Meet Brenden Rivera | E-Commerce Distributor

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

Hi Brenden, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
At first I was only doing this part time. I had a job at a concert venue as a marketing assistant that I really loved. I had the opportunity to get promoted but then the pandemic happened. Everything was a mystery and no one knew when we would be coming back to work. Once we re-opened I found out that the marketing department was consolidated and I wouldn’t be getting my job back. I was hurt. After taking some time to decide what next steps to take I decided to start doing e-commerce full time. I was already getting pretty good at it and decided to ramp it up and go for broke. I had always bet on myself but this was new territory for me. I’d never owned a business before and was really unsure about the future. I convinced myself that I could do it and just went for it. Since then it has paid off as I have opened up more revenue streams and opportunities outside of e-commerce. This can be a very lonely profession but I couldn’t imagine having a “regular job” again. I love what I do.

What should our readers know about your business?
I always knew I wanted to have a business of my own but was never sure what my path was. The business of e-commerce is not something that I ever planned on getting into. I did a little bit of it after high school. Years later a long time friend of mine, Jacob, got me back into it. He brought it up by saying he started watching other people on YouTube selling things on eBay and said he was going to give it a try. I started watching these videos as well and began to try my luck selling things online that I found at garage sales, thrift stores, estate sales, etc. I made a lot of mistakes when I first started. I almost quit three times in the first couple of years. It was a learning process and it still is. There’s always something new to learn. I overcame my mistakes by buying more and doing research before I made purchases. Eventually I got better over time finding out what kinds of things that people are looking for. By no means do I consider myself an “expert”. I still make mistakes to this day but that’s a part of the business. I guess that’s the biggest lesson that I have taken away from this journey. You’re going to make bad buys. You’re going to make mistakes. You may have to donate inventory that doesn’t sell. I’d also say that if you’re in the e-commerce business and find yourself in a rut or struggling just don’t quit. There are going to be hard times where things are really slow. It’s normal for that to happen. Keep on listing inventory and things will pick up eventually. You have to take the good with the bad. I’d like for anyone that’s reading this to know that this isn’t an overnight, get rich quick scheme. This takes a lot of work to be consistent. A lot of time spent alone, long days, and even longer nights. I was always the guy that got passed over for jobs, promotions, and other opportunities. I felt lost in the world. When I rediscovered e-commerce it just felt like such a perfect fit. From my perspective it feels so good to work at something for yourself and have it pay off as opposed to another company/individual.

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’d probably start by taking them out for food and drinks. Grand Rapids, Michigan is known as Beer City USA and there are so many different breweries that offer food to match the drinks. There’s something for everyone. Many of those places are downtown so we would go there for sure. We’d probably also go to a concert as there are a lot of concert venues, both big and small, in the city. There’s someone or some band playing throughout the city every day of the week. Depending on what time of the year it is I’d take them to a minor league baseball or hockey game. They are a lot of fun and are relatively affordable. Electric scooters are available for rent in the downtown area and taking a cruise through the city would definitely be on the itinerary. There’s so many places to see and stop at that I couldn’t possibly list them all. You’ll find a lot of interesting people from all walks of life that come together for a drink or bite to eat. It really is a unique city.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to dedicate this to my dad Ruben, and my daughter, Simon. My dad has always been a big supporter of mine of any goals and dreams I had, big or small. He has always believed in me even if he didn’t fully understand what I was trying to do. I could never thank him enough for that. With his support, I’ve been able to accomplish so many things that I wasn’t sure that I could do on my own. I would not be have access to the opportunities that I do without him. My daughter Simon has been a pillar of strength for me and kept me going in times where I didn’t know if I could keep going. She has seen me at my highest of highs and lowest of lows. Everything I do is make sure that she has a better life and I want to leave her with something that she can pass down someday. The two of them mean more to me than they could ever know.

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