This Art Exhibit Is Made of Chocolate (and You Can Eat It)

In our series Selfmade U, we’ll tackle the most common questions and pain points that come up for business owners with tips and tricks from Selfmade, a virtual business coaching program, founded by Brit + Co founder Brit Morin and sponsored by Office Depot OfficeMax. We’ll hear from Selfmade members and business coaches on what it takes to run a successful business and make it as an entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurship can be demanding, challenging, unpredictable, and deeply satisfying. The wins, big and small, help you rise above the challenges and there are so many perks to being your own boss (set your own schedule, do creative work you love, work from wherever, to name a few). But sometimes you can find yourself stuck on a problem – with nowhere to turn.

“I didn’t really feel like I had a community around me here in Maryland. We moved after the pandemic to be closer to my husband’s family,” says Lucia Diaz, a first-generation Colombian-American and the founder of LUCIA DIAZ, a Latina-owned business dedicated to empowering and honoring Latinas through illustration. “My artworks are a reflection of my commitment to provide cultural representation and instill pride in mujeres poderosas.” That is, powerful women like her.

Lucia turned to Selfmade, receiving an Office Depot OfficeMax scholarship to the program, to help her connect with business mentors and other female founders. “Being the first one in my family to build a business of this magnitude, it's really comforting to have mentors, especially of color or who come from first-generation immigrant families,” says Lucia. “The Selfmade Community is just an outpouring of love and just lots of great women who understand what you're going through and help put you in the right direction with the right resources.”

Lucia has had a banner year, her third in business. She has partnered with major fashion and beauty brands, like Tiffany & Co., Chanel, and Estee Lauder, and has curated a show of 100 LatinX artists at the The Oculus Center in NYC for Hispanic Heritage Month. We caught up with Lucia before she was heading out to NYC to speak at the United Nations Science Summit about the digital art exhibit.

Here’s Lucia’s day in the life!

6AM I start my day early, doing a lot of journaling, meditation, giving my cats some love and attention. My Selfmade mentor was like, “You can't just get up and go and just read emails. You have to do something for yourself first!” I've noticed that once I do my morning routine and just really focus on myself first, I tend to have a much better day.

7AM I head to the gym and listen to one of my favorite audiobooks, “I Will Teach You to Be Rich" by Ramit Sethi or "Wealth Warrior" by Linda Garcia, running at my own pace (AKA not super fast!). This is something that I established this year. I feel like I'm much happier now and I feel so grounded and connected to self.

9AM I record two The Art of Representation podcast interviews. Today's interviews were withAlyssa Reynoso-Morris, an Afro-Latina author, and Vero M. Estrada, a life coach. I use Zencastr to record the episode and then I'll use Canva to automate my podcast bookings. To collect guest information, I'll use Google Forms, which will help me create the blog post for fearlessyaya.com. Finally, I'll prepare the podcast links and content for social media. To save time, I'll also schedule social media reels in advance.

12PM I enjoy a lunch of my mom’s amazing beef and potato empanadas. Whenever I visit her, she'll always pack me some empanadas even though I tell her to rest now that she’s retired.:) I am from Colombia and I always feel connected to home through food.

1PM I answer emails and work on my United Nations speech for next week. I'm researching every panelist and just really digging through their history, so I can ask them specific questions.

I'm super honored that my friend Sandy Martinez selected me to be the first moderator. I remember being a little girl presenting a book report and being so nervous. Now I'm presenting to the UN and it's crazy. It's a dream. When I told my dad he teared up and my mom was bawling. She's like, “How is it that we migrated to this country and now you get to speak to delegates from not only all over the world but delegates also from Colombia.” So it's really powerful.

The main thing that I will touch on is the work that I've been doing with an orphanage in Colombia called CASA HOGAR NAZARETH. For the last seven years, I've been able to donate proceeds. Last year, I was able to donate a whole collection’s worth of proceeds to the orphanage because I had a really great year. My grandfather, Manuel, was an orphan. He raised 12 children, was a rural farmer, and became a leader in his community and made sure to take care of others. That's what he instilled in me. If there's enough for me, there's enough for everybody. We can make it work.

3PM I Zoom with some of the artists to help them upload their artwork for the exhibit. I want to make sure they can all participate. They are artists from all over Latin America, from the Caribbean, from Venezuela and Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and some don’t speak English. I want to make sure they have their chance to show in NYC, many for the first time.

4PM I edit my podcast episodes using Final Cut Pro. I have a passion for video editing. I also create eye-catching thumbnails for YouTube and social media using Adobe Photoshop. My workflow involves scheduling episodes two months in advance, which I attribute to my detail-oriented nature – perhaps it's my inner Virgo shining through!;)

6PM I have dinner with my husband. He is the one who encouraged me to take the leap and start my business. He’s been so supportive.

7PM After dinner, we like to walk by the creek. It’s something my mom and dad used to do. In Colombia, there are a lot of waterfalls and little lakes and places that you would go and reconnect with nature.

8PM I work on my artwork. Fridays are my days for my own art, where I illustrate and I draw for myself. I don't have an agenda. Sometimes it is personal illustrations. Other times it's illustrations of incredible women in the Latin community. I don't take meetings on Fridays. I'm not posting anything on Instagram. I'm not answering any phone calls or emails. I literally hide my phone in my safe and I asked my husband to change the code [laughs].

Lucia also started a stationery business and uses her printers from Office Depot to support her print business. “Aside from my services, I develop greeting cards and stationery and work on showing how through stationery we celebrate the holidays and milestones in our Latinx community.”

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Illustrated by Daniela Jordan-Villaveces

Meme. Scroll. Headline. Scroll. Dreamy video of the oceanscape. Scroll. Uplifting quote in lettering. Scroll. Sponsored ad. Scroll, scroll, scroll. And so goes the routine of the mindless social consumption that occupies, admittedly, way too much of my downtime. Just me? I didn't think so.

I don't know about you, but often when I'm in this mode, I'm on straight autopilot. So in those moments when I stumble on content that brings me to pause and reflect, I'm so grateful for the creators that breathe new life into our endless wanderings on the interwebs. If your feed is in need of some CPR, let me point your attention to the playful and thoughtful work of illustrator and storyteller, Andrea Campos, whose creations are as refreshing as her backstory.

As we dive into her journey, let's first rewind to 2020. Remember how it began? It was pre-pandemic times, back when we were still excited to be starting a new decade. 20/20 vision, we chanted and captioned, fully leaning into the apt cliche in its full glory. I mean, it felt like we all were declaring that this year would be our year, one when our lives came to attention, reinvention, and realization.

For Andrea, this sentiment was the hallmark of her mindset going into the roundness of the new decade.

At the time, she was working in marketing, insatiably craving more creativity, autonomy, and purpose. And with no insight as to how the world would soon be turned upside down, she decided to gather her savings and take a dip into the world of creative entrepreneurship... right before the fullness of COVID-19 took hold of society.

Talk about timing! Nevertheless, despite the increased uncertainty that could have complicated her pursuits, this story has the happiest of middles (because it's definitely too early to call her current juncture "the end").

Here's the CliffNotes version: a doodler at heart, Andrea started a visual diary on Instagram to draw out her inner thoughts, moods, and feelings. And what started out as more of an act of art therapy and personal expression quickly catapulted into a full-fledged business, be it creating branded content for the likes of Athleta, being commissioned to create the artwork for Jimmy Fallon and Jennifer Lopez's highly anticipated children's book, Con Pollo: A Bilingual Playtime Adventure, or authoring books with her own byline. Let’s just say this go-getter deserves all of the flowers.

Are you looking to find your creative calling to design the work and life you love? Check out these tips Andrea credits for bringing her dreams full circle:

1. Give yourself unstructured time and space to get clear on what you want.

The first step is always getting clear on what it is that you want. For Andrea, this clarity came through a lot of trial and error. She experimented with different mediums and styles until she finally landed on something that felt authentic to her vision and voice. Once she found her groove, the rest fell into place organically. So if you're still exploring, don't be afraid to try out new things until you find a sweet spot that feels right.

"I decided to create an artist residency for myself where I was going to do creative things that just made me feel good. The objective was not to get a piece of artwork in the MoMA or get recognition," Andrea reflected. "It was just me doing what felt good. I tried to rebuild my confidence and my creative spirit through that. So at the end of March 2020, I decided to start painting again and start drawing again. I would go on these walks and collect flowers and make portraits out of those and just kind of kept playing and playing and playing. And through that, I started illustrating and it really sparked something in me."

2. Find a community of people who will support your vision.

One of the game-changing moments was finding a tribewho related to her voice and vision. When Andrea mustered up the courage to post her artwork online, she found an outpouring of support from family, friends, and strangers alike that helped validate her talent and gave her the push to keep going.

"My doodles were helping me process all of the uncertainties that we were feeling in those early pandemic days, and somewhere along the line towards the end of March 2020, I decided I'm going to share these on Instagram because they're funny, I'm bored and I don't have a community right now. I'm just stuck by myself in an apartment," she shared. "In the process of doing that, I realized that I tapped into something really special. My feelings were so authentic and what I was putting out there was so relatable that people started following along. They were feeling how I was: stressed, overwhelmed, confused by everything that was going on in the world. And my images captured that in a really kind of positive and sometimes playful way that made people feel like: 'okay, you get it, I'm going through this too.' And over the course of the next few months, it amounted to new followers. I was like, this is wild. I never expected this to be something that took off. It was purely just for fun."

3. Seek guidance and mentorship as you find your footing.

Even if you have a clear vision of what you want, it's okay toseek out guidance from people who have been there before. These mentors can provide clarity and reassurance that you're on the right track — and more importantly, they can help save you time and energy by sharing their own experiences and hard-earned wisdom.

"I tookSelfmade and I started to realize I don't have to work for someone else. I can actually work for myself. In the community, hearing all these success stories from women who spoke to our cohort changed me. Like when I heardJustina Blakeney, it was inspiring for me to see the progression in her story from artist to business owner to full-blown entrepreneur," Andrea recalled. "It was the first time a lot of these pieces started to click: like, oh, they're not mutually exclusive. You can do it all."

4. Invest in yourself and your craft — it will pay off.

As Andrea's following continued to grow, so did the opportunities to monetize her work. But it wasn't until she started valuing her time and talent that she was able to take her business to the next level. It was a huge lightbulb moment when she started seeing her art as a product, and not just this hobby that she did on the side.

“It's so great to be able to break the cycle of being a shadow artist or 'artist on the side' ,” Andrea said. "I remember Googling and trying to find the right pricing for my work. And some of the words from Selfmade were in the back of my mind, specifically around knowing your worth, making sure that you're asking for what you deserve, and having a rate that is reflective of your skills and talents.”

5. Be open to new opportunities... you never know where they might lead.

As Andrea's artwork continued to evolve, she found herself saying yes to new opportunities, even if she wasn't quite sure where they would lead. Andrea has kept an open mind — and it's paid off in a big way.

"I think if I could go back in time and whisper into the ears of my younger self, and say, you're going to do this, she would be over the moon. It's been a really beautiful journey and I am just letting the universe guide me at this point.”

Love learning new tips for creativity? Feeling inspired to jumpstart your own creative calling? Join the waitlist for Selfmade to transform your hobby into your hustle.

You and your friends have likely spent countless hours together, decoding everything from imaginationships to the best comfort shows to watch when you're sad. You've probably even settled into a designated role within the group. Maybe you're the super adventurous one, always suggesting friend date ideas for the group to try, while someone else always knows how to comfort everyone when life gets rough. But, have you ever wondered if you're the most empathetic friend in the group? That's easy, just ask Brianna Paruolo, LCMCH. She's the founder and clinical director of On Par Therapyso she knows how to recognize signs you're an empath, plus how to take care of yourself!

TL;DR

• Empathy is when "you feel what others are feeling."
• There are physical, emotional, social, and mental signs that you're an empath.
• You may be an empath if you get physically exhausted after being in crowds, feel anxious or overwhelmed in emotionally charged environments, feel responsible for other people's happiness, or you find it hard to distinguish your own feelings from someone else's.

Are there really assigned roles in friend groups or am I just imagining things?

Gary Barnes

Like I said before, it can seem like you and your friends unintentionally gravitate toward certain 'roles.' It's not like anyone woke up one day and decided, "I'm going to be the 'mother hen' of the group," but it tends to happen. Why?

Paruolo says, "In my clinical work, I've consistently observed that our friendship roles often mirror our early family dynamics. These patterns show up naturally — think about who in your friend group gets the first crisis call, who plans all the gatherings, or who everyone turns to for emotional support." I'm willing to bet you thought of a name for each scenario — including yours — because I know I did!

"Like in families, we each fall into specific roles that feel familiar to us," Paruolo further explains.

What actually makes someone an empathetic person?

cottonbro studio

There's so many definitions for empathy, but I thought it would be wise to ask a licensed professional for her opinion on the matter. "Empathy means to feel what others are feeling. You do not have to have a personal direct experience with something to feel empathy for another person," shares Paruolo.

For example, your friend could call to tell you she has to have fibroid removal surgery and is feeling scared. You may have never had surgery, but you could find yourself feeling the need to comfort her in spite of this. Paruolo says, "The cool thing about our brains is that we have mirror neurons, which means part of our brain is set up to feel what others feel. The ability to attune to others' emotional states comes naturally to some people, while others may need to develop this capacity more consciously."

Yaroslav Shuraev

To break it down even further, here's signs that Paruolo says point to your empathetic nature.

Physical Signs:

• Getting physically exhausted after being in crowds
• Feeling drained after social interactions, even enjoyable ones (OMG I feel so seen!)
• Needing extra time alone to recharge

Emotional Signs:

• Absorbing other people's emotions like a sponge
• Feeling anxious or overwhelmed in emotionally charged environments
• Finding it hard to watch violence or cruelty in movies/TV

Social Signs:

• Feeling responsible for others' happiness
• Having trouble saying "no" to people who need help

Mental Signs:

• Picking up on subtle changes in others' moods
• Being highly attuned to body language and tone
• Finding it hard to distinguish your feelings from others' feelings

It sounds like I'm the empathetic friend, but are there any downsides to this?

Mikhail Nilov

I've been an empath for as long as I can remember and I've found that I have to 'recharge' my social batteries at times. I thought it was because I was trying to be superwoman by fixing others' problems, but it turns out theres more to it than that. Paruolo says, "Empathetic friends and people have an uncanny ability to sense others' emotional states even when unspoken, and frequently need recovery time after intense social interactions. They tend to be deeply affected by others' experiences and naturally consider situations from multiple perspectives."

In the long run, she says it can be "distressing" for some people to always feel the feelings of others. Over time, she says, "it can cause you to shut down and retract." This can look like not being as quick to respond to the funny memes your friends send you or not even answering their phone calls right away.

cottonbro studio

But, this doesn't mean you're the only person who tends to go through this. "Many empaths struggle with maintaining boundaries due to their deep emotional attunement," she says. Color me guilty because this sounds so much like me. It got so bad at one point that my sister nicknamed me 'Captain Save-A-Lot,' which is actually the clean version of what she truly meant. Still, empathy fatigue is no laughing matter nor does it mean you're defected. You just have the natural ability to show people their feelings are important to you.

How can I protect my peace as the empathetic friend?

Kaboompics.com

You know you need to set boundaries, but what does that mean? Paruolo says, "The key is understanding that empathy needs to be balanced with compassion - it's not just about feeling others' emotions but also knowing how to help without depleting yourself."

One of the things she loves to do is "encourage empaths to set clear boundaries around their emotional availability and make time for regular grounding exercises." As with gratitude journaling, try to focus on an activity that calls for you to be present. Focus on what you can hear, see, touch, taste, and smell.

"Self-care isn't just a luxury; it's essential maintenance for empaths. This might mean scheduling alone time, finding a supportive therapist, or joining communities where you can process your experiences," Paruolo implores.

I know how to be there for others, but how do I ask for emotional support when I need it?

Vitaly Gariev

You may feel like it's impossible to ask others for help since your shoulders are the ones people cry on, but you're only doing yourself a disservice by not speaking up. No one's super resilient or able to handle all of their distressing feelings alone. We're not meant to.

It's the reason Paruolo wants you to speak up about what you need. "The most effective approach I've seen is being direct about your needs rather than hoping others will figure them out," she says. I made this mistake during postpartum and found myself expecting my family & friends to know exactly how I felt, but they're not mind readers. The more I verbally asked for help with little or big tasks, the more my mental and emotional load lightened.

Paruolo wants you to look at "asking for support as strengthening your friendships through trust and vulnerability, instead of waiting until you're overwhelmed." By the time you reach that point, you'll be ready to enter rage or full-blown shut down mode and they're not fun.

Avoid unlocking their proverbial doors by scheduling "regular check-ins with trusted friends," suggests Paruolo. "This creates a sustainable support system and helps prevent emotional crisis points.

We have even more self-care stories for you to dive into if you need a mental and emotional boost!