We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Trang Nguyen a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Trang, thank you so much for joining us and opening up about the very personal topic of divorce. So many in the community are going through or have gone through divorce and we think hearing about how others dealt with the aftermath and managed to build a vibrant, successful life and career despite the trauma of divorce can be helpful to many who might be feeling a degree of hopelessness. So, maybe you can talk to us about how you overcame divorce?
Divorce is a word that I never wanted to remember and talk about. It may be good for some and bad to others. For me, my life had been on a roller coaster during the divorce. I was lost, depressed, and heartbroken. I cried every night trying to figure out why the person I love and spent those years together could lie and cheated. Fortunately, I have my mom by my side who is not only helped me to look after my twins’ babies, but also supported me throughout those difficult times. To me, time was the key that helped me to forget the past. I kept myself on a busy schedule where I constantly working until I felt tired and asleep. Eventually after a year or so, I was able to pull myself back together and move on to the new life with my kids. This is where I met my love who support what I do and always with me at every market.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
Our twins had been suffering from eczema since birth. We tried different prescriptions, creams, skin products, and nothing was working–until we came across the goat milk handcrafted soaps and lotions. The products worked great in terms of reducing the eczema that they had been struggling with for years. We knew other parents were struggling with the same issues as we were, and we wanted to be able to share these great handmade products with those who would benefit from them the most. That’s how the idea for CVA Products was born. We named the business after our children, Charlotte, Vincent, Alexander.
Unlike any other products that you’ve known, all the products that we used at home, such as soy candles, soaps, bath bombs, shampoos, lotion bars, laundry detergent, play dough kits (just to name a few), are natural, dye free, chemical-free, and handmade by us. We use the high-quality natural ingredients to make the products specifically for sensitive skin so not only we can have them available at the markets, but also at home for our kids to use as well.
Just like any other artists, my husband and I both have a full-time job and four young kids to look after. Weekend is the only time that we are available to be at the markets where the customers can come to us with questions. It’s also the days that we’d love to share our experiences with the customers. Currently, we are primary at Keller Farmers Market on some of the Saturday, Decatur Artisan Market on the 3rd Saturday of the month, Weatherford Trade Day on the 1st Monday weekend of the month, Martin House Brewing, Pantego Farmers Market on the 3rd Saturday of the month, Binion Icehouse on the 1st Friday of the month, pop-up events, and any big events host by the city within the DFW areas. We also have a small shop D9 inside Painted Tree Marketplace located in North Richland Hills. Recently, we are partnering with Walmart the Local Marketplace within 20 miles radius from our store in North Richland Hills. We are also a partner with the Go Texan so you can find us on their website as well.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Regardless of if you are a new business owner, a new maker, or thinking to be one, I think networking is the most important one that you can’t miss in your journey. You need to be networked with other business owners and makers so that you can connected and learned from each other. At the same time, educating yourself is another important factor because as a maker like me, I always have a new product or add-on item to my line of products since not everyone is the same and I want to be able to have a variety item for everyone. Lastly, you need to put yourself out there to experience at the markets because you want to assess if the markets are worth it for your time.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
If you are a business owner and would like to partner or collaborate with us, please reach out to us. We’d love to connect with you. If you’ve a storefront, our products will be a perfect fit for your business since we’ve variety of items ranging from kids, pets, bath & body, gifts, etc… for you to choose for your store and your customers will love it. If you a veteran, military, teacher, and responder, please reach out to us as well as we do offer discount for you.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.cvaproducts.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/cvaproducts21
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/cvaproducts21
- Other: linktr.ee/cvaproducts
