SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sisters Carmelita Ramirez and Ericka Rojas are the proud owners of Mi Beauty, a waxing hair removal salon in Sacramento.
“I felt like we were not able to find anything in beauty that really demonstrated that they cared about who we were, what we look like, what our needs were.” Ramirez said.
The duo faced challenges opening up their business not knowing that, two months later, the state would shut down due to the pandemic and make it difficult to stay afloat and grow clientele.
“I found myself working at other jobs like Amazon, but I made it a point to not let that deter me from my goals of growing the business,” Rojas said.
In the 2021 Hispanic Business Owner Spotlight, which examines how Hispanic small businesses owners navigated the pandemic, Bank of America found that 99% of Hispanic entrepreneurs say the pandemic created added stress around running their business, but there is optimism. 81% expect revenue to increase over the next 12 months, 74% believe their local economy will improve, and 43% plan to hire new workers over the next 12 months.
“Looking back, I know it was very scary and it was very unsettling because it was very uncertain. We didn’t know what was going to come out of the pandemic,” Ortiz said.
Julio Ortiz owns Gaspachos, which brings a traditional Mexican fruit stand from the street to a brick and mortar. Ortiz credits being able to adapt and change his business quickly to take out. He also credits delivery as to why his store continued to thrive despite the pandemic.
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