Meet Ana Augustine | Female Entrepreneur/Business Owner

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

Hi Ana, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
The thought process behind me starting my business was that after going through breast cancer twice I felt like I needed to make myself feel good & others feel good about themselves. Self care & self love is a big deal. Beauty & your body plays a role in how you go through your day to day routine. I had lost my hair, my skin was dry, itchy & brutal & I didn’t feel beautiful or good about myself. So my thought process was how can I make others feel good about themselves & also have it impact my community in some sort of way? And that lead to my Bodycare & Skincare business Bela’s Body Care named after my middle name Chabela.

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?
I’m a 51 year old female entrepreneur/small business owner & mother of a 31 year old & 22 year old males both in college. One is a army veteran & the other a business major/football athlete. I’m also a marine corps female veteran which is rare I am one of the few & the proud. I started my skincare/bodycare business to make everyone feel good. Created it from the bottom up. Started my business with $500. I did my business page, logo, marketing, formulated & created my own products, packaged & shipped them myself. I researched for years seemed like but only a couple of months actually. I procrastinated for years as this had been a dream of mine to own my own business. I was caught up in being a mom & giving my all to my kids. As a multiple breast cancer survivor self-care & self-love was beneficial to me. While going through breast cancer my skin was brutal, dry & irritated at times. Plus I had hair loss. I wanted to make sure I invested in making myself & others feel good about themselves even while going through a type of illness. I wanted to formulate & create natural products for both men & women with all types of skin. This is my passion & I take pride in being in the lab as I call it. I call myself Chef Bela because I’m always cooking up something in the lab. I take care of my business like it’s my baby. By creating different products & smells it brings me so much joy. In this business you have to have tough skin & not let things get to you. Your priority is keeping things afloat & not feed into negativity. As a small business owner/entrepreneur I want to bless others as I’ve been blessed. I started out with just me alone. Now I have a whole team that includes admin & logistics etc plus 35 business owner wholesalers. I have got great reviews & I’m always giving back in some shape or form. My business seller is my youthful glow body oil & my whipped shea body butter. I have a line of over 40 plus products. I hope that they enjoy my products & I make them feel special. I’m blessed with a gift of creating & crafting that’s my purpose. I’m living purposefully now. I love to cook & entertain. I’m kinda shy but I’m not naive. I like going out to eat trying different things, traveling & maybe venturing to a jazz lounge or some event here in atlanta. I’m a big sports fan so I love to watch sports. Cherish each moment of life. I would like to thank my hunny Reginald, my kids Arie & Jomier for supporting me on my endeavor. And also my Mom for always pushing me to keep going & not to give up! And lastly my Dad, siblings, extended family & friends for believing in me & my dreams. I’m fortunate to have a big support system! Ana Chabela “Bela”

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would take them to slutty-vegan, Dave’s cheesesteak, Hattie’s chicken, fogo de chao, Frankie’s steakhouse, Marlowe’s tavern, Harold’s chicken & pappadeux just to name a few.

I love taverns & lounges such as theory lounge, linnethia lounge & tavern mall of ga

I love sports so I would definitely try to hit a game-soccer, football or basketball.

I also love museums & outdoors like the botanical garden & atlanta history landmarks. It’s such rich history here.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to dedicate my shoutout to my parents, siblings, fiancé, kids, family & friends. Especially my mom who encouraged me even when I wanted to give up.

Website: https://www.facebook.com/BelasBodyCare/shop/?ref_code=share_shop&ref_surface=share_shop

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/belasbodycare/?fs=e&s=cl

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BelasBodyCare/