Hi, I'm Maria.
Raised in Brooklyn, NY, and now living in Central Texas for the last ten years. For fifteen years or so, I've worked in healthcare, and these days I spend my hours helping people untangle complicated, unclear coverage questions in our ever-changing healthcare system. I'm bilingual, English and Spanish, and most days I'm translating one system or another for somebody who just wants a straight answer.
The Rise Market has been a hibernating thought inside of me that I could not put into words. A reality I have struggled with but did not realize bothered me as much as it does. Most of us shop for the brands that are easiest to find. As consumers, we are driven to buy trendy brands and labels, and we overlook the smaller, amazing products available to us right in our own communities.
What if we focus on our community, our neighbors who are creating and bringing us amazing labels, not realizing they are three avenues down and around the corner? There are people in our own communities creating and offering amazing gifts and products we did not know we needed. Maybe it's in your neighborhood or the next town over. Maybe you're already the person looking to intentionally invest in your own people, consciously spending your money where it counts the most. But how do we know where they are, or what they're offering?
I don't know about others, but when you work all day or all night, the last thing you have time for is searching your community or nearby towns. So, the next best thing is to search the web; yes, you can find some information, but you can't find options in one place. Even as I searched, I did not know what I was looking for. Until earlier this year, 2026. I was looking for something new. I already had a job. But I was not satisfied; I wanted to make changes in my life and do something meaningful. I don't want a nine-to-five job working for someone else. I search for my ideas: "giving back to communities", "helping minorities", "my people". That is when it happened, I found it!
The Rise Market is my attempt to fix this problem. It's an attempt to bridge the gap between conscious consumers and minority business owners. Many late nights, but with the excitement and joy of making my idea come to fruition. And now I am bringing you The Rise Market, a community focused on minority-created products and services you did not know were available in your own community. The opportunity to invest in your hometown and your people, and an opportunity to consciously spread equity throughout our communities.
— Maria