Meet Chiquita Martin of The Real C. Mar

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chiquita Martin.

Chiquita, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My road to becoming a fashion designer was somewhat unclear in the beginning.

Growing up, I was a jock. People knew me because of my athletic ability on the track. I was a runner from my youth ages, high school and I competed on a National level at the University of South Carolina becoming All-SEC and All American. Growing up, I’ve always known I wanted to be a business owner.

While I was in undergrad, I majored in Business Administration and minored in Retail Management. During college, I took one fashion course and participated in a few school fashion shows. At the time, I liked fashion, but I could never pinpoint exactly what I liked. All in all, taking a career in fashion wasn’t a “true thought,” I figured I’d be a pro athlete!

After graduation and my final days of being a college athlete, the real world came fast! I decided that I didn’t want to sacrifice my life to sports anymore and I wanted to gain some real-life freedom and get a “real job!” Boy o Boy, “the real world!” I got a managing job making $10.50 an hour for a well-known mall retail store. Although I learned a lot, It only took a few months to realize that I didn’t want the rat race of mall retail to be my life.

After a few conversations with friends and family members, I decided to go back to school in the fashion and beauty industry. Initially, it was cosmetology school then I changed my mind to go into Fashion Design. In 2009, I enrolled at Bauder College in Atlanta. Packed my Uhaul from South Carolina to Georgia and I never looked back.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Becoming and being an entrepreneur is one of the craziest, dummiest yet best decision anyone could ever make. It takes all of your efforts, every single day. Is the road easy? hell no… Is it worth the test, YES!

Being a former athlete and somewhat of a social butterfly has to help me gain clientele early in my career. But over time I’ve been challenged with growing with my clientele or staying true to my niche or joining the rat race of always doing custom work and not truly designing.

Being an entrepreneur challenges you daily, it is a mental game mixed with opportunity, skill, and money. Every day I question my ability. Am I putting out enough merchandise, are my prices sales driven, how can I market better, how can I grow, why aren’t they supporting me, how can I pay for all this? Oh, what about my own personal needs and wants and lifestyle?

Literally every day I have a million thoughts while having a million things to do! I have made a personal choice not to let any of these things stop my growth and my drive to get where I want to be. It requires relentless effort and tunnel vision! I didn’t come this far to give up!

When I’m reminded by pictures or testimonies from my clients that are happy with my work… that’s when I realize that I’m on the right track and every hard moment is worth the good days.

Being business owner is not for the faint at heart! It requires hard sacrifices.

Please tell us about The Real C. Mar.
The Real C. Mar is a mixture of things. We have every day ready to wear looks, to nightlife, bridal gowns to evening wear. When I started out, I was known for a lot of bodycon, nightlife looks. In the last few years, I’ve become heavily involved in bridal looks, prom gowns and more.

I’m most proud of my company for being known as a place to go to for unconventional bridal looks and prom gowns. I am happy to serve and give a concierge type of service to my bridal and prom clientele. I like being able to provide everything for their special day.

Whether it’s making a veil, alterations, making dresses for the bridal party, “day of event” services, sourcing vending, C. Mar is a one-stop shop. These types of services set The Real C. Mar apart from other businesses.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Every day there’s a lesson to be learned. However, in retrospect, I would save money, invest in a team early and market on different platforms.

Pricing:

• Collection Ready to Wear: $60+
• Custom Prom: $550+
• Custom Bridal Gowns: 1500+
• Custom Gowns: $400+
• 2nd Look Bridal: $400+
• Custom Swimwear: $80+
• Custom Ready to Wear: $150+

Contact Info:

• Address: 3060 Pharr CRT N NW Atlanta Ga 30305
• Website: Squareup.com/store/TheRealCMar
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @TheRealC.Mar
• Facebook: Facebook.com/therealcmar

Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let