Introduction
The following interview introduces the story of Zoé Mazorra, a young entrepreneur living in Pembroke Pines, FL. Currently, she is only 21 years old, but her company, Zoe All Over, has a wide variety of products and many satisfied clients who leave reviews and follow the business’ popular accounts on social media. The story of such young and successful people is always interesting for other aspiring businesspersons.
Background
Zoe All Over is an online-based boutique that specializes in swimwear but also offers clothing items and accessories. As of this moment, the store is most popular among young women who are looking for simple but high-quality summer clothing with unique designs. Interestingly, Zoe All Over does not have any brick-and-mortar stores, offering its products with the help of an online store, zoeallover.com. The company is based in the founder’s hometown, Pembroke Pines, FL; the orders can be shipped to any part of the world.
According to Mazorra, she started the business by herself – her experience with previous ventures allowed her to create the plans and pursue specific goals. She is the only CEO of Zoe All Over, and she has been the only founder from the very beginning. Mazorra believes that her business is promising but not as successful as she thinks it can be in the future. She is positive that it can and will grow bigger, attracting new customers and, possibly, offering a wider variety of products to its clients. When developing the idea for her company, she devoted significant time to writing a business plan which allowed her to break even in approximately two years.
Mazorra states that her previous business experience showed the importance of planning for the future. Prior to creating Zoe All Over, Mazorra became an entrepreneur by selling handmade bows at the age of 14. With time, Mazorra has changed her course by developing an online store of swimwear and becoming the CEO of her own company as early as 18 years. She notes that her family did not have other entrepreneurs, but they were very supportive of her decisions. In fact, she brings up her mother as a great role model – an inspiring woman on whom Mazorra often relied for help. Apart from her family, she also names other Floridian designers such as Rosita Hurtado as sources of inspiration. Mazorra mentions that she is still studying at the Florida International University, and it helps her to perfect her business ideas.
Outside Help
When talking about capital, Mazorra primarily discusses her previous business and the foundation it created for her next venture. As she was extremely young during the first years of the company’s development, she asked for some financial guidance from her parents. Nonetheless, she tried to stay independent with the help of bank loans. Mazorra states that she did not receive any help from outside organizations. She has asked her friends to help her with modeling and other job-related activities, but she always tried to use the funds from her previous businesses to build up the new company.
Personal Life
Mazorra believes that her living in Florida has had an effect on her decision to open a swimwear business. She says that she always wanted to see her own ideas brought to life. The dream of clothes of her unique design being worn by other people was the inspiring thought that pushed Mazorra forward. She decided to combine her interest in design and business, noting that the weather in Pembroke Pines would allow her to advertise and sell swimsuits to a wide audience of women.
Mazorra finds that her personal life has changed significantly since starting the company. At first, she did not try to separate the time for working on business ideas and resting. However, she quickly understood that entrepreneurship is much more draining for a CEO than for a small seller of handmade goods. Thus, she has been trying to devote more attention to spending time with friends and family outside of work in order not to become consumed with the business entirely. Currently, she works around 6 to 7 hours per day, designing concepts, discussing and arranging photoshoots, and performing other tasks. Many of these tasks cannot be accomplished by working usual office hours; Mazorra states that some days are completely taken over by work, while others are devoid of any plans.
Mazorra considers the opening of the official store’s website one of the most memorable points in her career. During the first years of Zoe All Over, all sales were completed through an account on Instagram, but the launch of zoeallover.com has become a turning point for her business. It has brought exposure to her products to a new level and raised sales. Mazorra recalls many hardships that she encountered on the way, but one of the worst moments was at the very start. The young designer was unsure whether her radical change of products would attract any clients.
Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
Mazorra advises to persist – if one is sure of their aspirations, following them is the most satisfying act one could do. While the road may be difficult and the risks are often high, the knowledge that a person has achieved their dream is invigorating. The entrepreneur believes that her habit of planning and her communicational skills are what elevated her idea from a fantasy to a business prospect. She argues that her experience of working with customers when selling handmade goods allowed her to understand how people view products that they want to buy. She also mentions that her ability to find opportunities and use all available resources also helped her company not to disappear into the sea of competitors.
For aspiring entrepreneurs, Mazorra recommends reading not only books but also personal blogs of successful businesspersons. She finds that the current trends change very quickly, and most people should become extremely flexible to stay relevant to the course of their industry. As for the books, she mentions Grit by Angela Duckworth, a self-help book that focuses on perseverance and passion in opposition to natural talent. She also lists The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss as a foundation for understanding how and why entrepreneurship is more satisfactory than an office job for many people. She also considers fashion magazines and blogs a necessary part of reading for clothing companies – high fashion brands often inspire other creators and dictate the interests of the public.
Mazorra’s plans for the future are optimistic; she does not regret starting this business, and she hopes it will only grow more popular with time. The designer says that she would definitely do it again, although she wonders whether she would go through the same steps. Mazorra believes that her passion is what led this company to appear, and she would not have been able to suppress her entrepreneurial spirit to settle for something else.