An Interview with Entrepreneur Rafaela Gonzales, Gloryscent Founder

How did you come up with your idea for Glory Scent?

The idea for Gloryscent was conceived while I was working on finding solutions for my natural hair. For a long time I had been using harsh chemicals to style my hair and it was causing very negative effects. While creating DIY hair treatments the idea came over to me to try my hand at creating a line of beauty products. It so happens that I fell in love with skin care while doing my research. I eventually found an online natural skincare formulation school, which helped launch my business.

When did you start to think about turning your idea into a business?

When I began developing my business plan I was still in college and working within the community so I was close to people who knew of Eforall and knew of CTI, and recommended these organizations to me. When I reached out to CTI I was about a year and a half into the business and needed funding to execute a project and take Gloryscent to the next level.

What was the benefit of working with the Entrepreneurship Center?

CTI was able to provide me with funding of course but also helped me with my annual projections and building my inventory list. I worked with KellyAnne most of the time and she was a wealth of knowledge and very patient and kind.

What were some of your biggest challenges in starting your business?

One of my biggest challenges starting the business was finding the right people to help me grow it. At the time I didn’t even know what I needed to succeed because I was still in college and didn’t have any experience running a business and really didn’t know anyone that was doing something like this. I also struggled with funding the business, of course, because college students don’t have much money and I certainly didn’t have a well of family members to rely on , to say the least.

What is the background on how you were able to get your products to JC Penny?

Something that I did not anticipate when building a brand was how expensive it would be to get the word out or to actually execute the aesthetic and branding itself. After a lot of work creating the branding for Gloryscent, a company called Thirteen Lune reach out to me in their beginning stages of their brand. They asked me if I would be interested in being stocked in their online retail store. I was skeptical at first because they had not launched yet so I had nothing to see but after going on a phone call with them I knew that we were a perfect fit. Thirteen lune worked out a deal with JCpenny to house the brand on their online store in their physical stores! That has been a huge win for the Gloryscent! JCpenney is a well known department store and has been around for over 100 years. They have stores all over the US and as of October we will be stocked in about 300 of them. It’s a very exciting time.

What words of wisdom would you say to small business owners starting out?

I would encourage all small business owners to continue to push through the challenges that they face and have faith that they will succeed in the end. Success has everything to do with our mentality.

What are your future plans for Glory Scent Beauty?

I want to continue scaling and pitching Gloryscent to other retailers and brands. I see Gloryscent being sold in all of the world’s major department stores and bring clean beauty to women of all shades