Today we’d like to introduce you to Lisa Patel.
Lisa, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Coming from a small town in North Carolina, I really was not exposed to the world. The country had about 23,000 in population. I was the high school jock and received a scholarship to play basketball in college. However, I cut my basketball career short and focused on my degree. I came out with a degree in Business. I started doing pageantry during college, which was a complete change from sports. Competition became embedded in my blood. I loved to compete and spent about 5 to 6 years, competing throughout the country. I became Ms. North Carolina United States in 2012. This led me to modeling and promotional work. I spent three and a half years on the road traveling and decided I needed to further myself by moving away from my small town.
Five years ago, at age 29, everything changed. Tampa, Florida became my new home and the struggle and happiness begin. I also earned the title of Miss Florida Galaxy and Ms. International World United States in Florida. Along with that came the rewards and lessons. At this point of my life, I consider any setbacks a step forward at the end of the day. As an entrepreneur, you learn very quickly that absolutely nothing is supposed to be perfect, and instead, the mentally becomes a survival mood by learning all the key aspects of a business. On a more exciting note, I moved myself into a high rise, which I thought I would never do, established some amazing relationships in the community, started to get involved in community events, and, as I developed, I started to learn that I had a purpose. With that said, I started two businesses. My first business, the Buki Agency, is a promotional marketing agency. I am turning the company into a marketing empire at the moment. We specialize in promotional staff, digital marketing, and event execution.
As COVID became another turning point worldwide, the Buki Agency was affected as well, which lead me to keep being creative, so overnight, I taught myself how to sew masks. That quickly became a business as I have sold over hundreds of masks. While sewing masks, it was saddening to see so many restaurants and businesses shut down. In my mind, I wanted to help but, how? Along with my company, I decided I would donate $5 of every purchase back to a local restaurant of the choice. The newest business is Masks Made with Care! It has been a phenomenal experience. As I continue my journey, I’m always thinking of creative new ways to do business and connect people. I have loved my journey as I have had some amazing experiences and met great people along the way.
I have always loved experiences and I most defiantly have had some amazing experiences including walking the runway for Australia’s top hairstylist, winning Top Model at Charlotte Fashion Week, being on the Tyra Banks Show, and meeting Shaquille O’Niel, I have been apart of some amazing charity events in the community as well! I was able to raise money for the Westchase Foundation for three years in a row as I was nominated to run for Tampa Bay’s Woman of the Year, was able to raise money for Young Angels by happily being a celebrity bartender (bartending is not my specialty), and was on Tampa Bay’s Dancing with the Stars as I brought in over 10K for Hands Across the Bay! If I can help in any way, I’m always there! My life has always been limitless and I will always continue with the entrepreneurial mindset always inching forward no matter what roadblocks are in front of me.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It defiantly has not been a smooth road. Entrepreneurship and business will never be easy. Running a business is always thinking ahead of all the possibilities of things going wrong. I have struggled with bad business partners and bad business relationships. All these aspects of the business have taught me to always read people before moving forward in order to grow a team and partnerships must exist. I have learned that I control the situations and therefore, I can navigate the way I vision things happening. During my journey with a bad business partner, I learned how not to do business but he also gave me insight on some other great things he was able to teach me. For example, always know all the ends and outs of your own business so you can guide and lead everyone involved. This is great advice as this is the key to building a great team to continue growing.
As an overall result of a bad influence that actually led me to incorporate my own company, I must say wasting a year and a half with bad blood was just a learning lesson to knowing I can do things on my own! There are no days that are the same, especially with the mask business. It’s been fun figuring logistically how to remain stable, how to continue gaining leads, leading a team of influencers, maintain marketing standards, cutting costs, etc. I love the process, as I have built a small team around me. I am always thinking creatively to provide unique ideas and concepts.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Masks Made with Care and Buki Agency – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
With the Buki Agency, we are a one-stop marketing company. We can provide website development, social media development, event planning, talent, influencers, and we staff brand ambassadors for different events. I love being able to provide insight for small businesses. It’s always fun to share ideas and help build companies on the marketing side. What makes us different is we have quite a few options to help a brand come to life. I love the free reign perspective and there are no limitations as we make brands sexy, give brands an image, and a life that no one forgets! We are the ultimate experiential marketing agency with an understanding of how important it is to have a great brand image. We see the luxury behind all brands. We listen to you about your weak areas and with our expertise, we provide value by going in and making your brand stronger.
As far as the Masks Made with Care, we provide custom masks. We have over 80 different fabrics to choose from and our customers can add logos and rhinestones to the order. All of our products are handmade. We also donate $5 of the purchase to a local restaurant of the customer’s choice! Our advantage is the community involvement as anyone in the nation can purchase a mask through us. It was a mission created after COVID 19 shut down restaurants and it was hard for me to see Restaurants permanently closing due to the loss of customers. We ship nationwide and customize accordingly. There is not a mask company with our mission, which is ‘Building community with one mask at a time.’ We love what we do!
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I personally would like to continue building both of the businesses I started and hire teams to operate. I also have been passionate about making unique designed swimsuits, so I am in the process of looking for a manufacturing company I can work with on the designing and product side. I have another golden concept that I am very anxious about and would like to get that off the ground once I find the resources that fit the vision. Stability is very key for my future, so I can continue being creative but yet have the resources in place to continue building the companies I have created. I must say, I love being creative and I love marketing! I am a firm believer in digital marketing, so I have been very aggressive in learning more about how I can be successful digitally. Overall, I must continue growing on the business side. On the personal side, I would like to continue building my personal brand to continue to gain credibility. I do enjoy giving back to the community and staying involved in events.
One of my goals is to win Tampa Bay’s Woman of the Year! I hope to accomplish that within the next year or so! I am all about being a stronger woman on a personal level and also on the business side. It means the world to me to have amazing experiences, work with amazing brands, and create the life I always wanted. I love empowering and providing wisdom for others to adhere by and also leading with prospective. Every day is a learning experience and it’s up to the individual person what they would like to take from every step they take. I also would like to get back into pageantry and win another title so I can be apart of amazing events and to give back. I have also dreams of creating a pageant system that is unlike any other! There is so much on my bucket list that it will always continue to grow. I am a passionate woman with a desire to continue a defined path of success.
Pricing:
- For Masks Made with Care our custom masks start at $25 or if you purchase 3 or more they are $20 each. Logos and rhinestones cost an additional $5. (Logos must be 1 color) Bulk orders are available.
Contact Info:
- Address: Buki Agency and Masks Made with Care are located at 777 North Ashley Drive #2504 Tampa, FL 33602
- Website: www.masksmadewithcare.com, www.bukiagency.com, www.lisagpatel.com
- Phone: 828-773-7747
- Email: bukiagency@gmail.com or masksmadewithcare@gmail.com
- Instagram: @bukiagency @masksmadewithcare @lisagpatel
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/bukiagency and www.facebook.com/masksmadewithcare
Image Credit:
Pink Dress – Chris Carlile: Carlile Image Works
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