FORT WORTH, Texas – The concept for Monarca emerged when owner Fatima Ceja found herself needing a creative outlet that could bring her joy and help with her mental health.
Around that same time, an ice storm hit Texas and forced everyone to stay indoors. Ceja used this newfound free time to figure out what she was good at that could double as a passion and a business.
“I knew I had to do something relative with fashion,” Ceja said. “I didn’t know how to sew, but jewelry is part of fashion so I thought that could be something I can do since I like it.”
And so Monarca, Ceja’s brand for her handmade jewelry, was born in 2021. She operates from a small corner of Ceja’s family home and sells through her Etsy shop.
Marketing Monarca online through Etsy and other social media channels hasn’t come easy to Ceja, so in the meantime, she also goes to community markets and pop ups.
“I didn’t sell anything at my first event, so I just paid $100 to set up,” Ceja said about her first experience with a community market.
For Ceja, though, the monetary risk that comes with starting a business wasn’t her biggest challenge.
“My first challenge was the language,” she said. “I’m not from here and I don’t know anybody here. Sometimes I don’t feel good, so it affects my mental health.”
In order to work around this, Ceja often uses appearances at community markets and pop ups as a way to meet new people and practice her English.
Ceja always keeps home close to her heart, though. In honor of where she’s from, Michoacán in central Mexico, her business name, Monarca, is Spanish for butterfly.
“During winter time monarchs immigrated to the forest of my home state, so monarchs are a symbol of where of I come from,” she said.
Ceja said that making jewelry and getting to be creative has made her happier in general.
“When I see the final result, I’m always like ‘Really? I did that? That was possible?’” she said. “I could be sad, but seeing someone tag me on social media will make me feel special and like I’m doing something good.”
As for her future plans with Monarca, Ceja plans to keep making jewelry part-time while she finishes college and saves up money for her own store.
“After college I’ll have to work outside of my business to save money because my main goal is to open my own vintage store that goes beyond jewelry,” Ceja said.
Ceja said she hopes that in the meantime, people keep supporting small businesses when they can.
“People with small businesses put so much more than just money into their products,” Ceja said. “I want my jewelry to be special and an art, not just a product.”
