Today we’d like to introduce you to Lilly-Ana Davila.
Hi Lilly-Ana, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
To being, I’m Lilly-Ana Davila owner of Gainesville Bazaar, Davila’s Arrangements, but also, not to mention social media marketer and Merchandising lead for Once Upon A Child Gainesville. I am 17 years of age, currently a high school student. I am a member of the RACE (Renaissance Academy of Creative Enterprise) program at my high school.
Growing up, having several limitations and obstacles constantly thrown at you really forces you to be independent, focused, prepared, dedicated, and constantly motivated. Many may take the route and ponder on their past instead of moving forward. To me, I decided to keep pushing and moving forward no matter the circumstances. With that being said, past occasions have forced me to grow up faster, not only that but has motivated me more than ever to be someone great in life.
With my mindset constantly being set on exactly what I want, I just keep reminding myself each day to force myself to be someone great. No matter what it is, I want to leave my mark. God has given me this huge blessing of overcoming and going.
With that being said, I have always been very passionate about business. My entire family is very outgoing, passionate people always pushing themselves to do better each day. I constantly remind myself to never stay comfortable where I’m at but to always strive to be better than yesterday.
Moving forward, in 2021 I became very passionate with decor. I decided to open up a balloon business making arrangements for family and slowly but surely it escalated into me decorating for local people around me. I love the feeling and the smile it brings to the entire event! It brings me nothing but joy to know that I was able to make something beautiful. I started to notice more business rise on social media seeing people do what they love! It inspired me so much. Me and a group decided to unite and conquer. We worked together to create a very small event just to see how it would go! Of course, it went amazing, thanks to the support of the community we received right away.
As time passed, this event turned into one person managing it all, which was me. Everything from the social media, contacting vendors, getting the location, ordering shirts, all the way to creating the schedule and outline for the entire event alone. This was my time to shine and show people what I was capable of doing. Time passed and my events keep my growing! All the way from 13 vendors to events with 50 or more business! This was huge to me.
God has seriously been the light of it all. Thanks to him I have been provided with the strength, patience, and mindset to do this all! He has been so great to me and these vendors who sometimes event completely sell out before the event is even over.
With that being said, I will forever continue doing these events to support these people who are nothing but hard workers trying to make a difference and build up what they are made for.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
All of this has definitely not been easy but sure has been so worth it! God’s hands around me always is what allows this to happen.
A struggle I was faced with was having to do it all alone. Many people have underestimated me because I’m young and think I can’t do it. Thank God I’ve made it this far to show that I did make it! People sometimes think that this is just an event but little do they know it takes lots of preparation and time for one. Personally creating each flyer, customizing the color and font for social media is very time-consuming. Having to promote each event in hopes people will show up can get very stressful. Not to mention, constantly answering messages through all day can be overwhelming. Finding the perfect location for the convenience of the vendors and customers can also be hard. Also, setting up everyone at the same time the day of the event gets very hectic. Not only that but on top of that still trying to manage a job, another business, and school all in one can get very crazy at times.
Although it can get overwhelming at times doesn’t mean that’s a bad thing, instead, it’s a way for me to push myself event more. I am able to learn and grow from each event I have which makes what I do absolutely amazing. Then, the rewarding feeling and celebration I can have afterwards is such a great experience.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
My business started in Gainesville Georgia, my hometown. This is where I host all my events at! We are known for helping small businesses get started and always keep growing! I’m very blessed to have such a wonderful community who always supports all the dreams and ambitions these people have. We allow small businesses from all around to participate in our events where they can gather and sell their products, promote themselves, and get to know new business owners who they also learn from. We don’t see it as competition amongst each other instead a chance to learn and grow from one another. Everyone is very supportive and always willing to go above and beyond for someone.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
Covid has impacted everyone’s lives and in this case even their businesses. Although it is something we wish never happened it has definitely taught us more and to be grateful for what we have and really take advantage of the opportunities we have while we can. A positive outcome of Covid is development of more small businesses! This gave time for people to do what they love or experiment something that they probably would have never known they were capable of till Covid. So yes, there is always a bright side to something like that.
Contact Info:
- Email: gainesvillebazaar@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/gainesville_bazaar?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCKpMukp2lklTQJvgZGS1rBg
