BEAUTIFUL BIRTHDAY BREAKFAST BASKETS
Happy Friday friends! I hope you´ve had a very happy and blessed week. If you're needing a little inspiration, you've come to the right place! I´ve really enjoyed learning from our guests and their stories. In the first week, Daniela Roa motivated us to dream and create (click here to read). In the interview with my dad last week, we learned about the place Christians have in the business world (click here to read). Today, I am very excited to share the story of a business that started in the middle of the pandemic. Let's read and enjoy the story of Hope Para Ti (Hope For You), with my beautiful friend who's like a sister, Saida Calderón!
Every year on my birthday I would wake up to a delicious breakfast, a small dessert, and a candle to make a wish. I never imagined that this tradition I grew up with at home would later inspire me to dream of having a breakfast company one day. Honestly, it never ever really crossed my mind. I love making people happy and always believed that birthdays are a very special day.
I always dreamed of having a coffee shop, an event planning company, or selling Bible-inspired stationary. For many years, I tried over and over to make the idea in my mind a reality, but neither timing nor financial conditions were ideal, so I never did. On the other hand, I never thought I´d be out of a job for a year and that this situation would be the opportunity for the dream in my heart to come true, though it was not within reach in my mind yet.
Everything started with a need. August is a special month because several people who are very important to me have their birthdays on this month. I wanted to give them a gift but didn't have the financial resources. However, I did have time, creativity, and the ability to surprise them and make them happy. A friend suggested I send a birthday breakfast basket to one of them and that's when the idea came to me. We can gift them a breakfast basket if the others put in the money to buy supplies and I make the breakfast. The money came as a result of me accepting the challenge.
I delivered the breakfast baskets to the birthday girls, and they were just as happy and excited as I was. It was a surprise to hear them say: “Why don't you start making breakfast baskets and promoting them? You´d have some sort of income during this time¨. My internal response was: “But I don't have money to invest in supplies. But everyone is selling the same thing. But I don't have a platform to advertise them. But people aren't going to buy from me because there are other options much better than what I do”. I´d say that almost every time the first thing that comes to mind is the "buts". I think the hardest part was to get rid of the thoughts that told me I couldn't do it and say, "I'm going to try!" So what was the next step I took? Acted in faith and shared it!
A few friends began to invest in my dream after I shared the idea with them and declared with faith that I was going to start a breakfast business. Then the adventure of looking for a name began. I remembered a very curious situation that happened precisely for Nadi´s 🌟 birthday. A butterfly came into one of the rooms in my house, and if it had been up to me, I would´ve opened the window and let her go. But my mom loves animals and adopted her as a pet! (haha) I don't know if you know, but butterflies only live about 15 days, but this butterfly stayed with us for almost three weeks, so I named her Hope.
At the beginning of the year, I put some stickers on my book of dreams, one of which was a butterfly. Shortly after our butterfly died, I realized that the same white butterfly with black dots was there (in sticker form) on my book, with the name 🦋 Hope beside it. This was surprising and helped me understand that this was not my dream, it was God's dream. That's when I knew why 🦋 Hope (the butterfly) had come to me; Hope wasn´t just meant to be my business´ name, but the reason why I could, and should, start making breakfast baskets. It wasn´t just about the income, but about sharing hope and making others happy on a special day.
I don't know how to explain the joy I feel every time someone places an order, it's a joy that springs up from my heart. Hope started as a source of income for my temporary needs but became part of my dreams and future projects. Now, I spend my days thinking about how I can improve my ideas, my recipes, and how to be more efficient.
Getting up every morning is still a challenge, but I motivated by the opportunity to put love and hope into the simplest things that will impact every person's heart and be reflected in their smile. That is the most wonderful reward and best payment that only a person who loves what they do can experience.
What an awesome story! Thanks for sharing your journey with us, Sai!
Maybe you have a dream that´s been sitting on your heart for a while. Here are a few things I learned from Saida that you can put into practice to make that dream a reality:
Get past all the reasons why you shouldn´t and cling to the reasons why you should!
Seek God and let Him guide you. Where He leads, He provides.
Be generous with the service you provide, the product you create, or the idea you develop.
Check out Hope Para Ti on Instagram: @hope_para_ti
That is all for today, dreamers!
