Wow.
I honestly can’t believe I’m sitting here writing a blog post again. It’s been almost 10 years since I last wrote here. Almost. Ten. Years.
And if you knew me back then, you probably remember this space. This blog was such a huge part of my life. It was where I shared fashion, my thoughts, things I loved, places I went, and pieces of my life. It was also where something much bigger started.
After spending 12 years working in sports, I started blogging in 2010. At the time, I had no idea where it would take me. I just knew I loved fashion, I loved telling stories, and I loved having a place that was completely mine. And then, somewhere along the way, life changed. I stopped blogging.
The truth is, I was over it. I’ve always been someone who needs to pioneer. I wanted to move on to something new, something that felt exciting and challenging to me. So I stepped away.
But while I was stepping away from this blog, I was stepping into something that would completely change my life. In 2017, I decided to start a shoe line.. And in 2019, FLOR DE MARIA was born.
What happened after that is a story I haven’t really told in my own words.
For the past nine years, Flor de Maria has been my world. I have lived it. Breathed it. Dreamed about it. Obsessively thought about it. Designed it. Built it. Worried about it. Celebrated it. Started over. Figured things out as I went. I went from being a fashion blogger to becoming a founder and designer.
And somewhere in that process, I realized something: I miss telling the story. There are so many parts of this journey that I’ve never really shared, and so many moments that still make me stop and think, wow. Seeing Kylie Jenner wear my shoes. Designing custom shoes for Mariah Carey. Seeing Shakira wear Flor de Maria—the same Shakira I had been singing along to since I was a college girl in 1995. Moments like those are incredibly special to me because when you’re in the middle of building something, you’re so focused on the work that you don’t always stop to realize just how far you’ve come.
I want to talk about everything that happened behind Flor de Maria—the good, the bad, the unexpected, the moments that made me question everything, the moments that made me realize I was exactly where I was supposed to be, and everything I've learned along the way. Because building a brand is very different from what people see on Instagram. There is so much that happens behind the scenes.
But this time around, I don’t just want to tell the story of Flor de Maria. I want to share who I am now. I’m a different woman than I was when I left this space almost 10 years ago. I have a completely different understanding of what all of it means to me now. Life has happened. A lot of life. And everything I’ve experienced along the way has changed me, shaped me, and given me a different perspective on what really matters.
And after almost 10 years away from this space, I finally feel like I have something to say again. Actually, I have a LOT to say.
It feels kind of surreal to be back in the same place where so much of this journey began. Except now, there’s a lot more to talk about.
So, if you were here all those years ago, welcome back. And if you're new here, I'm so happy you're here. This time, I want to bring you along for the ride—not just through the work, but through the experiences, lessons, discoveries, and everything else that has made me who I am today.
And that’s where I’ll leave you… for now.