From Breaking Point to Breakthrough: How the Most Difficult Point in Your Entrepreneurial Journey Can Be The Game-Changer

Hello, friends!👋🏼👋🏾👋 Sometimes, the point where you're ready to give up is the point that convinces you to keep going. Camila Toro understands this well. In Part One of my Generation Si! profile of the girl known as Happy Cami, she shared how she turned her hobby into a real business.

Now, you'll learn the following:

🌴 Her best tip for tackling big decisions

🌴 Changes you can make today for changing your mindset

🌴 Her discoveries about true happiness

🌴If you'd like to get more of these kinds of tips, subscribe now for free.

🌴 Meet Camila Toro (aka Happy Cami)

Camila Toro (aka Happy Cami)

SOME THINGS JUST STICK

Happy Cami. Camila Toro’s nickname just kind of stuck with her throughout her life.

So it’s no wonder Toro decided to also name her business of smiley-face gifts and emotional intelligence products, Happy Cami.

After all, this was the girl who got a kick out of handing out smiley-face stickers. And not just at the age of 10 when her grandfather gave her a pack of stickers.

She kept handing them out, throughout school and college, to strangers on the street, at birthday parties and, of course, at her wedding.

Camila with the man who inspired her lifelong love of smiley-face stickers - her grandfather

Her maid of honor was tasked with making sure all of the wedding guests complied with one request. The guests were told, “It’s the [bride’s] wish. So you have to put it [on]. You have to have your smiley-face sticker.”

The bride's only request of her wedding guests: to wear a smiley-face sticker

DON’T BE IMPULSIVE; CAREFULLY THINK THROUGH THE FORK IN THE ROAD

Three years ago, the girl known as Happy Cami was at a crossroads.

She said to herself, “I can’t do this anymore. I’m pregnant. I’m going to have a baby. I also have a regular job. I think Happy Cami is over.”

It was an agonizing decision for her.

THE TIP JAR (tips provided courtesy of Camila Toro)

ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNERS: The members of her Mastermind group

HER TWIST ON THE JIM ROHN QUOTE, “YOU’RE THE AVERAGE OF THE 5 PEOPLE YOU SPEND THE MOST TIME WITH”:

Camila Toro says, obviously, you can’t change your family. But, here’s what you can change:

-Social media accounts you follow

-The content you consume on social media

-The things you watch on TV or YouTube

-The books you read

She says, “That’s also part of your 5 people.”

FAVORITE BOOK: "Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action" by Simon Sinek

RECOMMENDED THOUGHT LEADER TO OVERCOME FEAR: Michelle Poler, the author of “Hello, Fears: Crush Your Comfort Zone and Become Who You’re Meant to Be” (Note: Poler also has a podcast)

BEST WAY TO MAKE A DECISION, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU’RE SELLING PRODUCTS: “Write. Write. Write… When we think, we just dream. And, yes, visualize. But when we write things on paper… you see things differently. You see things with more clarity.”

PRACTICAL EXAMPLE: When Toro wants to create or develop a product or a new service for her business, she writes it all out:

-What’s the name?

-What’s the description?

-Why do I want to sell this?

-For whom is this product?

THE RESULT OF THE WRITING PROCESS: “Sometimes, it’s like, oh, no. I mean, this is beautiful. Okay, I like it. But this is not for Happy Cami. This is not for my niche.”

Camila Toro, Founder and CEO of Happy Cami, selling her products at an event

IT’S OKAY TO ACKNOWLEDGE FEELING OVERWHELMED

Toro saw Happy Cami, her business, as a “big, big responsibility.” Toro knew she had to do it well. But she just didn’t see how she’d be able to, time-wise, and, especially, as a new mother.

“I didn’t see a way out. I couldn’t see a way to be a mother, have a business, have a regular job and [do] everything that we all have to do in life.”

From the beginning, she did it all: she created her website, did the social media and packed the orders.

The young woman known as Happy Cami admitted she was scared and, frankly, felt overwhelmed at the prospect of continuing the business while taking on her new role as a mother.

Camila at a crossroads with her business, just as she was about to become a new mom

YOUR BREAKING POINT CAN BE YOUR MOMENT OF BREAKTHROUGH

But then it hit her that this was the breakthrough moment.

“Because Happy Cami had a transformation… the business idea transformed when I became a mother.”

Why?

SHIFTING YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE MAY BE THE KEY TO REACHING THE NEXT LEVEL

Because, before Toro became a mother, she geared the business towards adults.

When she became a mom, she focused the business on children.

“Like mindset tools for children. Emotional education for children.”

Toro started reading books on the science of happiness to understand the whole concept of happiness on a deeper level.

Camila even earned a parent trainer certificate & title, Happiness Chief Officer, after studying at the Happiness Studies Institute

She, of course, knew that what makes one person happy is different from what makes another person happy.

But she learned, “The chemicals of happiness are the same in every human being’s brain. It goes through the same process.”

She learned that what we think makes us happy, in many cases, doesn’t.

“Happiness is in the little things. In routine. Happiness is in what’s simple. It’s not philosophical… It’s science. It’s proven.”

DON’T WAIT TO BE HAPPY

Toro came to the conclusion, “Why [do] we have to wait… until we are 30 [or] 40 to learn about happiness?”

In other words, why not share it with our children – so they don’t have to wait their whole lives to learn about the true source of happiness?

Camila's daughter, Alicia, gets an early start on being happy

And that’s when she realized she had to continue with her business. She rediscovered her purpose for Happy Cami.

THE HAPPIEST PEOPLE ARE THE ONES WHO ALLOW THEMSELVES TO EXPRESS OTHER EMOTIONS

Toro also realized “the people that are the happiest are the ones who give themselves the opportunity to feel other emotions.”

So, now, if she’s sad, she cries.

The day that Camila's grandfather died

And she encourages parents to teach their children to feel a full range of emotions through emotions journals and positive affirmation products. She even conducts workshops.

Toro quit her corporate job to focus on Happy Cami full-time.

She juggles that with being a mom of one, while preparing for another baby on the way.

“If you’re really present, you can feel that happiness.”

So the girl forever known as Happy Cami has realized what it really means to be happy.

And, in the end, she discovered it through the business she lovingly named Happy Cami.

Happiness can be found all around - in the simple moments of life

NO NEED TO GO IT ALONE

HELP ON THE OUTSIDE...because we can all use a helping hand:

Just Say No

This recent SCORE blog post from Sharita Humphrey is a winner. When you’re first starting out, it’s tempting to spend, spend, spend. So what are some things you’re better off bypassing, at least in the beginning? Take a look at this list to help you start and spend smartly:

SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives)

“9 Items to Table Until Your Business is Making Money” Blog Post

https://www.score.org/blog/9-items-table-until-your-business-making-money

WORKING ON THE INSIDE...because we know our culture has a hard time asking for help:

Coffee With a Leader - Amp Up Your Communication Skills to Increase Sales

I liked this Coffee With a Leader session (who doesn’t love coffee?) because the leader, Pam Hargis, will focus on things you can improve internally, as in your communication skills, to recharge your sales and other opportunities in business. Plus, the discussion will also tackle time killers.

SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) Orlando

"Coffee With a Leader" - Stop Losing 75% of Your Opportunities"

Thursday, July 14, 2022

8:00 a.m. EDT - 9:30 a.m. EDT

Virtual Webinar

FREE

https://orlando.score.org/event/coffee-leader-stop-losing-75-your-opportunities

INSPIRATION FOR THIS ISSUE:

When I created this newsletter, I wanted to include a mental health component because the Latino culture still doesn’t freely discuss mental health.

Camila teaching her daughter about Camila's grandfather on the day he died

One of the entrepreneurs I’ve profiled in the past, therapist Mariana Morales, told me that’s changing. She said that she and her business partner, Daniela Sichel, are trying to make mental health services more accessible, in particular, to Latinos.

I wanted to bring that into this discussion because entrepreneurs have so much pressure.

Sharing one woman’s discovery about happiness and how it affected her business and outlook on life may help others.

Feeling comfortable enough to express all of our emotions is also liberating. As Camila discovered, it’s also important in feeling “true” happiness.

It reminds me of what someone once told me. He said there’s a difference between feeling satisfied and feeling fulfilled. I couldn’t agree more.

So ask yourself, are you willing to settle for satisfaction or fulfillment? #theskyisNOTthelimit 😻

🌴Looking for a steady dose of practical, positive content for your business and your mindset? Subscribe now.

🌴Share your comments here or on social media: I'm on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

🌴 Thank you for supporting independent, original content from our Latino community.

🌴 Have a safe and happy 4th of July weekend! 🗽

Happiness