MEET THE FOUNDER

Mara COTTIN is a solopreneur/candle maker/ founder of Vuelta a la Vida & Projects Manager in the charity sector.

Vuelta a la Vida was seeded in 2018 after multiple health issues with the aim to find some well-being products and sustainable candles at an affordable price to improve my holistic self-care.

I started as medical assistant in Paris and became holistic therapist in Europe before heading to Nicolas - A French wine Retailer as manager.

Entrepreneurship is an exciting and rewarding journey, but it also comes with its fair share of challenges. 

Mental health plays a vital role in an entrepreneur’s ability to make sound decisions, foster creativity, and maintain productivity.

As an entrepreneur, it’s essential to set boundaries between my work and personal life. By establishing boundaries, I can create a healthy balance that allows you to recharge and maintain my mental well-being.

I prioritize self-care which is crucial for maintaining good mental health: I schedule regular breaks throughout the day.

I have also developed healthy coping strategies, such as deep breathing exercises, meditation and journaling to help manage my negative stress and stay focused on my business goals.

I suppose the ability to see into the future.  

We do the best we can with this anyway.  The vision of how my small business will work and how great it will be, and how it will affect the well-being market is key to lay out – and to constantly get across to other people, from your customers, to partners, to people joining your team – so the better you are at really understanding the future needs of your relevant customers & partners, the better you can lay out the vision for the company and take people with you.

I funded the first products & materials, equipment myself. And then some family members and an investor helped me greatly.

The well-being investment landscape has evolved significantly, and securing funding now demands more than just a concept. Investors seek tangible evidence of viability, customer traction, and sustainability. 

For fellow founders pursuing investment, I'd suggest to be seriously prepared and know well your business key points. 

Certainly, building any business comes with its fair share of obstacles. 

Launching to quickly a product without conducting a comprehensive market research.

And is an essential step before diving into development.

This ensures that your product addresses a genuine customer problem, increasing the chances of success. So, always validate your ideas before launching to avoid unnecessary setbacks.

Nothing beats seeing your first production come chugging down the conveyor belt - aka first sale to a stockist.

Nationwide distribution in the well-being sector ( as I feel this is an environment where we’d truly blossom and of course, boosting sales and attracting new talent is also on the agenda following the raise; we’re aiming to increase our team twofold by the end of this year, to penetrate new markets and strengthen customer relationships.