important that each one of you continues to do what feels right even if at that moment people don’t support your ideas. Be true to yourself and continue working for what you want and most importantly, for your dreams. When you have an idea, it’s important that you work on it, even if it doesn’t end up as initially conceived, the process alone will make you gain in experience. We wished we knew when we were starting out, how hard beginnings can be and how difficult raising a business can be. Yet, it’s never impossible [to start a business]
Contact Info:
- Email: ms.cildesigns@gmail.com
- Website: https://www.amandacilphotos.com/mscildesigns
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ms.cil_designs/
Image Credits
Photos by: Amanda Cil Photos, LLC
