Meet Arleen Rivera | Creator of Soulful Kidz

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

Hi Arleen, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
My daughter Soul was the inspiration for this line. I wanted to do something for her so that she can be proud of her mom and possible one day carry on. I have always been into music and fashion. My fiancé and I were Hip-Hop heads growing up, he was a DJ and I was a dancer. We’ve always connected through music and that’s how our daughter’s name came about. We had Soul during COVID and felt a little lonely and separated from our family, ultimately being able to only rely on each-other. We never knew how hard it was to be parents, no-one ever talks about it so we wanted to use Soulful Kidz to build a community. I wanted to create items that were cool for kids to wear (celebrating both music & culture) with a larger meaning behind them, while also building a community.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Soulful Kidz is my passion project turned small business. During the day, I’m an International Content Marketing Manager at an entertainment company and I work on Soulful Kidz whenever I have free time. As you can imagine, that can be tough with a 1 year old, but it’s all worth it.

I’ve always worked in the entertainment industry and have truly enjoyed it. It took a lot of years to get there. I did everything from school, internships, assistant jobs, networking just to get to where I’m at. One of the initiatives I’m currently working on, is expanding Latinx representation in media and the workplace, which is also an initiative I carry over to Soulful Kidz. I want to make sure that kids not only have cool outfits, but feel welcomed and represented as well.

Soulful Kidz is also different for me than a 9-5 because it’s another one of my babies. Every single thing is done with love, from the planning to the events we either attend or host. There is so much genuine happiness that comes out of it all.

We love meeting new babies and their parents whenever we get to attend pop-up events. We also love seeing how much fun everyone has whenever we host our own events. The community behind it and the sweet messages we get from our customers make all the hard work worth it.

I’ve learned to have fun and enjoy the process. Having your own business can be stressful especially when you’re doing it all on your own but honestly, this short experience so far as a mom has really molded me to have a strong mentality and feel like I can conquer anything.

There are so many upcoming exciting opportunities for Soulful Kidz. We currently have some projects in the works that I’m excited for, not only from a design perspective but also collaborations and upcoming events we plan to host.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I love LA! I was born and raised here but this is a tough question for me because I can be a little indecisive. I would definitely say to get breakfast at The Nest. They have a great mojito iced coffee there. I’d also want to check out a Lakers game at the Crypto.com arena. GO LAKERS! For dancing, I’d say La Descarga. I love me a good salsa dancing night, live band and some good drinks! Uff!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Everything I do is for my little family! Soul has been a huge inspiration to me. Since she came into my life, she taught me that nothing else matters. Ever since, I’ve had a more positive and optimistic outlook on life. I call it my little “peace & love wave.” She makes me want to be a good person and just good at everything I do.

I couldn’t do it without my fiancé. He’s my best friend and has really shown me what in my eyes, true love is. Everyone would laugh at all my stories and things he’s gone through for me. Let’s just say, that it can be a lot! It doesn’t matter how hard situations get, he’s there through it all and he has the best advice. He’s also the designer for Soulful Kidz and I’ve always looked up to him for his accomplishments. He has his own men’s line too! I enjoy collaborating with him and coming up with our fun designs!

Lastly, my parents. I have amazing parents. I’m a proud daughter of immigrant parents from Guatemala. My spark and motivation comes from them! I owe all of my success to them and I’m grateful that they really paved the way for me. My goal in life is to make them proud and one day be able to take care of them. They’re also the most amazing grandparents and help us with Soul especially when we have work to get done.

Website: https://www.soulfulkidz.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soulfulkidz/

Image Credits
@arleenyy @shopsonnylane @ps__sandoval @alexiafernandezz_ @loveariellarose @ceelia_xo