Styling Stories and Building Community: The Creative Journey of Andrea Serrano

In this episode of Raising Hustle, I’m joined by Andrea Serrano — wardrobe stylist, creative producer, content creator, and event host whose work has helped shape Charleston’s vibrant creative scene.

With more than 20 years of experience blending editorial style with commercial storytelling, Andrea brings bold visuals and memorable experiences to life for brands, clients, and collaborations across the city. From styling editorial shoots and producing content campaigns to hosting curated events like Summer Sizzle, Andrea’s work is rooted in creativity, connection, and community.

In our conversation, Andrea shares how she built a multifaceted creative career, what it takes to balance multiple roles as a stylist, producer, and entrepreneur, and how motherhood has influenced the way she approaches both business and creativity.

In this episode we cover:

• How Andrea’s journey into wardrobe styling and creative production began
 • Balancing multiple creative roles — styling, producing, content creation, and events
 • Her process for bringing brand visions to life through styling and storytelling
 • The importance of community and collaboration in Charleston’s creative scene
 • Hosting events that connect creatives and local businesses
 • How motherhood has shaped her work and perspective as an entrepreneur
 • Staying inspired while managing a dynamic creative career
 • Advice for other creative moms who want to start their own business
 • What success looks like now after years in the creative industry

Andrea’s story is a powerful reminder that creativity isn’t just about aesthetics — it’s about connection, storytelling, and building community around the work you love.

--------------------------------------------------------

This episode is sponsored by FM Bookkeeping 💛

FM Bookkeeping exists to empower business owners and give them peace of mind around their finances. We believe you deserve clarity, confidence, and support—without shame, judgment, or overwhelm.

Whether you’re behind, confused, or just tired of carrying the mental load of your numbers, FM Bookkeeping is here to help you feel grounded and in control again.

If you’re ready to stop stressing about your books and start feeling supported, visit:

👉 https://www.fmbookkeeping.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Welcome to Raising Hustle, the unfiltered podcast for the moms who are building empires with babies on their hips and grits in their hearts. I'm your host, Mariel Fry, bookkeeper by trade, hustler by nature, and mama by choice. Around here we're raising kids, raising hell, and raising the bar. If you're tired of choosing between nap time and next level dreams, this is your space. Let's redefine what it means to have it all on our own damn terms. Hey Mamas and Hustlers, welcome back to Raising Hustle. I am so excited to bring on Andrea Serrano, who is a seasoned wardrobe stylist, creative producer, content creator, and event host, whose passion for fashion, storytelling, and community connection has made her a standout name in Charleston's creative scene. With 20 plus years of experience blending editorial style with commercial vision, Andrea brings high-impact visuals and memorable experiences to life for brands, clients, and collaborators alike. Whether she's styling editorial shoots, producing content campaigns, hosting curated events like Summer Sizzle, or collaborating with local businesses and creatives, she infuses every project with energy, intentionally and unmistakably style. Balancing life as a creative professional and a mother, Andrea leads with heart, bringing people together, elevating brands through vibrant imagery and authentic storytelling, and empowering others in our community to pursue their passions. Hey, Andrea. Hi, how are you? Good. Excited to have you here. You have had such a career in doing what you do. I feel like you're influencer stylist and just so creative, something I am so not. I so I envy anyone who's creative. But I would love to hear about your career kind of before kids and when you had little kids and now where you're at now, a little bit of like a fuller background and what that was like, kind of juggling and managing it all, if you can quote unquote say that.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

Yeah. Oh my gosh. It's it's gonna be a long one. I've been doing this for 30 years and I started pretty young in college. I went to school down in Miami and did an internship with a stylist for MTV Latino at the time, Danny Santiago. And he took me under his wing and hired me on as a stylist after the internship was over. And I he hired me as his assistant on different freelance jobs. And I moved to New York right after school. My school is just like a two-year college, and they knew exactly what I wanted. Like after I interned with him, I'm like, this is it. I get to work with cool people on location, collaborating, being an extrovert that I am. Like I just it was more fun and play than work for me. And I think that's really what it's about is like finding a career that doesn't feel like this hard work. Sure, it's hard work, but it should also feel like play, and you should enjoy it as well. So I lived in New York for eight years, and I assisted a celebrity stylist, and we worked on campaigns for Victoria Secrets, Levi's, Tommy Hilfiger, and got to work with people like Jana Jackson, Cindy Crawford, like supermodels of the 90s. This was in the 90s. And then I just I always say that New York raised me because I was in my early 20s at the time, and I just had a blast living there. It was definitely the most fun time to be in New York. But of course, people who were there in the 80s and 70s will say that was the most fun time. And I fell in love and I thought I was gonna be in New York forever. And once I got married, New York was no longer in the bigger picture. I started to think about lifestyle changes and like having a family and where I wanted to lay my roots. And it's just New York is a challenge to you can do that, but it costs a lot of money. And then you're not in the heart of everything. And so I was visiting my brother in Charleston and just fell in love with Charleston. So this was 22 years ago. So, like 2004, I moved down here. And at that time, there really wasn't much production happening in the way of photo shoots and things like that. And so me and my husband decided to open up a store on King Street called Bazaar, and it was a men's and women's lifestyle boutique. We carried clothing, music, these collectible vinyl toys, sneakers, things like that. And then we had a sneaker boutique on Spring Street before anything was there. And so we were kind of the pioneers of Upper King and then the Canboro and Elliott Borough area. We are the pioneers because it was a cheap rent. And so, but 2008 hit and it was really tough with the local economy to just survive on that. At that time, Facebook was only for college kids. There was no Instagram, there's no TikTok. Uh, there was eBay. So we were selling some things on eBay, and online shopping wasn't like it is today. So it was really hard to survive on the local economy. So we closed both stores. I went into film working as a costume shopper for Army Wives, which was a TV show that was on Lifetime for I think nine seasons. And that was the closest thing for me as a stylist to do in the film industry. Basically, I just shopped five days a week, six months out of a year. And it I really learned the ins and outs of the film industry. So it was really great experience. And then at that time, I had, let's see, a four-year-old son. And so juggling work and raising a young son was tricky, but we are a dual-income family, and I really needed to get back to work. And so I was very pregnant with my second son. And let me know if you have any questions in between, because I'll just keep on talking.

SPEAKER_00 6:28

No, no, I I love this. And I would say your sacrifice around this, right? I feel like, did you feel it was a sacrifice for you? Not only leaving New York, starting a life in Charleston, and then having kids, but having to almost not scale back your career, but did you, were you nervous of that? Were you fearful of that? Did you question if you even made the right decision?

SPEAKER_01 6:51

Absolutely not. I am a very decisive person. And once I set my mind on something, like that's it. I'm doing it, it's happening, I'm manifesting it. And I definitely live light without regrets. Are there things that I would do differently looking back? Of course, but everything, even the hardest points were all a learning lesson. And I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing today or who I am today if it wasn't for those hard moments. And having a child and having a career, really, wow, if you thought that you didn't have time before you had a kid, and then people who don't have kids and they're like, I don't have time. I'm like, are you kidding me? You learn to multitask in a way where it just seems like impossible, but you do it and you figure it out, and that is a sacrifice. And I know it's very hard when you have young kids and you're trying to juggle it all because they need lots of attention, is a very physical time in your life where you're just like hands-on and on high alert. And listen, you are still on high alert, but in a different way when they get older. Um, but it is just like physically exhausting when they're young. And it's the time where you want to be with them the most. And so for me, like having our stores, that was our that's what we thought we were gonna have. Like our lifestyle was gonna be like, oh, we have kids, we have the store, we take turns being at the store, we have people who watch the store with for us when we go out of town. And having the store was like having a child. And you, every time we went out of town, we had to have someone to babysit the child. So those early years of starting businesses, starting having the stores, pivoting my career into film, going back into styling after that and having young children, it was hard. It was a hustle, but you know what? I loved it. I was so passionate about the work that I was doing, the late nights, like working on my website, relaunching my styling career and establishing myself in Charleston as a stylist was all exciting for me. So I was fine with not getting a lot of sleep because the energy and the passion was there. So I was fueled by that. And it just felt so good. And looking back, like now, like this is the payoff. Like I feel like I'm just like coasting, I'm established. It's still a hustle. You know, I'm still, it's like my work has its ups and downs, its ebbs and flows, but I'm at a point where it's consistent enough where I know I can rely on a certain amount of income.

SPEAKER_00 9:46

I love that. And thank you for being just so honest. I think, yes, I think when kids are young where I'm in the thick of it, it is so physical. But as kids get older where your kids are, it definitely gets easier but more challenging at the same time, just like growing a career, just like growing a business. And for you, right, with the changes in Charleston in particular, because if you aren't from Charleston and you don't know Charleston, or you're listening to this from somewhere else, people might think, What is Charleston? What's the scene like? From your perspective, coming from New York being so buzzy and loud, and myself, I come from the New York area too. It's one of the fashion capitals of the world. It's this very buzzy place. And then coming to Charleston, it's definitely smaller. Now it's not like small, small town, but it's definitely a second tier in my eyes. It's definitely smaller. How do you think Charleston has changed with the times? You've been here for 22 years, you've seen a lot of growth and change. What has the style and the influence been like here since you've been here? And do you feel you've had any part of that?

SPEAKER_01 10:49

It has evolved so much when I moved here 22 years ago. I thought it was like all preppy, Lily Pulitzer, you know, like more conservative. But me and my husband Gustavo caught glimpses of well, if there's a college anywhere, there's gonna be this influx of people from different places, different influences. And so we were kind of banking on the college kids for our stores, Bazaar and Sweet Soul. But then there were definitely cool people in Charleston. We had everybody shopping with us. We had the preppy kids, we had the alternative kids, we had the urban crowd. Like we kind of appealed to a mass community of people in Charleston. And I was just like blown away. And so we knew the cool culture was here. And obviously, over time, and especially during COVID, there is a lot of people from bigger cities that moved here, New York and LA. There's a lot as the city has grown, there's bigger brands that are moving down here and transplants. So it's all contributed to this evolved style. But I would say Charleston is a very, it's it's sophisticated but laid back, if you know what I'm saying, where people are polished, they are all about presentation and how they look. Whereas, like, say, and not to put down a place like Colorado. I was in Colorado for the first time for work in the fall time, and it's very granola, outdoorsy, laid back. You don't see people with makeup on that much. It's it's very different. For me, I appreciate, listen, I love the great outdoors, but I also, as a creative and an artist, I appreciate presentation and aesthetic and pretty things. And Charleston really does have all of that.

SPEAKER_00 12:55

I think so. And my style just has changed so much. I was definitely one of those transplants that moved during COVID with my husband. And I remember being in New York, it was like black was my look, and it was all shades of black. And since moving to Charleston, I have embraced like the colors and the prints and the styles and the dresses and just wanting to take care of myself. But to your point, it is polished but relaxed in Charleston. It's got a sophisticated look, but at the same time, you can go and like kick back and flip-flops. So it's got a little bit of everything for everyone. And I love that you brought that up. And just for everyone to listen to this too, Andrea is, I would say you're kind of an influencer. And you bring so much of like content creation and your styling and so much to life through your Instagram. And it's so fun to watch you online and to see everything you post. What's it like to be an influencer? How do you grow to be an influencer? I think I don't even know if you want to call yourself that. I don't know what else to call it, but what was that like for you to even get into this world? Because I think for a lot of moms, a lot of moms do like mommy influencing or maybe affiliate marketing or things of that nature, but you do it as like your career, as like you being a content creator, you being a stylist, you going on shoots. And so, how are you able to grow that kind of platform? Because I think it's for me, like social again, being creative is not my thing, but I'd love to hear your kind of background and experience on that.

SPEAKER_01 14:19

Yeah, it's funny when I started in this digital space, the word influencer didn't exist. You were a blogger. So, and you actually spent more time working on your blog on your website than you would with social media. Social media was kind of a tool to promote your blog, which is very interesting because most influencers now don't even have a website or a blog. It's strictly TikTok or Instagram. And so it was a just a very different time back then. And so I really wanted to infuse my background as a stylist and my experience into the kind of content that I was putting out there, which was like these elaborate photo shoots. I mean, I would get my hair and makeup done, and I was like working with so many different stores for not a lot of money just because it was a new world to pay for someone to promote you on their Instagram really wasn't a thing 12 years ago. I think that's when I started doing this thing. And I had a blog called Charleston Shop Curator. So my kind of angle was promoting local stores and designers because I did have a store and I know how much work it goes into it. And I really appreciate people who own their own businesses like that. So I wanted to promote them, and it really evolved into in 2020, I rebranded to just my name. And thank God I got my name on online, so andreo.com. And I evolved it into. So what started happening for me is I would work with these stores as an influencer, promote their stuff on my Instagram and my blog. And then they would hire me as a stylist and producer for lookbooks and content creation because I knew a lot of people, a lot of models. So I would do the casting and the locations and hire the creative team, the photographer, the videographer, the hair and makeup, and things like that. So it became like this full service production. And it's interesting as the influencer community grew in Charleston. Like when I started, there was five of us, if you can imagine that. Now there's probably thousands of people, definitely thousands of people who do this, whether it's like a side gig for fun or as their career. And for me, it was busier. My income was like half and half, or I was doing more influencing things than styling things. And then it kind of was half and half. And now it's like I definitely my income is more styling and producing than working with brands because what happened just the overall landscape nationwide and globally is that there's so many in influencers and it's so saturated, and there's so many people who will do things for free that brands are like, why are we gonna pay someone if someone could do it for free? And so it has definitely shifted. And so I think right now, if you are an influencer, you've got to be more than just an influencer. And I was very fortunate where, like, I'm not just an influencer, I have this whole other career. And that's my also my vessel to influence is through fashion. And so I think that people are really like, oh, okay, what is my niche? Obviously, everybody has a niche, and fashion has always been my niche. And so being an influencer has definitely changed. I feel like before people just wanted to hire, they they want like people with big numbers, but I think the micro influencers have just as much power as the bigger ones and different ways where they are able to keep up with the engagement and answering DMs and things like that. If you have over a million followers, you probably have someone running your accounts for you because it gets to be too much. And so, yeah, it's really evolved, and I'm glad that I have my own thing. And sometimes I get invited to influencer events because I am a stylist and like that's kind of like my angle or my way in. So I'm just grateful that I have my other career to stand on because it's just it's changed so much and have had conversations with different influencer friends who have over a hundred thousand followers who aren't getting the campaigns that we all got four or five years ago. So it's it's definitely it has evolved and it's pivoted and it's more like UGC user-generated content and things like that.

SPEAKER_00 19:15

Seems like it. And thank you for sharing that because I think there is so much shift and pivoting in social media when you talk about even just from bloggers to influencers and even your story of influencing and then really going back to styling and having that be a funnel. And I think for anyone listening to this, if you are looking to quote unquote be an influencer online, go Andrea's route, to be honest. I actually think that's a better way to go is finding the thing you love and talking about it, and then you can be an influence and you can get invited to things and you can still make money, you can still be happy, you can still post and do all of that without maybe feeling as much pressure. Um, I think the analytic side of it can be really hard. And I do think these micro influencers actually have a lot of influence because they have real organic followers. So it's it's very interesting, the landscape of all of it. I think it's one of those things that you don't really understand until you're in it. So it's definitely pretty cool. One of the things you mentioned is having your store, but also having this blog about talking about local stores. In Charleston, I love for you to name like three to five stores, and I'm sure there's probably way more than this, but I'd love for you to name three to five, maybe six, seven stores that you love in Charleston for people to shop that you think they'll get a really unique experience. That's like the local Charleston experience.

SPEAKER_01 20:33

Oh my gosh, there's just so many. I know. Oh gosh. Like I depending on what I'm looking for, what I'm styling, what I'm personally shopping for. There's Mares to Hart is great. She's she's in a location where like not a lot of locals would know to go to, but she has great stuff. Alden is the owner, and she's on Vendu, and she does carry a lot of local stuff designs like Holston Lee and Juju Loves, and she goes to New York and Vegas every year to go shopping. So she does an amazing job. But see, she's on King, always has the best shoes. And then there's a lot of like stores that are very specific for what you're looking for. Merchandise. Krogan's is amazing. They're they've been around for over a hundred years, still family-owned. They just moved to Lower King. And I mean, you can find everything from estate jewelry to current designs to if you want to redesign your wedding band, they can do that for you. They did that for me. And I just love that. That's the special thing about Charleston is there are stores that have been around over a century. MDU Moss is another place that is still family owned, been around for over 100 years, and Berlin's. And I love I love that there's other stores outside of Charleston because before it was just like just King Street is where you can find everything. And now it's like the side streets, like the Canberra, Elliott Borough area. Oh my God, that area is just blowing up. Love the tiny tassel on Spring Street. And you can go to Kiwa and go shopping. Freshfields Village has some great stores there. There's Showroom, which is like it's just beautiful merchandise, a little bit more in the high-end price range, but still beautiful stuff to Mount Pleasant, where obviously they have Gwen's, but also like a ton of local stores there. So it's and like the local makers, there's just too many to name. And some of them have stores which are great, like Holston Lee. I just love her store in the in the French Quarter. She just has so many colorful, like joyful accessories. So it's really like whatever you're looking for, Charleston has it. You just have to dig.

SPEAKER_00 23:05

I love that. And yes, Charleston definitely has a lot of different stores, a lot of different price points, but love Maris to Heart. It's a great store for anyone checking it out. It's kind of right near the pineapple fountain if you come to visit. And then I love the tiny tassel as well. She's got the cutest accessories, the cutest clothes. So, and every other store you mentioned is awesome. I'd love to ask you this for any moms or new moms or season moms, when it comes to styling, a lot of times moms, like I love some of the memes out there that your kid looks cute, but as a mom, you look like a mess. What are some easy styling tips for moms where they can feel put together without having to literally put themselves together and spend all this time? Cause I think as moms, I know for myself, there's just some days I just like throw on a dress and maybe a pair of earrings and call it a day. Or some days it's just sweatpants because I'm just tired and I feel lazy. But for a lot of moms, I think they really could use some advice or tips, just anything to want to get them out of that rut. So I'd love to hear some styling tips to help moms.

SPEAKER_01 24:07

Yeah. So depending on the season and as the this word sounds very unsexy, but as a mom, you want to be practical. You want your clothes to be functional. You want things that aren't constriction, constricting, you know, maybe there's a little bit of stretch in there. So in the spring summer, for me, my go-to is a dress. You just throw it on, whether it's like a maxi dress or a maxi skirt with like a tank top and you know, comfortable shoes that you can run around in, whether it's sandals or sneakers. And I'm like extreme. Either you'll catch me in Birkenstocks or you'll catch me in stilettos. If I'm going out, I don't do in between. And so, but if you're a mom with kids and you're running around, you don't need a lot of choices. You just need the right choices. You don't need a bunch of clothes in your closet that are just sitting there and are hanging there. And it really is true that we only wear like 10% of our wardrobe. And so you just want to pick the right clothes. And sometimes it's like a capsule wardrobe where it's like 10 pieces that you can kind of all put together. It's like a trench coat, your favorite jeans, a white tank top, or like a white t-shirt, your flats. And I feel like sometimes people are trend driven and they don't think about the colors or the silhouettes that really suit their body. And it's as easy as going on to Pinterest, seeing people who have your same body type. And like there is just so many resources out there where you really could dress in a presentable, fun way and still be yourself. Like for me, I'm like, I'm I'm online all the time. So I'm always going through Pinterest. And once you're in Pinterest, they'll send you like multiple emails a day of inspiration. So that is like my go-to for inspiration. Um, so yeah, I would say like comfort, comfort and being cute are like my main things. And it's like choosing the right fabrics and the right silhouettes for your body.

SPEAKER_00 26:23

I love that. And I think Pinterest is such a good tip for anybody. I love that Pinterest is like the introverted way of being social where you can see all the pins and the way you type in information and you can find stuff and it goes to links to buy the product. So it's such a great way to almost have like a virtual magazine. To me, it feels like a virtual magazine sometimes to have that inspiration. And so I love that. And thinking about inspiration, how as a creative person do you stay inspired? I think for my myself, I'm not creative, but I know for a lot of creative people, they can get burnt out or tired or feel like they're in a creative rut. And so for you, what kind of inspiration do you have when it comes to being creative? And I would say almost being a mom, but also with your businesses and all the different hats that you wear.

SPEAKER_01 27:10

Uh, being creative. And don't say that you're not creative. Creative in your own way. Being creative for me, like, yes, I do have a creative job, but there's just so many different ways to be creative, whether it's like organizing my house or my friend told me this once. She's like, you have a fun job, but sometimes you need like a hobby where you can have an outlet to be creative in a different way. For me, there was like a certain time where I was DJing and I was getting into like I've had records forever and turntables, and then I got into the digital DJing space and just like built up my catalog of music. And I started like DJing out, like different events and things like that. And that was like another way for me to be creative and have a different outlet. And sometimes in life, as you get older, you've got to have like different creative outlets. They call it the creative outlet for a reason. And I think that when we are in the type of work where it demands so much of our time, and being a mom demands so much of our time, we almost need one thing to escape to. And sometimes it's just a physical activity of dancing or yoga or just being physically fit and the wellness space. Like I love for me, it's a balance of mind, body, and spirit. And that's what grounds me to make more focused decisions on my business and having clarity. Because if you're just hustle, hustle, work, work, work, it's so easy to be in a rut or to feel like you're just like in this routine where you don't feel inspired. And there's got to be moments of inspiration. So having a creative outlet is so important. I don't know if I answered your question correctly.

SPEAKER_00 29:12

Yes. No, I I think that's such a you made such good points. And I think the one thing I really loved that you said was almost the permission slip for moms to be able to do something for themselves, right? And I think it's important to have that creative outlet or going to the gym or going to yoga or going out to an event or going out to dinner and like almost getting dressed up, right? And feeling good and just being around like-minded people. I think it just helps you so much. And so I love that a lot. I want to segue just very quickly into talking about you being a DJ that's really fun and that's super cool. And I think one of the things you're really good at is community and events and bringing people together. What inspired you to even start hook like wanting to do events or bringing people together and creating that space for connection?

SPEAKER_01 30:03

Like I said, I'm a very extroverted person. I love to socialize. My job is basically like I'm networking all day when I'm on set. And after living in Charleston for so long, I have just met the coolest people, whether they are influencers full-time or part-time or whatever, but just business owners, creatives, tastemakers, where I just wanted to have a space where it was diverse and every sense of the way. For me, also representation is very important because sometimes I go to these influencer events and I'm always so honored to be included. But I look around and I'm like, I'm the only person of color here. Like, where are the black people? Where are the Asian people? Where's the Latin people, the Middle Eastern people? And I guess I just attract all different kinds of people in person or virtually, where I know where all these people are. I just, it's like it's like a United Nations, my friends, and the people that I surround myself. And so I wanted to create a space where it was diverse in every sense of the way, whether it was the type of business, someone's background, someone's gender too. Like I love hanging out with guys too. Like, why is it just limited to girls? Like, obviously, for certain brand events, it's like a female focused thing. But like, I want to create a space where everybody is welcome. Because when you have perspective, that's when you grow. When you're just hanging out with people who look like you, who think like you, who have the same backgrounds and same history, you're never gonna have perspective on what other people are going through. And so for me, like that's always been my upbringing from like a young kid growing up in a multicur cultural household. My mom's from the Philippines, where like I was just always surrounded by different people, different backgrounds all the time. And so for me, I just wanted to infuse that into a fun party environment.

SPEAKER_00 32:16

I love that. And I love everything you're saying in regards to bringing different diversities together, ethnicities together, and thinking outside the box. I love to say, like in business, when you especially your first year, like spaghetti on the wall, like try different things. Like I think to your point, when you do the same thing, you're gonna get the same results and it's not gonna get you anywhere, move the needle. And so if you're able to go to different events, meet different people, have different perspectives, that's how you level up and that's how you grow, even just from like being a human. So I love everything you're saying. I have two more questions before we kind of slowly wrap up here. My first question is what advice would you give to creative moms who want to start their own business?

SPEAKER_01 32:55

I would say really hone in on what you are passionate about and what is the low-hanging fruit for you? You know, what do you see yourself doing every day that gets you up in the morning, that motivates you, that excites you? What do you see yourself doing long term? And um, not everybody can say I've been doing this for 30 years and I still love it. And my work has definitely evolved over 30 years, but just find something that really excites you. And whether you get paid or not, obviously we all have to get paid. And I am all about like just knowing your value and everything. Sometimes in the beginning of starting your business, you might have to do some things for free just to market yourself, just the opportunity to collaborate with other people to have visibility, you know, and that is part of the marketing. Should you work for free, you know, longer than six months or a year or whatever? Like, definitely not. And every once in a while I work on passion projects with other people because I just know I'm gonna be creating something fun. But I think it's really like finding what you're passionate about, and then also what brings you purpose? Like, what do you feel like I am contributing something to the world? And I know that I am gonna be an asset or I'm gonna be adding value. So passion and purpose are two very those are your North stars to starting a business. And then the profit will follow. It will definitely follow because you will become an authority on the subject matter, whatever you're promoting, whether it's a service or a product, and you will just attract the right clients because of that.

SPEAKER_00 34:52

I love that. And passion, purpose, and profit. I think that is such a good way to look at it when you think of your passion and what you're into. It drives you in the purpose and the why. And then profit will come. And I think if you're able to fuse both your passion to make money, why wouldn't you stay in your industry for 30 plus years? Like, why wouldn't you? Why would you diverge to something else? And so I love that messaging around that. Cause I think more and more moms are craving something different, and more and more soon-to-be moms or seasoned moms want to have that pivot, want to have that change, and they're scared when they're nervous. But if they have a passion and they know that you can solve a problem to a solution and you can make money from it, yes, in the beginning, being scrappy, hustling, doing what you can, but over time, right, you've been able to be successful, you've been able to grow. And so if you can be that inspiration for somebody else, I think that's incredible. And so, my last question, I love to ask this to anyone who I interview is what does success look like to you? Because a lot of times, look, as an entrepreneur, we look at success, and especially as a bookkeeper, we look at revenue numbers, right? We look at like numbers, goals, et cetera. But I also look at success as a mom from like lifestyle and like what I'm looking for out of my life. And so I'd love to hear some of your thoughts on what success looks like to you.

SPEAKER_01 36:16

Yes. So success isn't always measured, at least for me, by the money that's in your bank account. Success could be just freedom. Freedom to do what you want to do when you want to do it. And the success could be the impact that you make on other people's lives. That's huge for me too. And I just feel like if you put too much into success, like aligning success with money, sure, money does give you freedom and it gives you a certain lifestyle that you can live. That is the ultimate goal. But if that's all that you are concerned with, then when business is not so great for you, what do you have to fall back on? Like, if if your measure of success is only how much money that you make, then like what are you really going to be happy when times are tough? And so you really have to have something else that's driving you towards whatever success means to you. So I think the impact that you make in the world and in freedom are what drives me more than the money. Obviously, money drives me, but it leads me to that point of it's it's all about energy, the energy that you put out there.

SPEAKER_00 37:37

Love that. And that's beautiful. And it's like everything you're saying is just it's so true. I think money is nice and it gives you the freedom, but your why has to be so centered because you're gonna, especially as an entrepreneur, you're gonna have really amazing days, but you're gonna have shit days too. I mean, I know I've definitely had days where I wanted to throw my laptop and just say, I'm done. But the why has to be so centered in what you do that you can you can gut through it through your worst days. And so I love that messaging. And Andrea, I really don't like to wrap these up, but you have been a wonderful guest. I love your story. Yet you're welcome. And I love how you've grown and how you've pivoted and you've made so many shifts from even just moving from New York to Charleston to being married to having kids and to still being so fulfilled in your career and to be doing it for so many years while balancing, quote unquote, both. And I hate to say the word balance because you're just you're doing it at the end of the day. But you've been able to like not only just not survive, but thrive and build something really amazing with a following. And you just live such a beautiful life that I think it can be such an inspiration for others. And so I'd love for you to shamelessly plug away all the places that people can find you and ultimately connect with you.

SPEAKER_01 38:54

Yeah. Well, um, you can find me on Instagram that I'm there mostly, Andrea Serrano curates you r s or Andrea Serrano.com, A-N-D-R-E-A, S-E-R-R-A-N-O.com. And yeah, I have a lot of my more professional styling work on my website. And then the Instagram is where you'll see the fun and the work in real time.

SPEAKER_00 39:23

Amazing. Thank you so much for coming on.

SPEAKER_01 39:25

Yes. Thank you so much for having me. And thank you for all that you do for the small business owners here in Charleston and beyond.

SPEAKER_00 39:33

Thank you. Means a lot. This is just the beginning. Subscribe now to Raising Hustle and get ready for raw stories, real talk, and unapologetic ambition. We're showing up messy, loud, and all in because success doesn't wait for quiet. Let's raise our voices, our businesses, and our babies together.