Meet Mayra Grace | Wife, Mommy, & Occupational Therapist

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

Hi Mayra, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I was born in Mexico, but immigrated when I was about 7 years old. I was raised in a small town of Bloomington, Texas. There is literally one stop light and a Dairy Queen. This should give you an idea of just how small it was. On summer and holiday breaks, our family of 8 would travel back to Mexico to visit our relatives to stay in touch.

I believe that coming from a large family and tight knit family has helped me with my personal and business relationships. There are so many personalities in large family and they are each unique. While it may have been difficult in my younger years to get along with each sibling, we definitely has lots of fun times and we had to learn to get along with each other and work things out. In a country where English was our second language, we had no choice than to stick together and rely on each other to get through the first years when we were the only ones that we could talk to.

Making friends was tough due to the language barrier. Even when classmates in our school knew Spanish, they were not initially welcoming. This meant I had to work hard to learn a new language to be able to communicate with others while keeping up with the daily school lessons and homework. Many tears were shed and our parents felt helpless being unable to help us. We were also poor growing up. My dad was the only breadwinner while my mom was a stay at home mom. We didn’t have luxuries and only spent money on the basics.

My humble upbringings taught me grit. If I want anything in life, I have to work hard and earn it for myself. I never got any handouts or easy outs. I graduated third in class and eventually went on to earn a Bachelors Degree in Health Science & a Masters in Occupational Therapy. Currently, I have successfully opened and officially operated a small toddler party entertainment business while also being back in graduate school pursuing a second masters degree in Clinical Informatics.

I think working hard so hard to be a better version of myself early on has helped me become a life long learner and the confidence to turn into an entrepreneur,

What should our readers know about your business?
What started as side hustle, turned into a small business. I originally started Happy Tot Soft Play, LLC as something parents could turn to for entertainment for the tiniest of humans. With the pandemic underway, my first born needed a safe place to socialize and be around other small children without contracting the COVID virus or spreading it to others. I had seen soft play being offered in California as an option for toddler party entertainment and it was very age appropriate. This was important to me since I am an occupational therapist. In my pediatric training during school, I know kids learn through play and the importance of a balanced sensory stimulation for optimal brain development. There was no one near me offering those services, so I decided to buy items to put together a soft play play date to celebrate my son’s third birthday with close friend’s toddlers . It was a hit and I knew other parents would love to have that as an option for their own kids parties,

While the concept seemed easy, there was so many layers to running a small business that I learned. from registering the business to setting up a booking system. Also, I am a healthcare worker and I saw first hand in the hospital what the COVID virus could do to people. I didn’t start the business right away due to concerns of putting my family at risk for contracting the virus when coming into contact with people outside of our social bubble at the time.

Eventually, after getting vaccinated and with virus rates decreasing, I got serious about getting this business going. Soon, I realized that starting a business legally was not too difficult, but getting the word out that you exist was not. I had to learn about marketing and content creation. Having a social media presence became very important so that people could learn about my business due to being mobile model instead of brick and mortar. I learned a lot from contact creators, fellow soft play business owners also new to this niche business, researching and learning about algorithms, and even data analysis of what was driving interest to my business online.

Staying in business is not easy with increasing competition, but I like a challenge. I like to run my business with quality and integrity. I know our clients see that and that is what keeps me going. I believe in my business and the joy that it can bring kids on their special day. I have two small children my own and I know how special the first years of their life are, I love to help parents celebrate them and make special memories. People may say that kids won’t remember their birthday parties as they get older, but I like to say that the parent will. They will remember the smiles, the giggles, and then fun their kids had. Subconsciously, the kids are creating core memories and those will last them a lifetime. We love to be part of those special moments.

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 love all the old and new things that Fort Worth has to offer. Of course I would have to take my friend to see the cattle drive and grab a drink at the stockyards. With kids, we would definitely have to visit the Fort Worth zoo to see the new Lion exhibit & feed the giraffes. The Fort Worth Museum of science is also fun for both kids and adults. We are proud members of both places. For food, drinks, & some shopping, I would definitely go to the shops at clear fork. A picnic at the botanical gardens is also a must for a more relaxed atmosphere to catch up and socialize. Due to being a parent and having a busy schedule, I would want to explore some highly recommended (new to me) restaurants with rooftop bars on a kid free night. Although not in Fort Worth, I would have to venture out to Rangers or Cowboys game to cheer the local sports teams, depending on the season.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are so many people in my life that have truly had an impact and its is difficult to narrow it down, but I will try my best. For my formative years, I would have thank my parents. They are brave to leave their childhood home and move to a different country to give my siblings a better life and opportunities. If they had not made that decision, I don’t think I would have had so many opportunities as I do now. Hindsight, all the sacrifices they made for us can never be relayed, but now as a parent myself, I would also do it for my own children.

During college, I truly have to thank my sorority chapter sisters from Lambda Theta Alpha- Gamma Theta chapter. They were my family away from home. I found resilient and like minded ladies that reminded me of my big, tight knit family back home. They have been there through all my adult milestones. From college graduation to my kids first year birthday celebrations. Their friendship and loyalty is something I wish and hope my kids will one day experience.

Lastly and most importantly, My husband, Andrew, has been my rock and parter in crime. Through sickness and in health, he is and has been there for me. We both work full time jobs and parenting little ones is one of the toughest jobs to do. He is so understanding and loving with them and me. He brings peace when there is chaos and he always support me and my wild ideas, such as starting a small business and going back to college with me.

Website: https://www.happytotsoftplay.com

Instagram: @happytotsoftplay

Image Credits
Picture of self with family by TLB Snapshots.