Today we’d like to introduce you to Cristina Bustamante.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I always wanted to be a writer, but was always told that it wasn’t “practical.” Since I am nothing, if not practical, I graduated from law school in 2008. I practiced for a couple of years before becoming pregnant with my first daughter (Blake). After my maternity leave, I wasn’t too eager to get back to my cases full time. It was difficult to find a law firm that allows you to balance work with the demands of raising a newborn. I made the decision to stay home and focus on this new chapter of my life.
Turns out it was for the best because my husband and I welcomed our second baby (daughter- Dylan) and then our third baby (son- Tristan) within the next two years. After my son was born, I knew I needed to do something to occupy my mind outside of diapers and Baby Einstein. I began an online store called Baby Love Luna, and it quickly began to grow. I had never worked in retail before, but I was good at finding the trending brands and styles.
Before I knew it, I was four years in, raising these tiny humans and riding the harsh learning curve of the retail business. Through this time I began sending out weekly newsletters for the store, and it forced me to begin writing again. Even if it was just a small little moment of my week, it started to become what I looked forward to the most.
Eventually, I came to the difficult decision to close the store, and just focus on my writing which brings us here. Surviving, Cristina was created, and I share how hard it is to be a mom, funny articles about things like growing up in the ’90s and go in deep on my TV Addiction.
I send out a weekly newsletter with a funny story about whatever my kids are going through, and include some relevant pop culture or newsworthy articles to help people get through their week with some laughs.
Great, 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?
I think anytime you are putting out creative work there are struggles. You worry that what you are sharing isn’t going to be good. You worry that you didn’t have enough time to make the article everything you wanted it to be. You struggle with being vulnerable and allowing people in, because “what if they don’t like it- or worse what if they don’t like me?!”
It takes time to find an audience, and it can be especially hard on your ego. Suddenly every raging insecurity you have ever felt is creeping in, and if you allow yourself to listen to these voices, it can send you into a tailspin. I launched Surviving, Cristina a little over six months ago, and it’s still a process for me to hit upload on an article.
But it’s now become part of the reason I have loved this process so much. It takes me out of my comfort zone. If you have a dream or something you absolutely want to do, like writing- then you have to do it for yourself. Will you have people that don’t like your writing? Of course! Will there be people that think you suck? Absolutely.
Letting go of this was and is hard, but it applies to writing and to life. I have found that your people will love you, they will relate and will share their stories back with you. Your people will find you. You just have to keep writing.
Surviving, Cristina – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Surviving, Cristina is a blog that is hopefully known for bringing a funny spin to life and pop culture. If I can make someone laugh or help make someone’s day, then I think I can count it as a success.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I wrote an article titled “Insert Confidence Here” about how I was struggling with finding the confidence to continue writing and my journey back to realizing how I had to do it for myself and stop caring so much what other people thought.
I got so many kind notes and stories back- about people struggling with the same thing or letting me know that they were out there and appreciated the blog. It just made me feel so grateful for the entire process. Grateful to share, and even more grateful to be able to inspire even just one person to push forward.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1815 Purdy Avenue Miami Beach, FL 33139
- Website: https://survivingcristina.com/
- Email: cristina@survivingcristina.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/survivingcristina/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/survivingcristina/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/survivingcris
Image Credit:
Christian Arevalo
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