Entrepreneurship runs in Ana Guajardo’s blood. In the 50s, her grandmother sold burritos outside of an El Paso factory, before she opened a Mexican restaurant that was in business for 27 years. And it’s this exact hustle – which she learned from her grandmother – that has made Guajardo a successful businesswoman as an adult.
Nowadays, Guajardo runs the flourishing Cha Cha Covers – a shop that sells nail wraps featuring pop culture moments – and like many other people of color in the United States, it’s her entrepreneurial skills that have allowed her to get her business off the ground.
For Guajardo, making money has been a lifelong specialty. “I was eight years old and I’d go door to door and rake leaves, bathe people’s dogs, started a newsletter, anything,” she told KCET.
With 18.6 k Instagram followers, Cha Cha Covers has a strong online presence, but she also takes her business offline. On Nov. 27, she was at the Artistas y Empresarios Art Sale in Boyle Heights, offering an alternative to crowded Black Friday shopping.
Mostly, Guajardo works for herself, but she still freelances in the art world. “So many of us [artisans] are wearing a lot of different hats, and we’re holding down a job and doing our business, a lot of juggling to make ends meet,” she said. “When I started this business I was in grad school, really, really struggling financially, and a single mom, but I felt strongly about the idea and sure enough, it changed my life.”
Guajardo also runs a class on Instagram where she teaches others how to use the social media platform to attract new customers. Not surprisingly, the Cha Cha Covers Instagram is doing it right. Her Instagram account serves as a one-stop shop. It directs you to her Etsy shop, gives potential buyers real-life examples of the nail decal’s appearances, and shows the wide variety of nail decals that Cha Cha offers.
Plus, Cha Cha Covers probably curates some of the best Frida Kahlo images found on the Internet, which is content that is right up her audience’s alley. We love her work so much we featured her decals in our Holiday Gift Guide last year.
Below, check out 15 of the dope nail decals Cha Cha Covers offers: