Meet Gina Casazza | Founder

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

Hi Gina, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I am a reiki practitioner and I am big into holistic healing, encompassing the whole body, mind and spirit. I love crystals. I love essential oils. I thought of putting crystals and oils together to create an aromatherapy gift set. We have an affirmation collection for self-empowerment. When I thought of the mission for the company and the building model I didn’t want us to be just another bracelet company. I wanted to be a company that serves people, helps them to heal, stay balanced and make positive lasting changes in their life.

What should our readers know about your business?

I M Aromatherapy Bracelets is not just a bracelet company, it is a whole experience. We believe in empowering you to feel good about yourself. I created an aromatherapy brand that delivers high-quality crystal bracelets and essential oil blends that transforms your negative beliefs into positive ones. Our products engage 4 out of your 5 senses. Stay in balance and self-healing with An I M Bracelet helps you to stay in balance and promotes self-healing the moment you slip it on your wrist.

For all you thinking of launching a business or in the beginning stages, keep going! I had zero business experience when starting out. I just had an idea about an interactive bracelet company where you take a quiz that connects you to a bracelet that will serve others and help them heal. I had very little money to invest so I bartered with people offering my reiki services and a bracelet in exchange for professional photos and marketing. Throughout this process I have learned that you never stop learning. I have learned that you have to invest money to make money. I have learned that you have to have an open mind because things will change. Certain beads may be harder to get sometimes and I just have to roll with it all. I learned not to overwhelm myself and take it all one step at a time. Building a business is tough. You have to be patient and hang in there. There were a lot of tears. There were a lot of times I felt lost. There were times I wanted to just wave the white flag and surrender.

Since I constantly wear my bracelet, it always served as a reminder to keep going, to stay in balance and feel the love around the company that I am constantly growing and building. It is inspiring to have a product that heals my soul and empowers me to not give up and that’s the mission I want all of my customers to feel when having an I M product. I use my bracelet every day. They help keep me in balance towards what I am focusing on instead of getting lost in what’s going on in the world and those around me. That’s what keeps me passionate in continuing to build my company. I believe in my product because I know my product, I use it everyday. That is something really special and it makes me really proud of what I created.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?

I love adventure! It is how I stay fit without going to the gym. Paddleboarding would be number one. I go right out of the marina in Marina Del Rey. I love being out on the water, it is from growing up on Long Island. My favorite beach is El Matador in Malibu, so that would definitely be another must visit spot. Usually when I have people in town we will do a full Malibu day where we go to El Matador in the morning, grab lunch, do an afternoon kayak and end the day at Rosenthal winveyard.

For food I LOVE the restaurant, Uovo, it is Italian. There are two locations, one in Santa Monica and one on Wilshire Blvd. They only have pasta, which is handmade in Italy and then flown in overnight. It’s the best pasta you will have. I highly recommend it. For any Vegans that like Italian I LOVE Pura Vita in West Hollywood on Santa Monica Blvd. It is delicious. Their calzones are amazing.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Many people in my life from my mother, my brother, my cousin, my friends all have played a role in helping with the company, however the person I want to recognize the most is me. It was me who pushed through all the tears, the frustration, the fears, the confusion, the exhaustion that came up when building my company. I could have quit so many times. I wanted to quit so many times, but I didn’t and I need to recognize that. I need to recognize what I accomplished because far too often we give our credit away. We don’t give any credit to ourselves. I think that is extremely detrimental and we need to recognize the work we did and all the obstacles and emotions we pushed through, especially in the beginning when you are just building your company.

Website: www.imbracelets.com
Instagram: https://instagram.com/IMbraceletsco
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IMBraceletsco
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZAE8V0SWLbMdWNbA81VygA?view_as=subscriber

Image Credits
Aleks Malczewski took many of the photos for my company I M Bracelets. He is a very talented photographer in Los Angeles.