Meet Gabriela Linares: Business Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gabriela Linares and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gabriela, what is the most important factor behind your success?
We all measure success differently, for us, success is having unconditional support from the communities who surround us. We have been blessed by receiving support from minority groups such as the queer community, the Latina community, the women community and so many others that have received​ us with open arms. We can confidently say that without them we wouldn’t be here today. 

What should our readers know about your business?
It all started with the dream of providing others with affordable holistic self-care. Sobre la Luna is a Queer Latina owned business. We have many products perfect for treating yourself and those who you love. As a business, we ensure that we fall completely in love with every single one of our products, we made our first appearance in February 2019 through Instagram, though our website is set to launch in January, we plan to continue to offer our services on Instagram. Looking back at how we started versus where we are now, we cannot help but feel proud; we have grown as a business, we no longer only provide soy wax candles, but we also provide intuitively chosen crystals and unisex everyday wear apparel. The main focus of Sobre la Luna are aromatherapy soy candles, most of our candles are infused with dry herbs and crystals. We want to create a whole healing experience for our customers, I think these candles are what we are known for as they are a staple for our business. We make sure everything that’s offered in the store is carefully chosen or hand made by us, that’s what makes our products the perfect definition of one of the kind.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’m more of a spontaneous person, if my best friend was visiting, I would like to show her all my new favorite spots, taking in mind that the pandemic is long over, our first stop of the day would have to be coffee, I would take her to Honu, a small coffee shop in Santa Clarita, to the Olde World Emporium a witchy store where you can get all kind of witchy necessaries, then I would take her for brunch to Bea Bea’s for the best matcha pancakes, then I would take her to the Historic Downtown Farmers Market to show her where it all started for the business. While we are in Downtown LA I would take her to Little Damage for some charcoal-infused ice cream, ending our day at LACMA, for some art sighting. During her week-long stay,​ we would also go for a hike with my partner, Jae, and puppy, Jade, so that all four of us can spend quality time together.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
The existence of Sobre la Luna was teamwork, the two people who I own it all are my mom and partner. After I lost my job, both of them pushed me to follow my dream and create my brand. My mom saw potential in the business idea but knew I wasn’t entirely sure of it, I was hesitant to leap as I was unsure where it would leave me. My mom then invested money for the material needed. That same day, my partner drove me to our local Michael’s, we got all the materials, and went back home where the magic began to happen; my partner, Jae, patiently taught me the art of candle crafting. Having their full and unconditional support is what motivated me to keep going and dive deep into the uncertainty of creating my own brand and business.

Website: https://www.sobrelalunamagic.com/shop
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sobrela_luna/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sobrela_luna

Image Credits
Personal Picture: @lavidaphotographica