Crafty Chica at Amor Collective!
Amor Collective is a new retail space in Peoria, Arizona, and I’m excited to share I have a retail space there! The space houses 20+ local Latina entrepreneurs, with businesses ranging from clothing to jewelry to food to art – and more.
Amor Collective is located at 9780 W Northern Ave Suite 1220, Peoria, AZ 85345. business hours are 11-7, seven days a week.
Back story
As you may or may not know, I used to co-own a beautiful boutique here in my hometown of Phoenix. I was there for four years and loved it. Owning and running a boutique was one of my life goals and I was so excited when it happened. It felt like a daily hug from my community. I planned to retire there.
2021 rolled around and I had so much on my plate, I had just landed two big licensing deals which came with tight deadlines. For the first time, I couldn’t keep up with everything. I started having HORRIBLE (and embarrassing) panic attacks. Even though my mind and spirit were not on board, my gut instinct made me feel I absolutely had to leave for the sake of not only my mental health, but for my loved ones. It was one of the most difficult decisions in my life, it was just awful. But I did the best I could under the circumstances. Ever been there?
Six weeks after I left, already feeling low and unsure about everything and everyone, one of my best friends passed away from Covid (totally shocking and unexpected). Three weeks later, my mom passed away unexpectedly (literally days after my Luisa’s funeral). THEN my husband’s father passed away two weeks later. Life felt so surreal at that time. Thank God I was not at the shop, there’s no way I could have managed all of it. I haven’t written or talked about any of this because I just didn’t have the emotional capacity. I guess the fact I’m writing this now means I’m past it? Getting there, maybe? Basically, that is what happened. I spent two years in therapy, which was such a lifesaver! I highly recommend it!
These days I feel 90% healthier and happier. I feel like “me” again.
And I truly appreciate the real ones in my life who were there to support me. I needed it and accepted it. I’m so grateful for that unconditional love, it was so healing.
Lesson learned: Always listen to your gut instinct. I truly believe it is the voice of our future self sending us a message. These days I stay in tune with it daily!
ANYWAY…even though everything fell into a new and better setting throughout the past two years – lots of wonderful career milestones, making new friends, higher frequencies, a new grandbaby – I still missed having a retail space. I let it go, totally. I was so happy I had the experience and closed the door.
Wouldn’t you know, my longtime friend Stephanie told me about her idea to have a collaborative retail space and she made it happen – Amor Collective!
And here we are! The space opened in August. My area is 7’x7′ – and I had such a blast filling it with my items. Everything came around full circle, and better in every way. I’m living in the present, not carrying the weight of the past or the freaking about the future like I used to do. Making the most of right now, it is so much more fulfilling!
Where is Amor Collective?
It’s at Park West – a super cool shopping destination that has stores, eateries, even a Harkins movie theater!
Here are some pictures from the past eight weeks. I can’t wait to see how this grows!
I bring in new items weekly, all of it is one-of-a-kind, I’m having fun making new things, rather than large batches!
What I love about this space is there is so much variety in merchandise and creativity. Each business owner comes correct with ideas and energy! And there is even a Fair Trade Cafe coffee bar! On the weekends, you can find different workshops – painting classes, yoga, business talks and more.
To kick off Hispanic Heritage Month, Amor Collective held a fashion show, complete with a runway, lights, music, all of it! I painted a jacket and it was so awesome to see it as part of the show!
Thank you so much for checking this out, wishing you all a beautiful day! I hope to see you at Amor Collective, I teach a monthly workshop there too!
