When Micah Enriquez, our NJMOMpreneur of the Week, was just a little lady, cash was tight, so she realized that if she needed a Barbie playhouse, she must make it. Using some previous bookshelves and “throwaways” she discovered on a go to to the native scrapyard, Micah started working and made a playhouse she was pleased with. Crafting has all the time been her factor, and much more evident when Micah, now an legal professional and mother of two dwelling in Wayne, was searching for a inventive outlet to fulfill her soul in the course of the pandemic. She researched content material creation, filmed DIY crafting movies for customers to comply with alongside, and launched Make it with Micah on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. And now she’s dwelling her dream—Micah just lately gave discover at her day job so she will be able to focus all her time and vitality on her wildly profitable and profitable enterprise (she even has her personal Etsy store). We chatted with Micah to find how listening to her “intestine” and being true to herself helped her enterprise take off, her proudest mother second, and the one place on the Jersey shore that pleases everybody in her household.
Surrounded by her household, Micah is aware of how one can set the stage for an exquisite and festive vacation.
Inform us just a little about your loved ones. My husband, Ryan Enriquez, and I’ve been married for six years. Now we have a son, Marcus (17 ½), from a earlier relationship, and we even have a daughter, Sophia (2). We love dwelling in Wayne. It’s near town, has glorious faculties, and is handy to every thing – plus our house is a part of a lake group with just a little seashore the place we will boat and swim.
Inform us a bit about your profession background and what led you to grow to be a content material creator. I did my undergraduate work at Rutgers, although at instances it wasn’t straightforward as a result of as a single mother, I’d generally need to carry Marcus to my lessons with me. After graduating, I bought a job in social work as a result of I needed to assist different ladies the best way I used to be helped whereas on public help. Finally, I spotted that I might assist extra ladies (with issues like scholarships and getting monetary help) by changing into a lawyer, which might additionally put me on the trail to raised present for my son. I went again to highschool, bought my regulation diploma at Penn State, took the bar, and labored for main regulation companies. After I had my daughter in August of 2019, I needed to reevaluate my scenario and discover a job extra conducive to being dwelling with the children. Shortly after that, I started working for a gaggle that publishes authorized steerage for attorneys.
Early on within the pandemic, I used to be working from dwelling, doing distant studying with an adolescent, caring for an toddler, and making an attempt to handle every thing else — so I wanted to do one thing that was only for me. I believed if others might grow to be content material creators, I might too. As a result of I really like making crafts and I’m good at it, I made a decision to make it my “factor.” I researched every thing I wanted to find out about changing into an influencer. After about six months of market analysis and studying what cameras to make use of, how one can add a video, movie, and edit, and the very best methods to develop my numbers to monetize it, Make it with Micah began to realize traction. It’s grown a lot that I just lately gave discover at my day job and dwelling my dream. I all the time knew I might do it, however I didn’t understand I might succeed this shortly.
A 3D painted wooden signal for Valentine’s Day, handmade by Micah, is accessible on her Etsy store.
Have you ever all the time been inventive? Please clarify how you bought your abilities. I wasn’t born with some huge cash, so I’d need to make it myself if I needed one thing particular. However, fortunately I’ve all the time been inventive and will determine how one can flip issues that had been “nothing” into one thing particular. After I was younger, my older brother and I’d go to the scrapyard to search out issues I might use on my tasks. DIY has all the time been who I’m, however so far as the enterprise finish of issues, as with every talent, it takes follow and repetition to be good at it. Nearly anybody can create content material, however changing into a content material creator and monetizing takes work as a result of you want to determine who you’re, who your buyer is, after which analyze each facet of your small business to develop it.
What’s one thing you hope your youngsters take away from seeing you go after your goals? I need my daughter to know that she doesn’t have to attend till her youngsters are grown to comply with her passions and that she will be able to have all of it. I need my son to grasp that his spouse’s time and goals are as essential as his personal. The night time earlier than I used to be to take each the New Jersey and the Pennsylvania bar exams, I used to be so anxious I wasn’t going to move and further wired as a result of I had a job supply on the road that will disappear if I didn’t move, and 8-year-old Marcus mentioned, “I’m so pleased with you, and I’ve little question in you.” He noticed the onerous work it took to perform all that I’ve, however his perception in me and people phrases from him are up there with a few of my proudest mother moments.
A collage of tiered tray DIYs, simply among the content material you’ll discover on the Make it with Micah YouTube channel.
What’s your proudest enterprise second as a content material creator? I’m so proud that I might get monetized on three of the largest platforms on the earth in below a 12 months. And I did it with a full-time job, as a mother of two youngsters on reverse ends of the age spectrum, whereas serving to to take care of my aged father-in-law, all throughout a pandemic. It reveals that as ladies, we will accomplish no matter we put our minds to, although with loads much less sleep.
What’s the smartest thing about being an entrepreneur? What’s the most difficult factor? The most effective factor about being an entrepreneur is that you just get to be the grasp of your ship, particularly in content material creation, the place you’re the inventive director of your individual enterprise. I can plan out what I wish to submit and when to submit it. Essentially the most difficult factor is all of the sacrifices you must make by way of sleep and time with family and friends. However, hopefully, these are short-term sacrifices for long-term achieve.
How has the pandemic affected your small business? The pandemic is a giant a part of why I made a decision to begin my enterprise, so it’s been superb for me. Folks had been caught at dwelling, searching for one thing to do to get in contact with their inventive aspect. I’ve saved so many messages from individuals who inform me they recognize what I do as a result of they’re now crafting with their aged mom or their youngsters, or they’ve misplaced their jobs and want an reasonably priced inventive outlet, or I make it straightforward for them so as to add some distinctive, low-cost touches to their dwelling. All of those messages imply the world to me — they’re priceless!
Micah’s concept of how a plain votive candle can go glam.
What would have been useful to know which may have made issues run extra easily at first? If I had been true to myself from the get-go, I’d have discovered my viewers sooner. Initially, I used to be what different content material creators had been doing and thought I needed to create the development of boho-style crafts. Nonetheless, as soon as I ended making an attempt to suit a selected mildew and began doing the high-end, glam, daring colour issues I like, my numbers took off. If you find yourself true to your self, it comes out in what you’re doing, and I feel persons are drawn to that.
What are your favourite issues to do or locations to go to in NJ with your loved ones? We love the lake in our group to swim, chill out and hang around. Generally there’s a meals truck there and bonfires, too. We’re additionally huge followers of the shore, particularly Level Nice. Jenkinson’s Boardwalk is a crowd-pleaser for us as a result of there’s good meals, leisure, music, and alcohol, so everybody will get what they need. And curling up collectively at dwelling for film night time is the very best. I’ll make popcorn and a deal with board with snacks, and we vote to decide on a family-friendly film that works for all of us.
What’s your finest recommendation for a MOMpreneur simply beginning? It’s crucial to have a dialog together with your vital different and your youngsters in order that they know that your goals matter, too. Set the expectation so that everybody is on the identical web page and allow them to know that Mother will nonetheless assist everybody of their actions and passions, however they should assist Mother’s goals, too.
For extra data on Micah Enriquez and Make it with Micah, please see their Tiktok, YouTube, and Instagram pages.
