We recently connected with Thalia Castro and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Thalia thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
Back in 2020 PANDEMIC- like everyone else, I was stuck home- 4 kids homeschooling, remote working & I needed an outlet ! I never thought of myself as someone “crafty” I just worked behind a desk 9-5 and that was that.
Being home was nice but I needed an outlet to take my mind away from everything! I found candles. It all began with candles- making candles for myself, then making candles for my family & eventually actually selling candles- CRAZY! I couldn’t believe that I was actually making candles, selling them & people actually liking them and coming back for more.
At this point I’m making candles at home, 4 kids are still home, I’m trying to work remote (complete fail) and wanting to do more with candles I just didn’t know how or what.. then came local markets. I took the leap to sell MY candles at local markets and it was working. I make candles at home, sell them to people and make a profit it was making sense.
Fast forward to 1 year of making and selling candles, I then started hosting candle making workshops. Any event I wanted to be a part of it, birthdays, bachelorette parties, corporate events I was bringing the candle workshops to any event- I still host candle making workshops till this day. But back then I felt like I wanted to do more- I felt like there was space for growth so I started to think “what else can I do that will give me this creative freedom, time freedom & incorporate with the events I’m already doing with candles…
One night- 2022 I’m working a market selling my candles and I see a vendor doing permanent jewelry, I’m like “what the fu** is that” I was extremely intrigued & so I walk over and get a permanent bracelet put on – I was amazed. I didn’t know how, I didn’t know who, what, when or why BUT I knew that this thing called permanent jewelry was exactly was I was looking for to grow. I truly could not stop thinking about it. At this point I’m working a new office job that I was so thrilled about starting but hated working at, kids are back in school and I have this idea in my head that I can’t stop thinking about.
I knew we had some money saved, I knew taking a risk on investing into a whole other “hobby” was a risk, I knew not having a stable job with 4 kids was a risk, I knew my husband being the sole bread winner was going to be a risk but no risk no reward… in March of 2023 AMORBELLIA permanent jewelry was born.
I took the risk and made the investment, all while still working this desk job that I hated. I knew if I wanted this business to work I had to go ALL IN & that’s exactly what I did. I was working 20+ markets per month, any event that I could get in I was determined to be apart of, sometimes 2-3 events per day, my husband working events while I was home with the kids or vice versa I was extremely persistent. About few months in and I’m catching myself calling off work to do events during the week for this permanent jewelry thing but I didn’t even hesitate to do so.
I woke up one Tuesday morning, woke my husband up and told him I was quitting my job. I showered, got myself dressed, packed up all the computer equipment, drove my happy ass to the office, returned everything and quit.. that same day I had an event to work 🙂 I haven’t looked back
I can’t take credit for the idea because I obviously didn’t come up with it all I can take credit for is my drive to make it work. Permanent jewelry I see it as a way of self expression- where one can wear their favorite pieces of jewelry all day everyday without the need to take off and remember to put back on- simple.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Thalia, wife, mom to 4 kids, a dog, and I’m in an entrepreneurship. I don’t come from entrepreneurial parents, I don’t come from a crafty family, I come from work your ass off to get what you want.
When really diving deep into what permanent jewelry meant to me- it meant freedom. Freedom in the sense of saving time, saving money & feeling my best all day everyday. As someone who has extreme sensitive skin I never wore much jewelry because I didn’t have the money to afford solid gold and fake jewelry would have me breaking out so I just didn’t wear it. In my collection of chains I offer 14k gold filled and .925 Sterling silver- materials that are hypoallergenic, nickel free & non tarnish. I couldn’t believe at first that I could wear such cute pieces literally all day everyday in the shower, beach, pool I mean I was stunned & I didn’t have to take it off- win!
I started this business knowing absolutely zero about business itself, jewelry, investing, managing, sourcing, welding, I mean just ground zero is where I was starting but I was determined and that was enough fuel in my fire to keep going. It’s not a hobby, it’s not part time, it’s not for fun (although I have fun doing it), it’s not a let’s try it out see how it goes, AMORBELLIA is my entire life, my livelihood, my kid’s livelihood- I don’t take it lightly.
Everything I have physically and mentally is 100% invested in my business and what I provide to you. You can trust that I would go above and beyond if it has my name on it.
AMORBELLIA permanent jewelry is such a unique experience that I want to share with as many people as possible! We can bring the AMORBELLIA experience to any event big or small- birthdays, weddings, corporate, team building, bridal events, festivals, indoor or outdoors & so much more! Group pricing, individual pricing and hourly rates are available.
Most people don’t realize that what usually goes bad on a traditional piece of jewelry is a clasp… once the clasp breaks you have to take it to a jeweler, pay to get it fixed.. or maybe you never take it to get fixed because you keep putting it off.. even better it doesn’t fit either too small or too big— I’m solving all of that!
Custom fitted on the spot! Clasp-Less so you don’t have to worry- leave it on & forget it!
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
BE YOURSELF. Before my business I didn’t have personal social media- I started social media because of my business so started from zero.
I don’t know marketing but I know me and I know my business so I ran with that.
Who is AMORBELLIA ? Thalia
Who is Thalia? AMORBELLIA
I am the face of my business, and that’s one thing I was able to control.
I shared events I was doing, I shared new styles, I was excited to show what I was doing, I created a brand that felt like me. A following didn’t mean I was booked and busy a following just meant that people are intrigued with what I’m doing and for whatever reason they wanted to see more of it so I just kept giving it to them.
We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.
The day I quit my job, there was no more “side hustle” it was all or nothing for me.
Few months into AMORBELLIA I decided I wanted to open a studio, all I knew is that I thought it would be a good idea for people to have a place they can come to any day, any time unlike a market or pop up event that only happened periodically- so I opened a studio. I was so excited that I even did a “mini grand opening” that only me, my husband and my kids attended.
The studio was in a building so unless you knew I was in there.. you didn’t know I was in there which was hard because I didn’t know how I would promote that I was in there. Passing out flyers, telling everyone at the markets I was still doing about my studio space, trying to host mini groups it was slow but I still didn’t give up.
1 year into the studio I got the opportunity to be in a new location .. which honestly scary because I’m still new to this… I have this studio that I’m paying monthly and barely making ends meet now I’m about to invest more money, time & effort into another location but let’s do it!
September of 2024 we opened our kiosk in ICON PARK ORLANDO. We get to hang out and have fun with all the tourists that visit my home for vacation- there’s no better feeling! Happy to say we are thriving and loving every second of our little home of ICON PARK
September 2025 I opened up a second kiosk inside a mall & as fast as I opened it is as fast as I closed it. Going into it I knew it would be different but I wasn’t ready for the business losing money different – so I closed it.
I’m thrilled to say that as of today AMORBELLIA is serving everyone at ICON PARK everyday, all year long! Additionally, we travel for all sorts of mobile events where we bring our unique experiences to you and your guests to create long lasting memories and I, Thalia, cannot wait to show you what we offer.
Contact Info:
Image Credits
Ruthy Deal
The Miolans Photo Film
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