By Ineabelle Soto

Back in Puerto Rico, I studied in a specialized, middle and high, school of arts. After graduating from college with a bachelor degree in advertising, I worked for 10 years in the advertising field and stopped when I gave birth to my daughter. But I felt the urge to go back to my creative side. I took a brief cake design course and started baking from home (@dulcelabakery). Even though it was something fun to do and business was good (and surprisingly growing), my husband and I felt that we needed to do something bigger than that.

When looking for that “big thing to do”, my husband and I started developing what’s today Artsy Hive. With our background in the arts, we started exploring the possibility of opening a business related to that. That’s when we thought of an experience we had in a pottery painting place we went with our daughter and thought of the things we would do differently. Pottery painting is an old concept and we felt that the options out there stayed in that old fashion era. When deciding to go for this concept, we wanted people of all ages to get inspired from the moment they stepped in, we wanted clients to feel comfortable in a space that is not only for kids, but for the entire family and all ages. Therefore, while designing the environment, we went for a clean, modern yet cozy shop.

We designed a place that we, as parents, wanted to come back not only with our family, but also with our adult friends.

It took us a year and a half to open our doors. With many good and bad days, stress and huge decisions to make. My biggest satisfaction and the second best feeling I have every day (the first one is when my daughter is back from school) is to open Artsy Hive‘s door, turn on the lights and put the music on. I always take a moment to see what we’ve accomplished. The beauty of the space. I feel in love every single day I come in. If we worked so hard to open, we must work harder to keep it that way, one day at a time.

Artsy Hive has taught me that I am brave. It is not easy to step out of the comfort zone. To wake up every day worried about how this project will change our lives forever and yet keep going forward. I learned it is not a decision to be brave, I learned it’s in you. 

I am a woman, daughter, granddaughter, wife, mother, friend, entrepreneur, creator, immigrant, active community member, among many other dimensions. I decided not to wear different hats. I won’t stop being a mother to be a wife, I won’t stop being a friend to be a woman. The best way to go in life is to apply every single facet in your everyday. While working at Artsy Hive, and in life in general, you must have empathy. All those facets we have as women we have to use them all in the best way we can. If there is a mom struggling to control her toddler, I would never step back and watch. I will always offer my help and understanding. That’s how I manage my multiple facets, using empathy, being humble and just being human. That’s also how I make connections with our clients. It’s a win-win.

Now that Artsy Hive is open, my hobby is to find things we can do with my daughter, spend our ‘free’ time with her. Although, I still have a passion to create things with my hands. When I am only me, Ineabelle, I’m at home and I lay down. I can’t nap, I don’t know why,  I like to just lay down. Netflix and chill, literally. I rest. As simple as that.

Many things have happened and are still happening during the journey of my 30s. I believe that it’s been a decade full of findings. My daughter was born when I was almost 30. Not only my purpose in life changed because of  her, but also my mind shifted.

I now think that this is the real age to make bold decisions and still have the stamina, energy and passion to do it (contrary to when I was in college). I thought that having a baby would stop me from doing something that felt right to be done. Fear, doubts, concerns, you name it, I feel it all, but still manage to do everything with them. I did it with fear, I did it with doubts and concerns. This is my mindset. I believe that in your 30s, you are mature enough to visualize yourself in a position and manage to plan the best way to achieve it. Only maturity can make you do that. I call it “the planned risks”.

My tips for another thirty-something doing it all like me?

1. Work for what’s right and for what feels right.
2. Find your Passion. Everything you do, do it with Passion.
3. I invite everyone to start a relationship with HIM. In my 30s, I received the call and decided to obey. That decision, changed my entire life for the best. I’m not a religious person, I just have a relationship with our creator.
4. You are awesome, you are amazing, you are a super woman and you are not alone. I’m here.

Ineabelle