We asked Canadians “What did you make this year?”
This is Miriam Delos Santos’ story.
Miriam worked tirelessly to find stability in her life through a corporate career in Winnipeg that would surely make her parents proud—yet she found herself at her lowest point in life, looking for a sign to start over and escape her suffocating lifestyle.
“Within that pressure to assimilate you lose so many parts of yourself that are asking to come out. I was doing what I was supposed to be doing, but that build up of rage in me because I was being pulled in so many directions created friction.”
Everything changed with her daughter, Mara. Miriam knew that something needed to be different for her to find meaning within herself. She started creating, with her daughter as a endless beacon of love and inspiration. Before she knew it, her crafts for Mara quickly evolved to creating a social media presence for her own clothing and art, fuelling a creative flame inside her that was quickly diminishing while living her corporate life.
With the kick-off of her women’s clothing line and support from her new followers, Miriam began to truly feel something she thought she once had—stability. As her bond with Mara grew stronger by the day, she felt proud and confident that her daughter is able to grow up in a creative environment with a mother that isn’t holding back in life, giving the world everything she has to offer.
“It makes me feel so proud that she is surrounded by artistry and creativity that offers her glimpses to different careers that she can have.”
Miriam now proudly runs her own clothing store, Hello Darling Co, creating and selling hand-made clothing embedded with her love and passion for her new life in the Winnipeg fashion scene.
“This year I made a new business model, and I made a sense of purpose.”
This story is a part of a series highlighting building a life that you’re proud of—honouring the lives that people make for themselves outside of their finances.
What did you make this year?
This story is a part of a series to highlight building a life that you’re proud of and honouring the lives that people make for themselves outside of their finances.
To follow this series, click here to watch the rest of the collection.
To be brave and to take that step to say ‘I want to be more authentic’ means to let those parts of you that are repressed shine.
