Rising Stars: Meet Heather Feliciano

Hi Heather, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Hey everyone my name is Heather aka GODDI which stands for highly confident, of the best quality, glowing, good energy!!! I’m 100% Puerto Rican and proud of my Latina-owned business: Pynkhouse!!! I started Pynkhouse from scratch I thought of a name and worked with a friend on what I wanted my logo to look like and she was born! I love The color pink and I wanted to give anyone and everyone a piece of what’s inside of my closet which is the house everyone wants to visit lol I love to shop and make silent statements, I don’t have to be the loudest one in the crowd but my outfits will definitely scream for me. I love stand-out accessories like sunglasses and purses things that complement each other that are fresh and fun!!! I know how to make something out of pretty much anything. I just have an eye for items that literally call me! I also don’t buy what I like, I buy what I LOVE!!! I learned that from one of my older cousins whose another fashionista in the fam!!

Ever since I was younger, I always wanted to own a business. MY OWN business. I wasn’t sure exactly what it would be until one day, a switch went off in my mind. I’m always getting compliments from my friends, family and even strangers on my outfits or specific things like my sunglasses or my purse even down to how I style my hair and makeup. My unique fashion sense of throwing things together and making it hot is the reason why I made this happen I wanted to bring fun funky and most of all FRESH TO MY AUDIENCE!! I decided that I was going to start a business selling things that I would actually wear!! Sunglasses, purses, MAGNETIC lashes that are great for on-the-go ladies and I’m even starting my own cosmetic line which will launch early next year!!! I’ve always wore different color lip stains and have been super creative with how I bring color and style together so that’s something I want to bring to life like how I brought my magnetic color eyeliners to life. I customized some of my purses on the site and magnetic lashes are the go-to for when a girl is on the go trust me they are the ultimate time savers!! I’m a single a mom and my son who is an artist is my motivation. I’m paving the way and showing him that nothing in life is handed to you, you have to work hard and move right and as long as you stick to the plan those blessings will always be activated. I always tell him you could do anything you set your mind to and if you don’t like something you have the power to change it!

Showing him to stay true to himself and not to be afraid to be himself is my goal as a mother and also my goal to my audience. If you love it rock it and make it hot!!! Be unapologetically YOU! I’ve worked a lot of different jobs in the field. I grew up in Brooklyn, NY. The concrete jungle is what made me the hustler I am today. I moved to jersey when I was in Highschool but I never left Brooklyn until I had my son that things changed for the better for me. Working two jobs and attending two different schools isn’t easy but it’s what I needed to get my game on. Cosmetology school and college working towards my Early childhood education degree is my priority and why I have the appetite for greatness because I know what I want and will do. The days are long but I know it’s worth it in the end. I don’t know how I manage to do it being mom on top of it all but if god brought me to it, there’s no doubt he will bring me through it. I come from a place where people just talk about it but not many actually be about it, starting PYnkhouse was me being about it. Standing on exactly what I say I’m going to do no matter how many people told me I was “buggin” (crazy) or just laughed like yeah ok because they doubted me all that is just fuel for my rocket. Me starting a brand that’s all me makes me so proud and even more passionate because I did what I said I was going to do and I’m proud! The hands on my logo are my actual hands and that crown is a symbol of beauty, greatness and strength!!! We all have to hold our heads so the crown does not slip! And to hold your head takes strength! Being the third born to my parents out of four girls was a big deal because I’m their miracle baby, born premature at 23 weeks and barely making it but making it is a symbol of my strength! I’ve been a fighter since the day I was born!! I can say most of my fashion sense came from my mother older sisters, and cousins the woman in my family all helped build the force I am today and there’s a lot of women in my family! They all shaped me into who I am to be bold beautiful and most of all confident. I will always be greatful for that.

My mom is a fashionista and my sisters are as well they have their own style myself included which made it fun and also inspiring. Four girls, can you imagine the catfights from stealing each other’s clothes? Lol, my hustler’s ambition came from both parents my father who came from Puerto Rico with barely anything but an inheritance that wasn’t much but it bought us our very first home in Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY he did real estate for a little and also has his own business till this day working with horses and a petting zoo was the fun part of my childhood lol, and my beautiful mother who is the strongest person I know (Puerto Rican as well) also worked her whole life and had a side hustle crocheting and knitting clothes. When I was a baby, I was so tiny nothing fit me so she use to make my clothes and when I got big and went to school she use to pick me up and have her little outfits on hangers advertising her creations to all the moms that picked up their kids too! My grandmother was a single mom to 8 kids was also another hustler selling her infamous pasteles a delicious Puerto Rican delicacy that brought us all together and other families as well. I think that being a hustler was something that was instilled in me since before birth and in my blood and I’m proud of it because there’s no excuses on this side, WE MAKE IT HAPPEN with or without A MAN!!!

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?
Smooth not at all like jay Z said in one of his lyrics “My life ain’t rosey, but I roll wit it” is exactly what I can relate to. As kids, we had everything we needed but the environment wasn’t the best my parents didn’t always get along, but it never dimmed my light no matter how hard things got it only fueled my fire to be better. I wanted to prove to them and myself and every doubter that it doesn’t matter where you come from YOU CAN DO ANYTHING, all you need is a dollar and a dream! When I had my son at 21, it was him who saved me and I him. I knew that I had to be great I had to be someone he can look up to, it was hard when I became a single mom but I knew that it wasn’t the end it was only the beginning thankfully his dad and I are good friends we make it work for the kid lol It wasn’t easy but I got through and I knew I didn’t want to keep working different jobs while my baby was in daycare.

One day everything came to a stop literally my whole world was on pause when I worked at a bank and was robbed and then a week later both me and my son who was three at the time were hit by a car. It brought me down I felt so helpless like why are all these bad things happening to me? I questioned god and my faith but I never lost hope and I never let the dark times get the best of me. I felt like my life was cursed but I had to stay strong and do what I had to do which was take care of my son who needed me the most at that time.  I was thankful we were alive, I’m always thankful for that but it was after that pause that lead me to the passions I have. One thing I learned is God is always on time and he always, all ways comes through for me. I went through a bad streak with work like literally no one was hiring me and it blew my self-esteem to the floor until a friend at that time was working in a daycare and she told me they were hiring, I volunteered for a week and the next thing you know I had a job and I grew to love working with kids I’ve learned so much about myself and my own child that I find it to be one of the biggest blessings, I grew to understand children on an entirely new level.

Even though I love it, I still had a hunger for something I can call mine, my business. I LOVE HAIR, WIGS TO BE SPECIFIC lol I said one day I’m going to be make one, one day I’m going to learn to cut hair and that’s when my next move started coming into play; my motivation grew. I just woke up one morning did my research and found a cosmetology school near where I live and from there, my life changed for the better. I was not only doing one thing I love I was now doing two!! I learned to take control of my reality, changing exactly what I didn’t like, I was working in a school where pretty much everyone was so unhappy like their lives became such a routine it wasn’t fun anymore and I told myself I don’t want to be like that and when I open my own center, I want everyone to be happy. I left that school on a mission to be better and went to another school closer to home, started cosmetology school, and started investing in myself! I did my research and I took that leap I had been dying to take and I’m so happy I did. I started my magnetic lash line called elevate and kill. I believe in order to elevate you have to separate yourself from distractions and kill comes from killing your goals, my brand Pynkhouse started coming to life, I made that wig I said I was going to make!!! And there’s plenty more to come! That’s when Standing on what I say came into full force, It’s only up from here! I have my days where I feel like I should do more and be more but then I tell myself that I’m doing the best I can and I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be, I’m doing it!!! Learning the business along the way!

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a nanny!!! I love it,  it’s one of the other jobs I manifested!! I’m a Boss and I plan to own my own daycare center, I’m a student in cosmetology school almost done!! I’m in between passions but PynkHouse comes first and then the rest will flow. I specialize in my creativity and confidence giving my all to the things I love doing both my business and childcare Pynkhouse is just starting it’s really a network that I’m going to make grow!! Starting with accessories and magnetic lashes!!! To customize wigs and extensions!!! I’m most proud of myself and my eagerness to succeed in everything I said I was going to do proving it to myself that life is exactly what you make it and standing in your own way is something we can all overcome. I’m known for being a great person whose spirit lights up any room I walk into, I’m a mother, a sister, a daughter, a friend and an uplifter to the end. Where I come from loyalty is everything and that’s something I’m staying true to in all aspects of my life, especially PYNKHOUSE. It’s all going to come together!

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
PynkHouse is going to blow up! The plan I have is unique and it’s going to change the game! I’m going to own my businesses and I want to do a lot of giving back to the community mostly single mothers and children, I do want to partner up with other small businesses and nonprofit organizations, but most of all, I want to give back to my island Puerto Rico it’s really beautiful and I want to make it even better. I pretty much want to do anything and everything I set my mind too!!! Learning and growing and networking as much as I can to make that impact and show little girls and women from the neighborhood that we can all make it and make it together. I want to have those resources that make people believe that they can do anything I also want to help the guys out so many young men grow up lost and thinking they have to prove something in a negative way I want to make that negative a positive! I also want to help my son build himself up as an artist as well as my baby sister whose another amazing artist coming. I want to help them get that gallery on and poppin lol I just want to be the best influencer I can be to myself and others!!