Name: Erika Batista
Finalist, Style
Hometown: East Brunswick
Business: Pretty Kind CoÂ
New Jersey Family: Tell us about Pretty Kind Co and what makes it unique.
Erika Batista: Pretty Kind’s inclusive, affirmation-led lifestyle products empower women and girls to close the confidence gap. Launched in 2021 with the Pretty Kind Signature Affirmation Crewneck, Pretty Kind introduced its audience to its core values of radical self-love, self-acceptance, and barrier-breaking aspirations.
NJF: When did you launch Pretty Kind Co and what was your biggest inspiration?
EB: Pretty Kind is inspired by my journey as a child of immigrants. Pretty Kind is a love letter to my inner child and my own children. While a healthy dose of self-belief won’t immediately solve the world’s biggest problems, we believe it is the seed that helps cultivate the leaders who do and solutions that will.
Self-love is so important and especially important to model for our kids. How do your pieces promote the importance of self love?
Our mission is rooted in empowering girls and women through positive affirmations and kindness. My goal has always been to create a lifestyle brand that will serve as daily reminders to love yourself, believe in yourself and most of all take care of yourself, emotionally, mentally and physically. This is why all our products have positive affirmations and self-love reminders.
NJF: How did you go from idea to actually launching this business?
EB: After a long year of research and working with a business coach, I felt more comfortable taking my idea into launch. I made sure to stay organized. I made a vision/mood board for the brand. And I made sure to get some feedback from my IG family (@byerikabatista) in terms of what they would like to see from me as a brand.
NJF: What was your proudest moment as a business owner?
EB: To be honest there are a lot of proud moments because we are so small and relatively new still. But a very proud moment for me was when Salesforce asked me to be a part of their Hispanic Heritage Month La Marqueta event last fall. They invited us to be one of just ten brands that were showcased at their NYC headquarters and highlighted as Latin-owned brands.
NJF: What’s the best piece of business advice you’ve ever gotten that you want to share with others?
EB: It sounds so cliche, but honestly just going for it and not waiting for the perfect time because the truth is that you’ll never be fully ready. Do your homework, pack yourself with information, stay organized, write everything down. Creating a vision board for the brand really helped me visualize what I wanted to do and how I wanted to present the brand to the world. And most of all, surround yourself with people who cheer you on. It’s so important because there will be days when you doubt yourself and your idea, that’s when you will need a strong and supportive circle.
NJF: Social media is a big part of your business. What advice do you have for others who want to leverage social media for their businesses?
EB: Social media has changed my life in the most beautiful way possible so I am a huge believer in social media marketing. For me, it’s been my most powerful tool but I understand that it is not for everyone. I would advise people who want to leverage their businesses to have a clear visual of what their goals are. It’s important to know what your brand mission is and how you want to transmit that to the world. Whether you are selling a product or a service, your brand should make people feel a certain way, it should ignite emotions or feelings. And to me, social media is the best and most organic way to tell your story to the world. Invest in branding and social media marketing, ask questions, and don’t be afraid to not know things – learning is a beautiful thing!
NJF: What’s it like juggling raising three kids with running a business?
EB: It’s wild! It’s very busy and chaotic and some days I don’t know how it all gets done but somehow they are all in one piece. In all seriousness, of course, it’s a lot but this is our norm. I’ve been working in social media full-time for so long that it has become second nature to me, I don’t know anything else. I am very lucky because I have a strong supportive village; my mom and my husband are the reasons I am able to run two businesses. Over the years, I’ve learned to try my best to stay organized but also live in the moment. Choosing to have two businesses is definitely not for the weak but I truly love what I do.
NJF: What’s next for Pretty Kind Co?
EB: So many exciting things are in the works for Pretty Kind. We’ve already started rolling out our lifestyle products and adding more than just apparel to our roster. One of my biggest goals is to continue to grow Pretty Kind Girls which is our Do Good side of the business. Pretty Kind Girls is an initiative to give back to my community by hosting workshops and events for young girls. Our in-person activations help women and girls to learn the tools, tips and affirmations that can help them transform their mindset.
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