Yaritzel Varela

I began working at my mother’s store when I was 17 years old. My main responsibility was to receive the clothing merchandise, which had to be carefully counted and organized by size, color, style, and fabric type. The merchandise arrived every Saturday morning, and our goal was to have everything properly prepared by Tuesday, which was our main sales day.

Once all the clothing was sorted and organized, we would take it out of storage to display it in the store. The blouses were arranged by size, style, and color, always placing the most eye-catching colors at the entrance in order to attract customers' attention.

• I worked part-time in the mornings, independently. My responsibilities included maintaining the establishment in optimal cleanliness, which involved cleaning the refrigerators, changing the water for the vegetables, and disinfecting the spoons used for the ice cream. Additionally, I was in charge of washing the milkshake glasses, sweeping, mopping, and cleaning the tables used by customers.