Today we’d like to introduce you to The Pencil Boxx RV.
Hi, The Pencil Boxx; thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, you could tell our readers some of your backstories.
Afro Latina, a mother of two, and a born entrepreneur, Tatiana Madrigal has always ventured on the entrepreneur path from a young age. At the tender age of sixteen, Tatiana started running her dance company. Currently, Tatiana is the artist manager and developer for her brother Daun, a pop and R&B artist, and the Founder and CEO of her daughter’s cosmetic business, THE PENCIL BOXX RV.
I have always endeavored for my girls to have their businesses regardless of whatever else they wanted to do in their lives. This prompted me, in 2019, to start planning to launch a “mommy and me” and “daddy and me” clothing line for my girls’ business. For a year and a half, I researched and sampled fabrics from many vendors, and like many things in life, things went differently than planned. Those same vendors could not design the “mommy and me” and “daddy and me” collections the way I had envisioned. Fast forward to the summer of 2020, I found myself praying and asking God to help me through the creative process and provide me with a vision or a sign of whether I was on the right track. Of course, for everything we pray for, it usually takes a while before receiving an answer.
Little did I know my answer would arrive in August 2020. My oldest daughter Reyna (7) and my youngest daughter Vera (5) were getting ready for virtual school. I was stressed out that day because Reyna, who was then 5 years old, knew little to no English. Moreover, because I worked during the day, her father, who also knew little to no English then, would have to help her through her virtual school lessons. I recall asking the girls to bring me a pencil so that I could set up their virtual workstation. I asked Vera to bring a pencil for Reyna. However, Vera was running around the house and jokingly brought me lipstick, saying, “Use this, mommy!” Although I wanted to get upset, I couldn’t because it was funny that she was bringing my red lipstick for her sister to use as a writing tool. To top it off, she had lipstick smudged all over her face, which reminded me of when I played in my mother’s make-up bag.
After we finally found a pencil for Reyna to use on her first day of virtual learning, I cleaned Vera’s face, dropped her off at Montessori school, and during the ride to work, I called my mom and asked her to stop by the house to check on Reyna. I also shared with my mother what happened that morning. We both laughed and reminisced about when I was 3 years old and how I loved to play in her make-up. That evening, after putting the girls to bed, I stayed up late and went back to the drawing board of the “mommy and me” and “daddy and me” collections. After sketching out a few designs, I decided to come to a stopping point at midnight. Before going to bed, I said my usual prayer, including for God to help guide me with creative business creation. After a deep prayer, I closed my eyes, and at that moment, I saw a vision of a pencil. I opened my eyes and thought, “Now, why am I envisioning a pencil?” I turned over in bed and attempted to close my eyes for the second time, and another vision, this time with the words ” The Pencil Box,” appeared. I looked up at the ceiling in my bedroom and asked, “God, do you want me to start a pencil business?”
When I closed my eyes the third time, the image of Vera running around the house earlier with my lipstick came to my mind. I immediately woke up and started to google lipstick in pencil shapes and found nothing! I contacted my vendors and asked them if they could create a lipstick/lipgloss tube in the shape of a pencil. They immediately responded that they could send me samples within 7 days. I made the logo, placed my sample order with a vendor, and searched the web for competition. By the way, I did find one who is currently leading the cosmetic realm with products of a similar school theme. I felt discouraged until I was reminded of Burger King, Mcdonald’s, Jack in the Box, and other fast food restaurants that sell the same thing! The only difference is the taste and the packaging! Filled with excitement, I could barely sleep that night, and THE PENCIL BOXX RV was born! I owe my mother, Myriam Valencia, the credit for helping me name the colors of THE PENCIL BOXX RV lipgloss and lipstick pencils. She is all about education, and it felt fitting to incorporate her into this project. She is the reason I work so hard for my children. She did it for my brother and me.
You wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been smooth?
As soon as we pre-launched in December 2020, a few investors with good intent to invest were no longer able to. However, the amount of support from my family and friends grew tremendously. The feedback and authentic reviews prepared us for our official launch. The excitement also came with a responsibility to ensure that we had the products our customers wanted. I invested 100% of my time, energy, and finances in The Pencil Boxx to ensure its success. Handling the creative direction, inventory, project investments, marketing expenses, and orders was financially challenging to manage on one income alone, but I made sure to make it happen! Many projects took a while due to close family members passing and Reyna & Vera’s father being hospitalized for more than 4 months. Although struggles came our way, I continued one step at a time. Regardless of the setbacks that came our way, there was continued momentum that led to an extraordinary project resulting in the official commercial recorded and edited by Compound Films.
Today The Pencil Boxx has proudly shipped to customers from Canada, Houston, Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Maryland, DC, Virginia, Atlanta, Colombia, Bakersfield, Mississippi, and growing! We plan to open a location for our fellow Houstonians in the summer of 2023 with our first party bus!
We’ve been impressed with The Pencil Boxx RV, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
With education being vital to my family and me having a company that promotes the importance of education and working towards your future goals and aspirations was a no-brainer. The Pencil Boxx RV is a cruelty-free, certified vegan, designer lipgloss/lipstick cosmetic brand. Each Pencil is carefully and creatively named using a hashtag to encourage future aspirations and dreams.
Currently, there are four pre-packaged boxes:
- The Elementary Boxx consists of four lip-glosses #Science, #Technology, #Engineering and # Math.
- The Middle School Boxx consists of two lipglosses, #Bestfriend and #Recess.
- High School Boxx consists of two matte lipsticks, #Signlanguage, and #Track.
- The University Boxx consists of two matte lipsticks, #Midterm, and #Sorority.
In addition to our pre-packaged boxes, we also carry a variety of matte lipsticks, #Popular, #Doctorate, and #Masters, which can be purchased separately by selecting the Mix-Match Boxx. Lastly, let’s not forget the lip balms, #Notes, which are designed to look like a stack of post-it notes. The Pencil Boxx RV has something for everyone, and we are here to promote a bright future for all our customers.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out.
Whatever you do in life, only look back to remind yourself how far you have grown. If you never start, how are you going to measure your growth? Lastly, don’t be afraid to start. Just start! -Tatiana Madrigal.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thepencilboxxrv.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/thepencilboxxrv?igshid=ZjA0NjI3M2I=
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThePencilboxxrv
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/HSIJHKFo3Uo
