When Babba Rivera hops on our Zoom call toward the end of October, the Ceremonia founder is wrapped up in blankets and looking cozy. She’s in her house in upstate New York, a place she retreats to on the weekends, and where she and her family carve out time and space for self-care and beauty rituals. As an entrepreneur and mother of two, she has found that the best way to create these moments is to involve the whole family.

“My husband and I treat our bathroom like a second living room,” she begins, adding that they even have an armchair in the space to make it homier. “I put a tiny bit of water in the bathtub and put the babies in so they can play. I can do my Aceite de Moska treatment, give myself a scalp massage, and do a face mask while my husband uses the steam shower.”

The fact that she owns a house upstate with a steam shower, has an extensive designer wardrobe she shares with her 177k Instagram followers, and raised $10 million in Ceremonia’s Series A investment round to support its expansion to over 500 Sephora stores, may lead some to assume that her success was handed to her. Rivera is no stranger to assumptions, she has navigated them throughout her career — instead, she attributes her work ethic to her humble upbringing.

Rivera as a child.

Her parents immigrated from Chile to Sweden during the Pinochet dictatorship. They lived in a small apartment in the projects, where Rivera grew up, getting her hair done by her hairstylist father and watching her mother practice self-care rituals in their tiny bathroom. She began working at 14 years-old at a tea shop and then added babysitting, working at restaurants, and several other jobs into her routine. “When you come from a humble beginning, it’s not like you have a schedule filled with [after-school] activities,” she explains.

Very quickly, she realized that work translated into money which gave her the opportunity to buy and do the things she wanted to do. This hustle mentality has stayed with her since. At the age of twenty-two, she was offered a job at Uber, which at the time was just a small startup that had recently launched in Europe. There, she launched the brand’s rideshare branch in Sweden, and eventually, Uber sent her to New York City. Next, she jumped to the travel accessory brand Away, and it was there that she recognized that she wanted to own her own business. So, in 2017, she launched her own brand marketing agency, ByBabba.

It was in this first solo business venture that her success catapulted, in part thanks to a Forbes 30 Under 30 mention, and she began to think about developing a haircare brand. At the time, she was taking clients in the U.S. and Europe and began to see that the beauty industry was changing. Rivera mentions her work on Glossier’s European launch as an example of the many disruptors and female-founded companies who were entering the space. And with that, the idea of Ceremonia was born.

Rivera began her research in 2019. It became clear to her that the customer’s expectations were disconnected from what the industry was offering — customers wanted clean and natural ingredients that didn’t sacrifice efficacy, they wanted the brands they use to align with their values, and they wanted representation. “We were starting to see how customers demanded diversity, and I realized how most brands were trying to add this after the fact. [I thought that] if I were to start a beauty brand, I would do everything differently,” she tells LATINA.

Ceremonia describes itself as a hair wellness brand rooted in Latin culture. Its foundational idea stemmed from two things: Rivera’s hair was in the worst condition it had ever been, and she felt a deep desire to reconnect with her Chilean heritage.

Latinos account for 20% of the U.S. population, and she recognized how neglected the community was. Even crazier to her was realizing that Latin culture wasn’t being represented more in the beauty industry considering how “obsessed we are with beauty.” In her research, she worked with a consumer insights agency that found Latin consumers spend 46% more on haircare than any other demographic, yet had little to no representation. “That discrepancy really fueled the desire to create something new for the beauty industry,” she says.

So, while still running her agency ByBabba, Rivera started to work on developing her brand. She was able to initially have her agency fund the first stages while she developed the prototype of Ceremonia’s first product, Aceite de Moska. She gathered a community of product testers — initially made up of friends and family from Latin American backgrounds, and then through her Instagram following where people signed up to be part of her insider community — who gave her feedback and testimony, and with that, Rivera began to fundraise.

“One of the most challenging fundraising journeys I’ve had was this pre-seed funding because what you’re really pitching is an idea,” Rivera recalls. It was even more challenging because she was doing this in the midst of COVID-19, so all the pitching happened over Zoom and Google Meet. “A lot of people had never seen a pitch deck talking about Latin culture, so I was met with a lot of skepticism — people thought [Ceremonia] was going to be too niche. It’s almost like it was giving charity vibes, which goes to show how much unconscious bias there is.”

She estimates she pitched to about 150 venture capitalists, each one teaching her something new. She realized she had to start her pitches with metrics, and speak to all the research she had done and the opportunity in the market. The success of Ceremonia speaks for itself, but Venture Capitalists kept doubting Rivera as a founder. “It was heartbreaking because I would be questioned as a founder because of my big Instagram account — I was immediately labeled as just a face,” she recalls with frustration. “Yes, I happen to have a lot of followers, but look at my resumé, I am a business woman.”

Other triggers included being told Latin brands only sell to Latinos and that that was considered niche. The other was the misconception that this demographic is only willing to shop inexpensive products. “It would drive me nuts because we are such a diverse community and have a lot of spending power,” she says.

However, one of the biggest blows came during a meeting with a VC who asked her if she had children. At the time, Rivera was a few months pregnant with her first child but hadn’t made that news public yet. She said she didn’t, and because the meeting was over Zoom the VC couldn’t see her baby bump. He immediately went on to tell her not to have children for at least five years if she was serious about Ceremonia’s success. “It felt so incredibly unfair. No one ever considered my husband’s path to fatherhood being a disadvantage in his career. He was so proud to tell everyone and everyone [would celebrate] him,” she says. “Meanwhile, I sat there feeling ashamed for being pregnant, and didn’t want to tell anyone because it [would be] a disadvantage.”

In 2020, Ceremonia launched exclusively direct-to-consumer with its inaugural product: Aceite de Moska. It wasn’t until about a year later that they expanded the line to a shampoo, conditioner, curl activator, and scalp massager, all sold at Credo. As of September 2022, they started to sell at Sephora, and now they’re sold at over 500 locations.

Anybody who ever questioned Rivera or her Latin-focused business has been proved wrong.

Rivera photographed by Rebecca Alaniz.

She attributes a big part of Ceremonia’s success to her customers. It was them who initially gave her feedback on Aceite de Moska, they’re the ones who asked her for a fragrance — Perfume de La Tierra — which is a newly launched product that was never previously on her roadmap, and they’re the ones who are asking her for the still-under-wraps product she’s launching at the end of the year. She’s tight-lipped about the launch, sharing only that it’s an extension of one of her best-selling collections, but she does shed light onto what she thinks is in the future for Ceremonia. “We’re really creating a world, so I think the future is a beauty brand versus just a hair[care] brand,” she shares.

Furthermore, she talks about her network as a solid group to lean on for support. Deepica Mutyala, founder of Live Tinted, is a great example of someone Rivera admires and looks to for advice. “We give it to each other real, whether we’re speaking about investors or exchanging notes on budgets,” she shares. “The reality is that the most valuable network for me has always been my peers, so I think really investing in your network and growing together is so powerful.”

This community she’s created is part of what keeps her in a healthy mindset. Despite all her success, from her 30 Under 30 shout-out and the $10 million investment, Rivera still experiences imposter syndrome. When asked when was the moment she realized she had made it, her response was a humble one. “There’ve been so many milestones, but none of them alone means that we have made it. We’re still a baby brand,” she begins. “We’re only going to be here if we have customers, and we’re only going to be here if our community supports us.”

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It’s why she always puts her community first, listening to what they want, creating products that authentically tie into the brand, and spotlighting the Latin community. For example, for Hispanic Heritage Month she commissioned Latin photographers to capture images in their respective communities across the U.S. Then, she did an open-day casting call in Puerto Rico for people who wanted to participate in their campaign.

Tying it back into community and the tight-knit connection we share with our families, Rivera recalls what it was like for her parents to see Ceremonia for the first time. “It was so heartfelt, because for the longest time they never understood what I did. But when I founded Ceremonia it made sense. The packaging was in Spanish, they could use the products. My dad was a hairdresser in Chile, so he felt an even deeper sense of pride because [Ceremonia] was inspired by the rituals he taught me. And my mom is the self-care queen, she did all these rituals at home, which gave me an incredible front-row seat, whereas if she would’ve gone to the salon I probably wouldn’t have known about them.”

Not only does she get to replicate those rituals with her family in their upstate New York bathroom, but now Rivera gets to share them with hundreds of thousands of Ceremonia customers every day.

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Pia Velasco is a bilingual Spanish and English journalist and consultant with editorial experience at outlets including Vogue, People en Espanol, and InStyle. Velasco has written for LATINA, Allure, Byrdie, ELLE, and more.

The post Ceremonia’s Babba Rivera Keeps Proving People Wrong appeared first on Latina.

When Zoë Saldaña appears on Zoom, she doesn’t look like someone who just spent hours at a photo shoot. Wearing an oversized button-down with her slicked-back hair parted down the middle, she looks relaxed, radiant, and content, as though she’s been vacationing for weeks.

Saldaña has collaborated with LATINA for cover stories and interviews since the magazine was in print, and she is evidently at ease. “LATINA has always been nice to me and super supportive, so it’s always nice to come back to something that’s familiar,” she says with a smile on her face. “And for it to be mi cultura — it feels really good.”

Outside of her award-winning acting career, the “Adam Project” star has been a longtime advocate for Latinx culture. In 2017, when she founded the media company BESE, her mission was to amplify Latinx stories that were told by Latinx voices. Five years later, she’s still determined to broaden and reshape popular Latinx narratives through the platform’s video content and articles.

While Latinx people make up 18.7 percent of the population in the United States, our community is comparatively underrepresented on screen. According to UCLA’s 2021 Hollywood Diversity Report, Latinx talent accounts for just 7.1 percent of leads, 7.7 percent of overall casts, 5.6 percent of writers, and 7.1 percent of directors. “I thought, ‘we’re not even enough [in the media industry] to write our own stories and represent ourselves,’” Saldaña says of her decision to launch BESE.   

Her new venture was further inspired by the desire to create content that her kids — Cy, Bowie, and Zen — can be proud of. Over Zoom, her expression becomes more serious as she talks about the meaning of accurate representation and why she’s fueled to provide that for her children. Growing up, Saldaña leaned into any groups that offered opportunities for cultural self-identification, including both Afro-American and Anglo-American communities. Now that her own children are finding their place in the world, she hopes to combat a source of persistent frustration: the pattern of misrepresentation and oversimplification of these groups in the media. “I want my boys to know that within their culture, we’re not just civil rights activists and martyrs, or criminals,” she says. 

BESE’s website showcases a mix of content across various media. Recent features include a piece that highlights the first LGBTQIA+ mariachi band, a video about Native Like Water (a program for Native American and indigenous youth to re-establish their connection with surfing and the ocean), a feature on the founders of Puerto Rico’s only local makeup line, and a deep dive into Julia de Burgos’ poetry. 

Saldaña’s dream for BESE is to apply these philosophies to more ambitious projects, such as feature films and documentaries. She shares an example of Mexican-American boxer Siniesa Estrada, who has won so many of her tournaments by knockout. “I thought that was amazing. Her story can be a series, it can be a movie — somebody can tell her story! My wish for the company is to do that.”

Saldaña understands the impact that storytelling can have — it’s part of the reason she’s an actor — and this informs how she and her husband, Marco Perego, are raising children and incorporating Latinx culture in their lives. Since they’re both creatives, Saldaña says they make all the storytelling “passionate,” through both the music they listen to, like merengue and the folklore they pass along, like La Ciguapa. 

She adds that Junot Díaz’s “Islandborn” had a big impact on her children. “[Díaz] found a very picturesque way to describe to children what Trujillo’s dictadura was like and how it affected and changed us as a community,” she says. “They were transfixed when I read it to them. They couldn’t believe such a monster would exist, but also that we come from people who fought for the independence of the Dominican Republic — and we’re proud of that.”

Saldaña’s love for her Dominican and Puerto Rican heritage comes through as she talks about her family, their cultures, what it was like living in the DR from age 10 to 17, and how she feels when she sees her boys dancing merengue with their primas and primos. She describes with pride the Dominican women that influenced her and explains how their carácter helped her become the person she is today. “We don’t like to just survive, we like to thrive,” she says.

It was a strong and patient mindset that helped Saldaña navigate Hollywood in her early career, and she thanks her mom for that. When someone else got the role she was auditioning for, she says her mother would never put that woman down for Saldaña’s sake. “She always told me, ‘amor, lo que está para tí vendrá. Ahora está para ella, y que bueno que lo consiguió y deseale suerte a ella, pero lo que está para ti vendrá.”

The actor shares that she faced discrimination early on in her career because she didn’t look “traditional,” however, by the time she got to Hollywood, she had already been desensitized by years of similar experiences dating back to her childhood. She describes how the lighter-skinned, straight-haired children in her school would bully her for her being negrita, and admits how painful this treatment could be when it came from kids she thought were her friends. However, those experiences gave her the thick skin she needed to endure discrimination and rejection during her early acting days, and she adds that it didn’t hurt as much when it was done by strangers.

Of course, Saldaña’s career would eventually skyrocket and she’d land iconic roles in massive franchises, such as “Star Trek,” “Guardians of the Galaxy,” and “Avatar.” Now, she’s excited about her participation in the newly released “The Adam Project,” in which she co-stars with Ryan Reynolds.“I feel like it’s considered a four-quadrant kind of project because it has a little bit of everything: the heart, the action, the comedy, and the romance,” she says. “And it keeps you hooked from beginning to end.” 

Saldaña commends the magnificent cast she worked with, which includes Mark Ruffalo and Jennifer Garner, and praises the work of director Shawn Levy — “he’s an amazing man who, as captain, runs a beautiful ship” — but she admits to having almost turned down the project entirely. Shooting started at the end of 2020, at the height of the pandemic, and Saldaña says she was hesitant to leave her house for health reasons. However, Levy promised a safe environment wherein the cast and crew would take all necessary precautions. She decided to go for it and has no regrets.  

Because the film is about a time-traveling fighter pilot who teams up with his 12-year-old self to save the future, LATINA asked Saldaña what she hopes for the future. Her answer: to see more women in power. “I think the planet needs it,” she adds.

There is so much to admire about Zoe Saldaña, but what stands out in conversation with her is that she is a woman who possesses not only vision and conviction but also a plan of action. She is poised to change the world.

Credits:
Photography by María Alvarez, Photography Assisting by Ethan Newmyer and Margaret Levya, Post-Production by Wanda Alvarez, Makeup by Vera Steimberg, Hair by Mara Roszak, and Styling by Petra Flannery.

The post Zoë Saldaña Has High Hopes For the Future appeared first on Latina.

We understand that planning an activity can feel daunting, so if you’re scrambling for last-minute ideas, we’ve got you. If you’re stuck on ideas of what to do to make the holiday special, we compiled a list of 11 non-cheesy things you can do at home, out on the town, with someone, and on your own. 

“Melancholia,” 1989, Fernando Botero. Image from Wiki Gallery.

At home:  

Take a virtual class 

Staying in is the new going out, and whoever says that you need to go out to do something new is terribly wrong. Learn how to cook your next signature dish or finally master the perfect dirty martini in the comfort of your home. Websites such as Masterclass and brands like Williams-Sonoma offer a variety of interactive classes, such as how to make the best egg whites for silky-smooth sours and  how to make cool coffee art that rivals that of your local barista. If you want to stick to good ole’ YouTube, Omi Hopper a.k.a @CookingConOmi posts a lot of casual, fun, and easy-to-master cooking videos, such as sofrito puertoriqueño and pastel de yuca. The internet is your oyster! 

Dance it out 

Yes, dancing with someone is a fun and flirty way to interact, and it can have the same effect even if you’re by yourself. It doesn’t matter if you’re going for slow and romantic or want to turn your living room into a Bad Bunny concert, the endorphins will flow. So, set the mood by blasting your favorite music and busting out the dance moves that make you feel yourself. Let the beat guide the rest. 

Take an international “trip” 

You don’t need to hop on a plane to feel like you’re on vacation, you just need a little imagination. Channel your dream destination and make food and drinks that take you to that place, play music native to it, and take it up a notch by dressing the part, too. Consider it preparation for the real thing. 

Turn up the heat

Depending on how long you’ve been with your partner(s), things in bed may have gotten a little stale. Spice things up by listening to audio erotica, watching porn, and playing out each other’s fantasies. And if you’re alone, explore pleasuring yourself with a new sex toy. Hey, treat yourself, you deserve it. 

Plan a game night

Keep the mood playful by challenging your partner(s) to a few rounds of your favorite games. From light-hearted and flirty ones such as Twister to more intense, strategy-driven games like chess or R-rated ones such as sexy dice that’ll help you switch things up in the bedroom, there’s something for every type of personality and mood. 

Give yourself a spa day 

You don’t need to leave your home to pamper yourself. Run a bubble bath (honestly, Mr. Bubble has done it for us for decades), light your favorite candle (we’re obsessed with Otherland, the millennial Dipytque, which has a wide variety of high-end scents in gorgeous jars that seem to last forever), dim the lights, and keep a glass of fruit-infused water nearby to feel extra fancy. No tub? No problem! Throw a shower steamer into your shower to fill the steamy air with your favorite essential oils. Just close your eyes, let the warm water hug your body, and take a deep breath in — ahhhhh.

“La Calle,” Fernando Botero. Image from Google Creative Commons.

Out on the town:

Stargaze like a millennial 

You don’t need to be an astronomer to understand the stars. Apps like Night Sky will show you what constellations you’re looking at IRL so you can distinguish more than the Big Dipper as you lay under the stars contemplating life. 

Book a massage

We don’t know anybody who couldn’t use a deep tissue massage, so give yourself (and your loved ones) the gift of a much-needed kneading session. After all, we’re all stressed out of our minds right now and could do with someone removing the hard, built-up knots throughout our bodies. Plus, studies show that getting a massage can reduce pain and depression, enhance immune function, and even increase alertness. Your body, mind, and soul will thank you for the self-care. 

Play tourist

We spend so much time in our hometowns that it’s easy to forget all the beautiful, unexplored areas they have to offer. Take yourself out on a date and hit some of the spots that have been on your bucket list for a while, whether that be a monument, museum exhibit, or buzzy new restaurant that has the best burrata in town. Groupon will typically have walking tour and site-seeing recommendations based on the town/city you’re at for discounted prices, and local sites, such as Time Out, keep up-to-date calendars that feature new events happening near you. 

Plan a staycation 

Sometimes, all you need is a change of scenery to set the mood and give yourself a break from everyday life. If you have your mind set on a specific location, consider booking ahead of time next year to make sure you get the perfect room. However, if you’re more spontaneous, sites like Hotel Tonight can hook you up with great deals at some of the best spots. Either way, treat yourself to room service and indulge in the mini bar goods. 

Visit a rage room 

Look, Valentine’s Day isn’t always pink and roses. Sometimes, it’s anger and darkness, and that’s ok, this holiday can still be for you. Rage rooms are rooms where you can safely smash and destroy objects, such as vases and old television sets, with a baseball bat. So, channel your energy into an activity that’ll help you let off steam while getting an endorphin kick. New York has the Wrecking Club, Austin has the Breaking Point,  and Los Angeles has the Rage Ground. If you’re not in one of these cities, just search “rage room in [insert your city/town name]” in Google and search for options near you.  Trust us, you’ll feel infinitely happier once your session is over.

The post Valentines Day This Year Is Just an Excuse to Go All Out on a Monday appeared first on Latina.