Meet Maria Andrea Mendez | Artist & creative

We had the good fortune of connecting with Maria Andrea Mendez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Maria Andrea, can you talk to us a bit about the social impact of your business?
I like to think that we serve as a language to bring love and unity in our community through lots of sweetness and strawberries. When our clients give us the task of bringing some arrangement to their loved ones, we feel like messengers of love and good wishes. We get all our fresh strawberries from local markets , try to stay as much up to date with local charities! Today more than ever I think it is very important to treat people with kindness!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My name is Maria Andrea but they also call me Mandy, I love making art and anything that is creative! I am an immigrant, I was born and raised in Venezuela and thanks to the efforts of my family we moved to Atlanta 6 years ago.

Since I was a little kid , I loved painting , drawing and baking desserts with my grandmother. When I moved to the United States I was 15 years old ,and many times I felt lost because I did not know how to adapt to a new country, there was a lot of uncertainty, but art was always a constant in my life and it accompanied me in the most difficult moments.

When I graduated from high school, I spent a lot of time at home helping my mother work in her flower shop and taking care of my grandmother. I could not go to university because it was something that at that time I could not pay and had to help my family. But I never gave up and I always followed my dream of being an artist and doing whatever inspires me.

And that is how the Mandy’s Candy project was born, I decided to put all the knowledge of making desserts and making art that I had acquired over the years and decided start a small business of Chocolate Strawberry Arrangements,. This allowed me to work from home to take care of my grandmother and to raise money to buy paintings and follow my dreams of being an artist.

Mandys candy has taught me so many things that I will always be grateful for, perseverance and a sense of community.
It is something I love to do and I love seeing people happy when they receive their arrangements, and at the same time being able to exercise my creativity.

Currently I am dedicated full time to Mandys Candy, triying my best every day to make the most delicious and cute chocolate strawberry arrangements!! and I also study oil painting and drawing.

I am very grateful to all the people who have bought my strawberries, follow me and support me on social media, or even leaving nice comments on my posts. They have really made a difference in me and I hope to continue growing to learn more every day.

I also infinitely thank my mother who has taught me everything she knows, my father, my sister, my boyfriend, all the deliveries, without their support, Mandys candy would not be the same.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
This is a huge question! I feel very lucky to have meet with a lot of people that have helped me in the way! but mostly to my Mom Andrea Mendez , she has a flower shop called MD FLOWERS , and she has been a great inspiration and support in my life

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mandycandyatl/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MD-Candy-390029618071334