Isabel Mendoza
About Isabel
Isabel is the Co-founder and CEO of childrenchic, an online boutique offering 100% made in Spain children‘s footwear and apparel. Raising three children in New York City, Isabel has a lifelong love of improving the well-being of communities around the world. She is proud to be Venezuelan and embraces the vibrance and value of multicultural communities.
How did you first become interested in fashion?
I always dressed in Spanish clothing, and I did the same when I had my children. I am obsessed with the quality of European children’s fashion. Their style is so chic!
What are the most important things you consider when curating your line?
I test everything with my own children before offering our line to our clients. I also divide my clientele into three different types, and I make sure I cover all three styles when curating our collections. Perhaps most important of all is the feedback of our customers. We always take their honest feedback into consideration when planning our looks.
What bumps in the road did you encounter as you were starting childrenchic? How did you overcome them?
When you start your own business you have to wear every cap you can imagine! I had to learn about law, real estate, logistics, customer service and even retail platform technology. The lack of experience in these areas made me outsource some business functions and learn from the experts. Working from home and committing to a schedule was not easy at the beginning. It was hard to focus, but practice makes perfect!
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How have you discussed COVID with your children?
We talk about it almost every night at dinner. These conversations have been very helpful for our kids in learning to value health and the importance of building family relationships. My message has always been that we are living this moment for a reason: to look around, feel grateful and enjoy the present moment not worrying too much about the future. My kids have learned that many circumstances are out of our control and that it takes patience to overcome tough situations.
What have you found the most challenging in regards to balancing family and work during this time?
Having my kids and husband with me for the past four months has made it hard to dedicate myself full time to my business. It has been challenging to organize my priorities for childrenchic, but it gets a little easier every day!
