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

Hi Erika, how do you think about risk?
Taking risks to me is a necessary part of living life. Without taking risks, we become comfortable with the status quo and fail to propel forward because of fear. I make my best efforts to live as fearlessly as possible because I reflect so much on our short time on this earth. To me, risks are a natural part of our human experience and they make life truly worth living. In my life, some of the best decisions I have made for myself involved taking risks, getting out of my comfort zone, and putting my fears aside. All of those decisions were tough and filled with many, “what-ifs” but I can say that they were all worth it. In terms of business, starting one’s own venture is a risk in and of itself and I myself wrestled with many “what-ifs” and, frankly, sometimes self-doubt. But, I powered through the fear and prioritized my belief in myself and mission.

What should our readers know about your business?
Calicia Care is a post-operative care company that provides nursing aftercare in Beverly Hills and the greater LA area. I started this company with my sister, Nurse Lexi, about three years ago. What sets us apart from other post-op care companies is our patient-centered approach to aftercare. Many companies have high patient to nurse ratios which means that patients do not get as careful attention to their needs as they do with us, where we do 1:1 and 2:1 care. We are also focused on educating our patients and their families so that when they leave our care they have the tools necessary to continue their care on their own. We do this by having our nurses offer 1:1 training and by also distributing educational content on our social platforms and in our newsletters. I’m really proud and excited about this particular part of our business because I had never seen enough focus on the aftercare aspect of surgery, especially plastic surgery. It’s such a “hush hush” industry but thanks to social media people are a lot more open about they work they have done and I think that leaves such a huge window of opportunity to use this time to now educate people on how to best take care of themselves after their procedures.

To get to where we are business-wise has not been and still is not an easy task. As with any business, every time we figure out one little hurdle…another one pops up. So, we are constantly grinding our gears to not only be a run a successful business but also keep the quality of care that we offer up. One of the biggest lessons that we have learned is how to communicate effectively as sisters and business partners which required getting to know each other on a different level, which largely has meant gaining the ability to separate our business matters from fun/silly family time.

What we want the world to know about our brand’s story lies within our namesakes, Alicia and Carmen (our grandmothers whose names we put together to create Calicia Care). They were two strong women that instilled in us not only the value of hard work and dedication but also passion and pride in the work that we do. I want people to know that we carry that with us heavily when working with every single one of our patients and is why our brand is so incredibly focused on creating individualized experiences for each person.

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 am so partial to Beverly Hills so it’d be heavily focused on that area. My favorite hotels are The Peninsula and The Maybourne so if they were coming out for the week, we would stay at either one. Probably The Peninsula though because they are flexible with check-in/check-out time (you can checkout at 10/11pm and not get charged an extra night which I think is so fun!) and you get to use their luxury vehicles during your stay. When you’re hanging with me, it’s gotta be in style! We would have lunch at Impasta which is my favorite because of their healthy gluten-free and low-carb meals and splurge for dinner at Funke or Dante. Then, we would explore cigar bars because my inner old man is always craving a nice Cuban – I adore the cigar lounge at The Maybourne so we would have to end the nights there. We would also go to shows and concerts – I really enjoy The Improv and have been meaning to catch a Candlelight show. I love that in LA you can find so many opportunities for entertainment. And, of course, no LA trip is complete without a trip to Malibu so we would take a fun trip down PCH and have an oceanside lunch at Nobu.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
First and foremost, my grandma Alicia, or as we called her, “Mamita.” She is part of the namesake of our brand, Calicia Care. She was a spunky, funny, caring, kind, and tenacious woman and helped my parents raise me. I think so much about her and aim to not only make myself proud of my own life but also honor her efforts by being the best version of myself. One saying that has stuck with me since her passing last year is, “No seas pendeja.” Which basically means, don’t be a sucker and in the context of how she’d express that to me it meant, “go do you and don’t let anyone stop you.” And I think about that so often because it gives me a lot of inspiration to do just that – live my dreams, be confident in my decisions, and be fearless.

My parents are also my backbone. They sacrificed so much for me growing up and it’s not lost on me the amount of effort it took for them to put not just myself through private school and then college but also my two sisters. They also were our Girl Scout leaders, loudest cheerleaders during our school sporting events, and consistent motivators. Anytime I have ever needed them for anything they have always been ready at the drop of a hat.

Website: Caliciacare.com

Instagram: instagram.com/CaliciaCare

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/calicia-care/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CaliciaCare/

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/calicia-care-beverly-hills

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@caliciacare/

Other: Instagram.com/DrErikaMaldonado

Image Credits
Private Production/Luxe Light Media

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