Check Out Stephanie Victoria’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Victoria.

Hi Stephanie, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
For me getting involved in the creative industry has come from a mix of my curiosity, passions, hobbies, surviving, healing, VH1 & MTV music videos, and social advocacy.

Growing up was tough, there was a lot of instability, abuse, and trauma. I moved around a lot and being the oldest daughter in an immigrant home came with lots of pressures. I became independent and self-sufficient at a young age. At the same time, my mom had such a personality. She was a young single mom and I had two younger sisters. We were all very close and had so much fun. I was an inner-city kid that grew up in the Phoenix area. I saw so much brown and black culture growing up and lived in Mexico for a year as a kid. I loved being a Chicana, for me, it was this opportunity to enjoy both cultures. I loved living in Mexico. It gave me so much appreciation for my culture. Going back to Jalisco and living with my grandparents gave me that old-world appreciation of life. I grew up in struggling neighborhoods and it gave me this passion to push for social equality and financial sustainability.

As an adult, my work experiences have led me to this path of business creative marketing. I have my bachelors in business marketing and due to my ability to connect with others have always been in communications and sales. I’ve worked in several industries: insurance, banking, software sales, retail, and hospitality. Every time I learn more and more about different business infrastructures. I worked with small local businesses as well as corporate businesses in Arizona and California. Networking in both Tucson and San Diego communities expanded my perspective on life more and this was still before the social media boom.

Once social media came around I fell in love with the idea of connecting and empowering through the raw expression of self. Instagram came along and I loved sharing the world through my eyes living intentionally and authentically.

Professionally, I was working in radio advertising and starting to learn more about the digital tools available to businesses. There I met Ray Flores from El Charro Cafe in Tucson and became their marketing director. We worked with 7 different restaurant brands. My job was to use all available resources to promote and manage our brands and create consistent traffic for the restaurants. I gave it everything I had and really worked hard to do that, especially because the Charro Cafe restaurants are such a staple in the Tucson community and they became like family. I am not sure if many people know this but the Flores family is a big Tucson local business advocate and was founded by Monica Flynn in 1922. Now Chef Carlotta Flores and her family are still growing strong. I was so inspired by Ray, Carlotta, and all the women around me there it gave me an extra boost of confidence in promoting the brands.

Life threw me for some loops and losses and that’s when I realized I had to focus on my healing. I felt I was approaching a burnout phase after being in survival mode for 28 years. So I made that my priority and resigned. The pandemic started shortly after and that was one for the books. So many of us, including myself, were suffering from mental health. This is when I saw my window to help myself and others and being more vulnerable and sharing more of my struggles as a way to liberate myself and others from this need to be socially accepted. Once the restaurants started to open again I wanted to use my skills and share more cool local places for people to check out since so much had changed during covid. It was my way to pitch back to a community I know works so very hard and needed all the local support they could get. I am excited to continue to advocate for local businesses and communities with my creativity and self-expression.

I am so empowered by the life lessons I have had to learn. It taught me so much about determination, how to become self-sufficient, how to release inner trauma and turn it into your voice, and so many more things. You get to a place where you say, well if I was able to survive that, I can do this. This has given me the confidence to live my life authentically and express my inner wounds and uniqueness in a way that empowers me and others. Coming from a minority community I am passionate about creating economic equality for myself and my community. I am working really hard at this and I know so many in our communities are as well. The way all minority groups are standing their ground and creating changes in our society is so empowering. My goal is to contribute and use my voice in any way I can.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
This life train I caught has definitely not been a smooth ride but it has been a hell of a ride. What really molded me and took many many years of inner healing is that I was sexually abused by a family member as a child. That phase in my life created so much chaos and deep mistrust in the relationships I created. I had to become “woke” at a very young age.

Being the oldest of 4 raised by a young immigrant single mother made me very protective; I am not sure if many people have wondered what it feels like to grow up with this constant fear that at any time your mother could be taken while she was at work. The anxiety that creates in a kid is unavoidable. I paid attention to everything, everywhere we went, and learned to become very intuitive. I was born in California but moved to AZ as a toddler and we had no family here. There was a lot of domestic violence in our home whenever things got bad my mom would leave and we would sleep in her car or any coworker’s house.

It was tough not having that family support. We moved a lot and it was a bit chaotic but I became so determined to create stability for me and my family. It became a fight for survival and proving the social statistics wrong. It became a fight to finish what my mom started and provide a better future for me and more like me.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I specialize in building sales and communications strategies for local businesses with the use of traditional and non-traditional marketing tools. I am working on launching my marketing management businesses but I like to really deliver great results so I am always researching and taking courses. In addition, I am working with local community groups to promote more growth and thriving engagement in our community through the power of social platforms.

I am most proud of my ability to adapt and stay resilient but more than anything I am most proud of my ability to stay true to myself and keep my heart open. No one is perfect we all make mistakes but you either experience life in a good light or a dark one. I am like a plant, I need light I need joy, and magic and that is how I vow to live my life.

We love surprises, fun facts, and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
I was on local Tucson Radio Host on Hot 98.3 for a couple of years and I was homeschooled through high school.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @justfaniluu
• Facebook: @justfaniluu_

Image Credits
@lindsay.mcoien, @lunaandsaya, and @emiliopreece