Today we’d like to introduce you to Samira, Sachira, Jose, and Jennifer.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Lucid Clothing was birth from four owners with different backgrounds and humble beginnings. However, we all had one thing in common, we all have love for fashion whether it came earlier in life or introduced later. We all want to experience financial freedom, because we know what it is to struggle and be in lack of. Most importantly we want to serve our community because of our experiences. We want to inspire those around us, and we want to make a true difference in the lives we touch. We love, because God loved us first, so we just want to spread love and positive vibes through Lucid Clothing. We believe people should be able to express themselves clearly and feel amazing doing so. Now here’s a little bit about our background story.
Hi! My name is Samira Penaranda Ruiz, I am the founder of Lucid Couture. Ever since I can remember I loved fashion. As a child I loved watching my mom and dad get dressed up, I mean DECKED out from head to toe. Of course, they couldn’t forget about us, so we were also on point. Our lives took a drastic turn, our dad was deported back to Dominican Republic. They had to make the toughest decision for our future and although our dad wasn’t here physically, he has never absent, always a phone call away. We went from having everything we wanted to then trying to figure out our next meal. We were homeless for a period of time, but my mom never gave up on trying to make it better. She always taught us material things comes and go, but our love for each other is forever. She was just a young mother trying to make ends meet in the midst of the struggle.
Although we went through tough circumstances, their style was forever imprinted in my heart. To help mom, as a teenager loved picking up side hustles like babysitting or doing hair, so I knew one day I wanted to be my own boss. I always told my mom when I get older, I want to own a small boutique. Here’s September 2nd, 2019, I remember sitting on my couch going through names and originally, I came up with Outdated Co, and I told my cousin Jose about wanting to start my own clothing line, then 2020 hit and well as you all know, it hit like a ton of bricks. Soon after I was on the phone with my best friend Jennifer and she was telling me how she wanted to start a shirt line, and I was telling her about always wanting a clothing line however, it just felt like a dream at the time.
One day I said Fuck it I’m going to do it, if it’s not now, then when, I’ll continue to find excuses not to start. So, I took a small business course with the help of my mom late 2019, and began creating my business plan but I didn’t want to do it alone, I knew the perfect people to share this dream with and reached out to my sister Chichi, then my best friend Jenny and finally my cousin Jose. They bring amazing talents to our team. We went back and forth with names and Lucid Clothing came to my head, soon after we made it happen with the grace of God!
Hi, my name is Jose Gómez I am the chief financial officer. Well, my story began in 1991 in Reading, Pennsylvania. I was born earlier than expected, so I always say I came into this world fighting. I grew up with a single mother up until the age of 4 and my stepdad came along. I have 3 siblings. We had a pretty decent life growing up. I was shown you have to work hard to get anywhere and that nothing is given to you. I remember when I was younger my mom worked very hard and long hours, but once we were teenagers my parents started having businesses. My family was very entrepreneurial we always had some sort of business. My parents used to own a restaurant, and some rental properties. My grandmother always had a grocery store. I grew up watching Hispanic business owners and it showed me that anything is possible with the right work ethic. And I learned a lot from helping out in my family business as well. I learned the value of customer service. I even learn the value of a dollar because just because I was the owner kids didn’t mean I got stuff for free, I had to earn it. As a marketing major in college, I learned the value of understand many different aspects of business and how it work from the top to bottom. Since I was young, I always worked and always envisioned myself an being a business owner, so when the opportunity presented itself to join Samira, Jennifer, and Sachira I took the opportunity. I do enjoy looking good for myself because I was taught if you look good you feel good. So, when we they told me it was fashion brand, I was all for it. Around this time the pandemic was just starting to wreak havoc we weren’t focused on the pandemic but rather on how to make our vision come to life. We literally said let’s go for it. Moral to the story, don’t wait to go for your dreams. Is it a lot of hard work? Absolutely yes, but totally worth it.
Hey, I am Jennifer Marrero the Chief Operating Officer. I was born in New York City and moved to Florida at the age of nine, due to my mom struggling, so my dad stepped in. I did not grow up privileged. My dad and stepmom did their best raising me, my sisters, and brother. Fashion was always something I loved growing up in New York City. Me and my cousin would dress up and create walkways for my family. As a little girl, I dreamt of being a model but noticed I was way too short for the gig. I always love dressing up and following the new trends. Where fashion became my passion was when I met my best friend Samira whose style was so unique that I asked her to help me with my style. From there I developed a love for fashion. I knew I always wanted to have a business but never knew what it would be and then Samira and I started having conversations about starting a business during the roughest time of the year when Covid hit. I was a little scared, but I had faith that God would allow us to succeed. That’s how we came about starting Lucid Clothing.
Hey, my name is Sachira, the Chief Marketing Officer. A proud Afro-Latina with Dominican and Puerto Rican roots. My journey is one of struggles, twisted turns, and redemption. After graduating with honors from Hillsborough High School I chose to leave for Canada instead of going to college. After all, the parting for three years and going down the wrong path, it led me to struggle with depression. With God’s help, I overcame that depression and knew there was more to life. This is when I decide to further my education at HCC in the Ybor City Campus. There I discovered my passion to become an entrepreneur. The turning point was joining Phi Theta Kappa International Honors Society and participating in the 100 Black Men of American in 2018, where I found purpose in life. I just knew I wanted to have my own business and make an impact in all communities.
I then pursued my bachelor’s degree in accounting at USF’s Muma College of Business. While working on my degree I explored different venues of trying to start my own business. For example, Cash Rides and a Home Daycare. Cash Rides was something I started on Facebook to help those who needed a form of quick transportation but did not have bank accounts, therefore, were not able to pay for an Uber or Lyft. Home Daycare was something I started doing to help those parents who did not feel comfortable sending their children to an overcrowded daycare. Both went great, but then I realized I could make a bigger impact by expanding my horizons. Before graduating I joined my sister Samira on this effort to start our own business along with our cousin Jose and Jennifer who’s become family, which you know now as Lucid Clothing, LLC.
We’ve stayed up late nights, sacrificed many weekends and vacations to invest and start up our small business.
Today, one of the things I enjoy the most is networking with other small businesses, where we empower, inspire, and motive each other. I also look forward to partnering with local resources to give back and help the community.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Covid19 struck like a thief in the night. It affected the team in different ways; whether it was our physical or mental health, and financial stability, we saw its setbacks. When we jumped into starting our small business, we did not realize all the responsibilities that came with it. We had some idea it would not be easy; however, we did not realize it would be this tough. We were definitely stepping on each other’s toes. We were not making sales as projected and struggled with feelings of failure.
We took a closer look at what was not working. We rearrange our roles to showcase each person’s gifts and talents. We began to see everyone strengths in their new roles and things began to move toward our definition of success. Every single day we learn something new on how to better manage our business. Although the road isn’t quite easy it is DEFINATELY worth it.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Lucid Clothing is a Latino-owned, online boutique that officially established for business in April of 2021, aspiring to have a physical location in Tampa in the near future. Providing high-quality and comfortable clothes at affordable prices. We want everyone to feel like a million bucks without having to break their pockets. Embracing real people with beautiful ware to fit all shapes and sizes. We want Lucid customers to feel amazing, we want them to own who they are in style. We know what it’s like not being able to afford nice things because it was too expensive, or it just felt out of reach. We want to cater to you, to everyone with excellent customer experience. We are proud to be Latino, we are proud of our story, proud of our bodies, and proud to own it! Lucid Clothing is committed to give back to our community. Forging relationships with small, large, new, or old businesses to figure out the most needs locally and determining how we can best help. Looking forward to volunteering, donating, mentoring, and allowing God to lead us to be his hands and feet.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
Check us out in our website and social media and come out to the events, try on a few things, get to know us. There is something for everyone!
Contact Info:
- Email: lucidcoutureclothing@gmail.com
- Website: http://www.lucidcoutureclothing.com/
- Instagram: @lucid.couture
- Facebook: Lucid Couture Clothing
- Other: TikTok: @lucidcoutureclothing
