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00:00We are here with Ava Mendez, actress, businesswoman, and so many other things.

00:12Thank you so much for joining me today.

00:14Thank you, Alex.

00:15So, you've done so many things in your career, from film to more traditional forms of entrepreneurship,

00:19but I want to start kind of at the beginning.

00:22You were born in Miami, grew up in LA.

00:24What about being in those spaces and growing up in those places impacted you, your interests,

00:29and ultimately your career in Hollywood?

00:32I don't know.

00:33I think it was my mom, really, who was very, very lower middle class background.

00:38My mom struggled a lot.

00:40She wasn't a single mom, but, you know, she could have had a little more help.

00:45And she always told me, she said, freedom is when you make your own money.

00:51She said, that's what you have to do.

00:54You have to figure out how to make your own money.

00:57And ever since I was little, I've just been hearing that.

01:01And I also, I saw kind of the trap she was in, in a way, with my father.

01:09I love my dad, too.

01:10I don't want to, you know, but he was the breadwinner of the family.

01:13And her not being that for a while, she just always encouraged me to do that.

01:19And then she started working.

01:20So, she spent my childhood with me, thankfully.

01:23I was home with her a lot, but she would always do, like, odd, like, really cool side

01:28hustle jobs.

01:29Like, if it was, like, Easter, she'd make Easter baskets and sell them to, like, you

01:32know, the block.

01:33And, you know, she would do amazing little things like that.

01:36So, she was always showing me, like, the value of working and having your hustle on until

01:41she actually started, you know, she started working at a bank when I was, like, 11.

01:45It's just been her support, I think.

01:47You were discovered in your 20s and you started acting around that time.

01:52Can you tell me about those early experiences?

01:55Was acting something you had always wanted to do?

01:57Was it a surprise to you to get into that?

01:59No.

02:00I really just, I mean, to sound crude, I just wanted to make money and be financially independent.

02:06And I realized at a certain point that certain people reacted to me in a certain way.

02:11And I was like, huh.

02:12You know, I wasn't, I wasn't, like, big enough of a ham to just go for anything.

02:16And I feel like I wasn't even aware that I could even make money as an actress.

02:22And then that failing was even an option.

02:24Like, I didn't even care about it.

02:25I was just like, wait, is this an avenue I could potentially go down?

02:29And I did.

02:30I started…

02:31I'm making it sound simple.

02:32It is not.

02:33It's very difficult.

02:34I mean, it's simple, but it's difficult.

02:35It's not easy.

02:36But anyway, I started studying acting and then I started getting great opportunities.

02:40But I started creating a love of the craft, but I still never, like, loved being in front

02:45of the camera.

02:47I loved studying about, you know, the background of the character and what they want in a scene

02:53and breaking down a scene.

02:54That's all still exciting to me.

02:56But once I got in front of the camera, I never, I mean, to this day, it's like I never really

03:01loved anything.

03:02Yeah.

03:03In your first, you know, few roles and your first experiences being on set, being in front

03:07of the camera, what were some expectations versus reality of what it meant to be an actor?

03:13I don't know.

03:15It's a great question because I really just went back to one of my first big jobs and

03:19I had to be like 26 and I was on a big set.

03:22And I thought, why are they just so nice to only the actors?

03:27I thought it was kind of like bullshit and there was kind of this, like, I don't know,

03:31this hierarchy on set that I never quite understood.

03:34So I thought it would be more of like a camaraderie and it is, but I… and I still don't like

03:40the kind of like, I don't know if hierarchy is the right word, but I just don't feel

03:45like, you know, actors should be treated any more special or not.

03:49I mean, I guess it's, you know, anyway.

03:51So that was my big thing.

03:52I was like, why is everyone so nice to me?

03:54Why can I be like a little late, but that person can't be here, you know?

03:58Yeah.

03:59So.

04:00When you started acting and you were getting, you know, many starring roles and you were

04:03really building your career, did you envision yourself acting for the rest of your life?

04:07Was it like a means to an end?

04:09Was it to get other opportunities?

04:10What was kind of your future goal when you really started thriving in this industry?

04:15My future goal was to buy my mother a house, to buy myself a house once I started acting

04:21and to just put money into the bank.

04:27And it was one of those things that, like, I just…

04:30I had an overall, like, idea, but I didn't share it with anybody.

04:34Like, I didn't talk about my goals.

04:36I didn't talk about, like, my objectives.

04:38I was just like, this is what I want to do and I want to make sure that I not only knock

04:45on every door, but, like, peek through every door, like, bang down some doors, like, what

04:49else can I do?

04:50I was never just like, oh, I'm this actress and I'm now this.

04:54No, I was just like, what else?

04:55What can I do?

04:56What, you know?

04:57Yeah.

04:58I'm here now.

04:59So what else can I do?

05:00So I was always looking for opportunity.

05:02What were some lessons that you learned in those early parts of your career that you

05:05feel like have served you through both acting, through things like design, through things

05:09like being a co-owner of a business?

05:11What are some of those lessons that you feel like have served you?

05:14Some of the lessons…

05:15First of all, a great lesson I learned early on was, like, nothing's personal.

05:19Like, if you're… if they don't want you for the role, it's not that they don't want

05:23you for it.

05:24You're not right for it.

05:25There's so many other, like, different…

05:27There's so many variables that go into, like, hiring somebody for a role.

05:31And at first, you know, the first couple of years, you know, I was young and I took

05:35it very personally.

05:36And then I was like, okay, if I'm going to do this, I can't drive myself crazy.

05:39And I have to just know that it's not personal.

05:42So that really freed me.

05:44Because once I felt like it's not personal, that's when the, like, I didn't have a fear

05:48of failing.

05:49And I don't have a fear of failing.

05:50I have a fear of not trying.

05:53And that's my fear is like, ugh, I hate regret.

05:57I'd rather sit and like, oh, well, that didn't work out than like, oh, I wonder if that would

06:01have worked out.

06:03You have had success in many genres in the acting space.

06:07What would you say has been your favorite role that you have ever played?

06:10Working with Ryan Gosling as an actor, like, when we worked together, he was just so giving

06:22as an actor.

06:23And I realized that if you work with the right, such a great talent, that it gives, it gave

06:31me like less to do in a way.

06:33Like I just was, I was so present.

06:35I've never been more present in a role than that role.

06:38What would you say has been your most challenging role that you've played?

06:41The roles I found most challenging was when I was like involved in a very male heavy cast.

06:48I found that to be challenging because I'm such a girl's girl and I need that female

06:54like energy around me.

06:56So those were the most challenging one.

06:58It really wasn't about what I was doing in a scene.

07:01It was more about like who I was surrounded with because like I walk away from a film

07:07or a project having my own experiences of it, right?

07:11I was six months and, you know, wherever I was.

07:15So I see the film as its own thing and then I have my own memory of it, experience of

07:20it.

07:21So that's obviously invaluable.

07:24So hasn't always been as pleasant as I've wanted it to be, but I've been really lucky

07:29that I haven't had it bad.

07:31I haven't had it in that way.

07:32I've just, I just need women around me.

07:35So.

07:36Yeah.

07:37It makes a big difference who you're surrounded by on the day to day.

07:39Yes.

07:40It's such a vulnerable position, whether it's getting dressed in costume or hair and makeup.

07:45I'm just like women around.

07:47Yeah, I totally understand that.

07:49I want to ask about your decision to step away from Hollywood and from the acting industry.

07:54You played your last role in 2014.

07:58When you decided to take a break, was that an intentional decision to stop for an extended

08:04period of time?

08:05Was it going to be just a short break?

08:08Where was your mind when you decided to take a step back?

08:10I don't really remember exactly where it was, but I do feel like that I got, you know, I

08:17got pregnant around that time.

08:19My ambition was still there.

08:21It just was suddenly directed like to some, towards something else.

08:25Like, oh my gosh, this is where all my focus became my home.

08:29It was just like my kids, Ryan, the home.

08:33And just that's where I derived my joy.

08:35And it also is where, you know, I just naturally went into.

08:39So that's when I started searching for things I could do really from home.

08:45And this is where I think my mom's like early years of like hustling, making the Easter

08:49baskets for everybody or, you know, decorating tiny Christmas trees to sell around the block.

08:53Like I think that's where I just started doing my version of that.

08:58And it was before like remote, like, you know, before Zooms or anything like that.

09:04But I was now looking back, especially looking back now, that's when, you know, I started

09:09designing for a New Yorking company, which was really just a great time.

09:13I did that for about seven years and through my two pregnancies.

09:19And that was incredible.

09:20I would design from home, be on the, you know, computer, meet up every, you know, a few days

09:25a month.

09:26And it was just a really ideal job for me because I stayed creative and I love connecting

09:32with women.

09:33I love it.

09:34It's just like making something that a woman can enjoy, specifically a woman, like a dress,

09:39a pantsuit, whatever it is.

09:41I was really fulfilled while I was doing that.

09:44I want to talk a bit about your experience as a mother and kind of how you found those

09:49other creative outlets or other things that you became passionate about.

09:53I heard in another interview, you mentioned that becoming a mother was the most creative

09:56thing that you had ever done.

09:58Can you talk a bit about that?

09:59I think that's such a new and interesting concept.

10:02I think that many people don't think about motherhood as being creative, but you have

10:06to be.

10:07So I'd love to know more about that experience.

10:08It's so creative.

10:09It's literally the most creative thing you could do.

10:12You're creating a life.

10:14And it doesn't stop with just creating the life and then they're here.

10:18It's like every day you create, you create together, you create for them, whether it's

10:23what you're going to make them to eat, whether it's how you're going to entertain them or,

10:28you know, while you're working and, you know, what you're going to do.

10:33And then obviously those are the little things.

10:34And then it's like, well, creating a life together.

10:37I also think that, you know, relationships, I mean, that's just like, it's so beautiful

10:44to be able to create with a partner.

10:47You know, I find the whole process just so innately creative.

10:52And I love too that you mentioned that you really got inspired and interested in what

10:56you were doing around the house, which is very related to the company that you are now

10:59co-owner of Skrostyle.

11:02Walk me through your decision to join the cleaning industry and to be part of a product

11:07company.

11:08When I was talking with the co-founders, they mentioned that you got in touch with them

11:12after being a customer yourself.

11:13So I'd love to know more about why you decided to reach out and what made you interested

11:17in joining this company in the first place.

11:19Yeah.

11:20Well, first of all, I love the product.

11:22I found a product that I love, which is their Fade to Change sponge.

11:27Cleaning, for me and for my family, my sisters, my mom, it's not just cleaning.

11:33It's a really like, it's an emotional bonding experience.

11:38Like my mother will come to my house, till this day she can barely walk.

11:41She goes straight to the sink, bless her heart.

11:44And even if there's like one cup, she'll start, you know.

11:47And I didn't know if that was a Cuban thing or a Latin thing.

11:50I wasn't sure.

11:51But, you know, it's just such a thing for us.

11:54And we bond over it, especially in the kitchen, especially doing the dishes.

11:59During the pandemic, you know, I was probably like most people going crazy and I was like

12:04washing my fruit, which I'm sure I did more harm than good.

12:11But I was going through a bunch of different cleaning products and I came across this sponge,

12:16this Skira style sponge.

12:17And I was like, oh, that's cool for a sponge.

12:20It just looked different.

12:21It wasn't like some like horrible looking thing.

12:24It was pretty.

12:25So that caught my eye because I love design and I love anything.

12:28I love making anything beautiful.

12:30But yeah, I started using it and I loved it.

12:35So I got in contact with the founders and I loved their story.

12:41They've been best friends.

12:42Linda and Allison, I'm sure they told you, have been best friends since they've been

12:45kids.

12:46They like, I mean, they're still best friends.

12:49Their kids are the same age.

12:50I mean, they're just their BFF dreams.

12:54And I really feel like I, I don't, I connected with them, obviously.

12:59And I just thought there's something here, like there's something I'm, you know, I love

13:06this product and I just see, I see something here like, I don't know, I didn't, I just

13:13saw, I'm trying to describe what it is, but it's that feeling of like, I'm not sure what

13:18it is, but let's keep in touch, you know?

13:21And then it just kind of progressed and it just became obvious that I was like, I have

13:26so many ideas.

13:27I love this product.

13:28And, you know, I started realizing that I was talking about product development and,

13:33you know, all these different things and marketing.

13:35And I was like, okay, let's do this.

13:38I need to be involved.

13:39And again, women, two women.

13:41So I felt very, very comfortable.

13:43That's what I was going to ask you.

13:44They are two female co-founders and speaking, you know, from your acting experience, really

13:49loving being involved in female led sets or, you know, those sorts of things.

13:54How would you describe your relationship with the two of them and with the Skira team?

13:58What does that like female founder space mean to you?

14:02Female founder space.

14:03It is just, not only is it fun, you know, because it's just fun.

14:08I love, you know, connecting with them and talking.

14:13But like, it's the little things.

14:17Like when I make a Zoom and I'm a few minutes late, but I'm calling them from my mobile

14:23office in my car and I just have like, you know, and my kids in class and I'm trying

14:29to make it happen and I'm a disaster.

14:31But I know what I have, you know, I did the work I have.

14:35You know what I mean?

14:36It's hard to explain, but it's those moments where I become very like frazzled and really

14:41stressed out and, you know, the kid and here and this and then the other, you know, and

14:46they're just like, totally get it.

14:48There's no question.

14:50There's no doubt on their end that, you know, it's just like, wow, to not to have to explain

14:55yourself.

14:56I don't know.

14:57I feel like that's great.

14:59They know exactly what I'm talking about when I was like, you know, or like all I have to

15:04say is, hey, guys, you know, my little one's sick right now.

15:06And they're just like, oh, my God, do we not we know about that, you know, and those things

15:11make make for a more supportive workplace.

15:14I just I'm the kind of person that I need to feel supported or through love or else

15:20I tend to like, I don't know.

15:22You know, some people like a great challenge and I like a challenge, of course, but I still

15:27need it rooted in like love and support if that makes sense.

15:31It totally does.

15:32Yeah.

15:33So on the product development side of things, what makes Kira so different from what exists

15:37on the market today?

15:38I mean, you mentioned earlier that design is something that most sponges aren't pretty,

15:42but what else makes these products so special?

15:44Well, specifically the sponge, there's nothing like it.

15:47The fade to change technology is just it's incredible.

15:50The fact that we have, you know, the actual monogram fade as the sponge reaches its, you

15:59know, its limit lets you know that, OK, it's time to to throw out and change out your sponge

16:05because, you know, sponges are 200,000 times dirtier than our toilet seats.

16:10I'm sure you've heard that.

16:11Everyone's heard that.

16:13And it's true.

16:14And it's obviously disgusting.

16:15So you're, you know, you're cleaning with something filthy.

16:18So anyway, it lets you know it does the thinking for you.

16:20It lets you know when it's time to throw out.

16:22So that to me was so, so genius.

16:24And I was that was huge for me.

16:27And again, I do I love beautiful things.

16:30So the fact that it was, you know, something pretty and it wasn't your usual like it's

16:33not your mama sponge, you know.

16:35And then also obviously loving the other products, the scouring pad, the drying towel.

16:42I'm big with drying towels because I still lay out my towel.

16:45Oh, I only do dishes by hand, by the way.

16:47I don't I have very the dishwasher.

16:50I could store toilet paper in there.

16:52I never use it.

16:53But anyway, I fell in love with all the products and I just I saw so much potential.

16:58And again, trying to link fashion, style, beauty, color and trying to elevate the kitchen

17:05and bring joy because that's a place where I derive so much joy from.

17:10So much joy.

17:12Just when my when my kitchen is clean, when my sink is clean, there is something I don't

17:18know.

17:19There's got to be other people.

17:20It sounds like you feel this, too.

17:21And it's just like, oh, it's just can breathe.

17:24You can breathe and it feels so good, of course, when my house is clean and I just get so much

17:30joy from it.

17:31So, again, I have such an emotional connection to the product and the product is just a superior

17:37product than what's on the market today.

17:40The other thing that I found really exciting was that right now before us, there hasn't

17:47been a woman in the aisle.

17:49There's Mr. Clean and there's Sponge Daddy.

17:53And I'm just like, how how has it gone on this long that there hasn't been a woman in

17:58the aisle?

17:59So that also was a huge driving force.

18:01I was like, I've got to be a part of this and yeah, this next level.

18:05That is super special.

18:06You came on as a co-owner in twenty twenty two.

18:09And now in your relationship with the co-founders, what really is your role in the company?

18:15What are the things that you are offering?

18:16Why were you a good fit for them as they were for you?

18:20My role in the company, it varies, but mostly it's about product development, connecting

18:27to the customer, really listening to the customer, bringing in my love of design, bringing in

18:33my love of trying to elevate spaces.

18:38And, you know, I feel like it's one of those things like I feel like I'm part of a like

18:44a Broadway show where it's anything.

18:46Like sometimes if you're part of a cast or part of a show, whether you need to get someone

18:51coffee or you need to actually like help paint something like that's what I feel like, you

18:56know, in this beautiful collaboration, because we're such a small company and we kind of

19:02like do it all.

19:05And I find that really exciting because we're in it and we're we're still building it, which

19:10is really, really fun.

19:12Yeah.

19:13And I know that you have a collection coming out with the company that you designed yourself.

19:18Can you walk me through that process a bit?

19:20What was the behind the scenes of coming up with that idea and then really bringing it

19:23into tangible products?

19:25Well, I just I love color.

19:27I just I love, love color.

19:28I love pattern.

19:29And, you know, I have these beautiful images of Cuba in my house.

19:34I'm Cuban.

19:35I'm first generation.

19:36My parents are Cuban.

19:38And I have these beautiful images of the of the buildings.

19:41And I know it's a bittersweet thing because the conditions in Cuba are just we obviously

19:46won't go into that.

19:47But there is a beauty in the in the the colors.

19:51And I just have these images in my head and I see them around.

19:54And I was just like, I need a new I need a color palette.

19:58I need something that reflects what brings me joy.

20:01And the colors in this new and the design in my new collection is exactly that.

20:06It's exactly what brings me joy and things that I have in my home, colors.

20:11And there's a specific like design I found just very, I don't know, beautiful.

20:17And I was like, yeah, I want to make a beautiful sponge.

20:21Why not?

20:22Like, if you can make a sponge beautiful, I think, you know, everything else I mean,

20:27I don't know.

20:28Elevates the whole kitchen.

20:29It does.

20:30And I like to keep my sponge out.

20:31I'm not one I don't hide her.

20:33I don't put her anywhere else.

20:35So I don't know.

20:36I like to see her because she's always so always there for me.

20:39Yeah, definitely.

20:40Who are you trying to reach with this brand?

20:43Is it moms that are at home cleaning?

20:45Is it a different demographic?

20:46Who are you really trying to target with these products?

20:50I don't know who I'm trying to target because I don't in that sense.

20:53I'm not going after like anyone specifically or any demo.

20:57I just feel like if you have a home, if you have an apartment, whether it's a studio apartment,

21:03it's your first thing, it's one room, you've got to do the dishes.

21:06Like you're if you're not doing them, who's doing them for you?

21:10And so who's ever doing the dishes needs this product.

21:14So it's one of those things that's like, you know, it's an everybody thing.

21:19So yeah, I'm having a lot of fun also just reading the reviews.

21:24That's been really interesting for me because I've never read reviews before and although

21:29I do read some of my comments on like social media and stuff, it's different because you're

21:33kind of trained not to.

21:35But with reviews, with anything having to do with Skira style, it's been really connective.

21:42How do you determine based on those reviews what's going to be next for the company?

21:46I know you guys are talking about other products that are coming up and, you know, different

21:49expansions and many facets of the brand.

21:52How much do those comments and the, you know, customer reviews and the customer engagement,

21:57how much does that impact what's next for you guys and the company?

22:01Customer reviews are everything for me.

22:03And I read their comments.

22:05I read what they want.

22:06I read what they don't like.

22:07I love hearing how I can improve upon something, how it's actually getting to you, the box

22:13it's getting to you and whatever it is.

22:15I love reading things that people would like improved or that they need.

22:20So that means it's pretty amazing to have like just your customer right there asking

22:26you because obviously you want to make them happy.

22:28I want to make them happy.

22:30I'm excited about this product.

22:32It brings me joy.

22:33So it's like, yes, please get it.

22:35I'll get so happy off a review like, you know, it can really put me in a really great mood.

22:42And we win all these really super fun like awards and stuff like that.

22:47And I joke around, that's like, you know, like winning a good housekeeping award is

22:53like my version of the Oscar, you know, so definitely it's really fun.

22:58What is next for the company?

22:59I know you guys have some retail expansion coming up.

23:02What can you tell us about like where we're going to be able to find Skira Style and what

23:05else is on the horizon for the brand?

23:07Well, we're going to be in selected stores at Target very soon.

23:11And then we're deciding on some other big box retailers.

23:15It's just everything and the kitchen sink, basically, yeah, definitely.

23:19My last question for you is, as a mother, an actress, a company co-owner, you are impacting

23:25so many people, but what do you want your legacy to be?

23:29Oh shit, I haven't really thought about it because hopefully by doing right by my family

23:36and working as hard as I can to be the best mom I could be, the best, you know, partner,

23:43the best daughter, I kind of like try my best at everything and then let the chips fall

23:47as they may.

23:50Yes.

23:51Well, thank you so much for chatting about all this with me today.

23:52I really appreciate you taking the time to chat.

23:53Thanks, Alex.

23:54It was really fun.

Eva Mendes Drops Hollywood To Build Her Cleaning Empire | Forbes

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