Rising Stars: Meet Nallely Barraza

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nallely Barraza.

Hi Nallely, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
This journey started in November of 2020 with my boyfriend Kevin Ortiz and I. He inspired me and pushed me to start this small business. It all started with an idea to buy some treats for our close family’s birthday. We noticed that it would be quite pricey, and honestly, we didn’t know how many treats we needed. We decided to make them ourselves and started to buy all the supplies we would need.

After that one day, we never stopped creating and decided to make a business out of it. We started to make hot chocolate bombs because they were very popular during Christmas. A local farmers market organizer found us on Facebook and reached out to us to sell hot chocolate bombs before Christmas. It was a learning and stressful process, but we made it happen. We were invited to come back in 2021 to start selling our other products. The opportunity they gave to be able to sell at the local farmers’ market was one the greatest opportunities we could have ever asked for. It has opened doors for us and has truly been a blessing to be able to grow this chocolate-covered sweet business.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It has been a learning process since we started. Learning the ins and outs of a business has been a process. When we did our first farmers market, we didn’t realize how many things were needed and felt so unprepared. We slept maybe 3-4 hours the night before prepping everything we had to sell. It hasn’t been easy, but together we have been able to work out any struggles.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I have a full-time job as an office manager at an Optometrist office. I love my job and love the people I work with. My job has been supportive of me following my own business dream. I have been in working in the medical field for eight years.

I grew up with a single hard-working mother. She always worked hard for me to get anything that I needed. The moment I was able to work, I started to look for jobs to help her out. Now, as a grown adult, I feel proud to be able to help her out and show her the women that I have become because of her. My family has a background of being owners of small businesses. The entrepreneur in me was always in me.

Contact Info:

• Email: howsweetbynallely@gmail.com
• Website: www.howsweetbynallely.com
• Instagram: @howsweetbynallely
• Facebook: How Sweet By Nallely

Image Credits
Photography by Bella @isabelarandaphotography