We had the good fortune of connecting with Luisa Chavez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Luisa, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I had always been very passionate about the environment and non toxic living. To me that encompasses every aspect of our lives, from the beauty products we use, the clothes we wear, the food we eat, our health options, etc. I wanted to find a way to share more about how important it is to be aware of our impact, and how we could make that a positive impact.

It took me some time to figure out how I wanted to share about this with the world, doing it my way which was never a very conventional way, I wanted to keep the essence of who I am and share things how I felt were more easily digested. I also realized that there wasn’t really a career path that I could follow, so I decided to figure it out on my own.

Ultimately I decided to start a blog, where I could just write and expand about this important topic. It expanded from there to an Instagram account, and then to a YouTube channel where I now connect with my followers. I want to reach as many people as I can without loosing my purpose so being very close to my community has been the most important and the one aspect that I won’t compromise.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Having my own blog and being able to have my voice out there has opened many doors for me. Aside from wanting to share about non toxic and sustainable living, my creative side has really set me aside and made brands take notice of my work, but it didn’t came easy.

Sharing and creating content that is of great quality and that will make an impact is very time consuming and at times it felt like a waste. But after a few months, brands started reaching out to send products to try and share and eventually wanted me to create content for them.

But even when this happened, I still wanted to not loose track of what was important, and still to this day, I reject many potential collaboration opportunities because they don’t align to my philosophy.

I feel very much responsible of the products that I share with my followers and I wouldn’t want to share something just because it comes with a big paycheck. Even though it is not easy, since nobody wants to work for free, I’d rather have a small paycheck than to deceive my community, which I have worked very hard to see me as a trustworthy source.

And even if this is making my growth process slower than others, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m okay with being different 🙂

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
First of all, we would have to go to Gilbert. I love the Farmer’s Market there, happy hour at Postino’s, getting a coffee and see on their outside patio at Bergies, and just walk around Downtown Gilbert. In Scottsdale, we would have to go to my favorite Tapas place, Tapas Papa Frita. they have a flamenco show on Saturday nights, their food is excellent and I love their outdoor patio. Another place we would have to visit in Scottsdale is Morning Squeeze for breakfast/brunch. And I am not much of a drinker but I love a good speakeasy bar, so I would like to take them to Platform 18 and undertow. And if we had energy to go on a small road trip, Sedona is a must!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My husband was and is still a big part of what I have accomplished. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be where I am at today. His unconditional support is what keeps me going even when I feel like a failure or get imposter’s syndrome.

Website: www.livingananda.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/living_ananda/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC03bFYef-piqHqO9u6cg3tg

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutArizona is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.