Meet Carolina Mateo | Entrepreneur & CSI

We had the good fortune of connecting with Carolina Mateo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Carolina, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
As a mom of two children, finding ways to thrive not only for yourself but the individuals you are raising was always the first thought. Opening my business meant leaving a legacy to them, as well as creating more time and memories with them. I knew I had to set a name for myself and my children.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
My business was made with the intent that my younger son was able to be directly a part of the fashion community for boys. Which is what A Touch of Alpha was originally made out to be, a clothing store for boys. All of the outfits seen in my inventory were picked out by him and mom (me) provided the touch of Alpha! Likewise, i wanted part of my business to have a story of my daughter, a teenager and an amazing artist. She is responsible for many of the designs seen on our tshirts today! Becoming a small business woman while managing full-time college classes, internships, and my children definitely did not come easy. I chose my career as a crime scene investigator a few years prior to the creation of A Touch of Alpha. A Touch of Alpha has been opened for a year and in that year I’ve experienced a lot of heartaches. I’ve had to loose much time in managing my business to focus on my career. But i still managed to give any little time i had to my small business to at least give people an opportunity to find new options in fashion for kids. I have an amazing family who supports anything I do. I’ve learned that Time budgeting has always been an important aspect and tool to push my business as far as it is with the hectic life I already have. But we are only getting started! As new ideas arises, more opportunities arrives to our doorstep!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I am not much of a traveler, yet! But if i had to choose a place in Florida where I currently reside, I would say Key West. I’ve been there countless times. The little island is overall a beauty and contains a little bit of everything! Tortuga Island is definitely a place to walk around and enjoy the scenery, and the Florida heat! There are so many restaurants, and bars, I definitely did much of bar hopping over there! The people are so happy and peaceful, joyful and friendly. The atmosphere is overall different from the cities in Florida in general.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to give a shoutout to my children. They have been here throughout all the minor obstacles I had to face as a first time business owner. They provided me the motivation to succeed. I also would like to thank my father, Eric. He helped me get my inventory when I was low on funds, and also helped me with the process of obtaining the proper paperwork to make my business legitimate. Above all, he always made sure that I was level-headed, open-minded to new business plans, and focus on the goal- not to ever give up!

Website: Atouchofalpha.co

Instagram: Instagram.com/shopatouchofalpha

Facebook: shopatouchofalpha

Other: Etsy: Shopatouchofalpha Tiktok: @shopatouchofalpha