Today we’d like to introduce you to Marcela Fiol.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
The Muse Group is composed of The Muse Lingerie and The Muse Sunless Tan. It all began 18 years ago when my husband, Julio and I immigrated to the United States from Argentina. After three years of cleaning movies theaters, houses, working in retail, among other jobs, we decided to do what we really knew and loved so we could succeed in this wonderful land of opportunity.
Back in Argentina, both Julio and I had studied lingerie design. Coming to a new country, we had to start almost from scratch but we were determined to succeed no matter what. We knew this would not be easy, but we also knew it would be worth it in the end. We thought the best place to start was with an education. So both Julio and I went back to school while we also worked on the other jobs we had at the time. Julio studied fashion design and I studied business administration so that, together, we could create The Muse Lingerie, an elegant, modern, and versatile lingerie line that was as unique as the women wearing it. We saw there was a demand for high quality lingerie made in the U.S. so we focused on that.
Like most entrepreneurial journeys, ours was full of difficult times both on the personal and the professional fronts. One of the biggest challenges occurred after 5 years of getting started when Julio was diagnosed with melanoma (skin cancer). It’s not easy to live with melanoma in Florida, the sunshine state but we think Florida is one of the best places to live because of the weather, the people and the diversity so we learned to adapt to a new life that no longer included beach, sun and natural tanning.
Us Argentinians love our tans! But since tanning under the sun was no longer an option for us, and since we knew indoor tanning could also have harmful effects on the body, we began to try many self-tanners. I can’t remember how many self-tanners we tried but the undesirable patterns were all the same: pigmentation wasn’t right, it was very messy, they would sometimes stain fabric, and they were often difficult to apply… catastrophic. This was the case for a long time until about three years ago, when we came across a product called Sunless Tan Glove. After testing it, we were amazed at the results. All the issues we had previously encountered with other self-tanning products were fully solved with this glove and formula. So, we decided to bring this product to the USA under our brand, The Muse Sunless Tan.
The Muse Sunless Tan is an easy to use self-tanning glove with a special formula that gives the body a uniform and almost perfect tan. It is, in essence, a cotton glove with a clear formula that works with each person’s skin pigmentation, so the shade of the tan is very similar to the shade a person would naturally get from tanning under the sun.
This product has a very special place in our hearts because, after learning about Julio’s skin cancer, we started to learn more and more about the harmful effects of the sun and the tanning beds so we feel it is now our mission to share this with as many people as possible so they never have to go through what Julio and I went through.
One of our main objectives with our lingerie line is to empower women to feel confident and beautiful regardless of their body type. Now, with The Muse Sunless Tan we can also empower men to feel younger, healthier, and happier to rock a sexy tan without any of the sun’s damaging effects! We think that lingerie and body care are the perfect combination. Just like Julio and me: true partners in life and business.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The road was not smooth at all, but we think this is a normal part of life and business.
As I mentioned earlier, it was difficult for both Julio and I to deal with his health issues. To add wood to the fire, just two years ago, I too was diagnosed with cervical pre-cancer, but I never give up. It’s very hard to focus on your job when something like that happens, but my job was actually what kept me positive because it kept my mind busy thinking about the positive emotions we want to bring to other people through our products. When you love what you do and believe in yourself and in your business, everything just flows and you’re able to see that for every negative experience, we can always find a positive. And this is absolutely priceless…
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about The Muse Sunless Tan – what should we know?
We don’t look at our business as a products business. We see it as a people business. More than on objects, we focus on experiences. This means we take our time to listen and advise our customers because what they truly need is more important to us than just the products we offer. For a long time, our mission has been to spread positivity by bringing out the best in women so they can recognize the confidence and beauty they already have within themselves. Since we added The Muse Sunless Tan to the suite of products, we have been able to do the same for the men who also want to feel healthy, confident and, yes, beautiful.
The products we market are a true reflection of my husband and me. We love what we do so much that it is easy for us to spread this love and enthusiasm to everyone who comes into contact with us. I think this coupled with our respect for the uniqueness in each individual is part of makes us different from other similar companies in this market.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
First, we are very grateful to our clients for trusting us to always deliver a high quality product and experience. We have been blessed with coming across incredible individuals and we deeply value keeping a healthy long term relationship with each and every one of our clients.
Second, we are very thankful to our team and everyone who has supported us throughout our journey. These are the people who have either been part of or witnessed our evolution. We would like to especially thank Daniel Hall, for supporting us with all the photography of our website and trade shows; Mari Cruz for making our models even more beautiful with her spectacular makeup art, and our wonderful friend, Jane Diaz, with her fabulous and trendy marketing ideas.
Contact Info:
- Address: 433 Plaza Real, suite 275
Boca Raton, FL 33432 - Website: www.themusesunlesstan.com www.themuselingerie.com
- Phone: 9545316035
- Email: info@themuselingerie.com
- Instagram: @themusesunlesstan @themuselingerie
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheMuseSunlessTan/
- Other: https://www.facebook.com/BePureInspiration/
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