If there’s one thing Molly Robbins knows for sure it is that persistence pays off. Las month her never-give-up attitude landed her on the cover of the June issue of Entrepreneur magazine. Born in Mexico and raised in the United States Molly Robbins is no stranger to the beloved Latin American icons we grew up loving like Topo Gigio and the Osito Bimbo and is bringing that touch of nostalgia back with a modern twist through the birth of her two brands Palomita and Chucho.

The t-shirts are quickly becoming a hot item among fashionistas and celebrities alike but Molly is always looking to the horizon to grow her company even further. She talks about her journey forward.

Paula: How are Palomita and Chucho doing since their launch in ’07 and ’08 respectively?

Molly: It’s going well; we launched Palomita initially as a test with JC Penney and had moderate success. We now have expanded and placed product through Kmart and Mervyns also as a test. Then, based on how it goes the stores will reorder.

Paula: What is your favorite character?

Molly: Topo Gigio, it took me such a long time to get the rights.

Paula: Celebs are wearing your t-shirts, that’s a great plug right?

Molly: Yes, Selma Hayek is the most recent this week and all blogs and gossip mention she’s wearing Palomita. I always wanted Selma to wear one of our shirts; she’s all about promoting Latinas who are entrepreneurial. Dollar- wise I don’t know how it will impact us but personally the fact that she wore means a lot.

Paula: Where do you want to take the Palomita and Chucho brands?

Molly: I would love to stand for a genuine Latino brand. Something that when you wear a Palomita or Chucho garment you know it’s coming from one of us in the Latino community. One thing I’ve struggled with is many people try to target Hispanics by getting involvement from a Thalia or Daisy Fuentes to design the clothes. In reality, those clothes are not created by anyone Latino, celebs are busy and aren’t a big part of the design process. I hope to establish our heritage and make it about us, the Hispanic community.

Paula: Where can we find the t-shirts?

Molly: Palomita is at Mervyns, Sears, JC Penney and Kmart. We’re looking to expand into specialty stores. I would love to expand internationally, back to Latin America but people didn’t see it as fashionable they thought it was a promo. That was the challenge. We may have to modify how we market them to avoid that perception.

Paula: Did you always want to venture into the garment industry?

Molly: No, not at all! My education background is law but because I started my career working in the law dept. at Levi Strauss I got a taste for this industry.

Paula: Tell us a bit about the Palomita Educational Fund and the Pink Carpet Fund raiser event.

Molly: Education is important to us and the Latino community, Palomita and Chucho provided the perfect opportunity to offer something tangible through the event. It was a fun way of getting people together, have an auction of t-shirts with a design created by celebrities. We raised 25K in our first event!

Paula: Being so busy how do you find the work/life balance?

Molly: My husband is involved in the business as CFO also my 17 year-old son is interested in what we are doing. So, a family that works together stays together!

Paula: What is a recent book or other media you’ve seen that you’d recommend to our readers?

Molly: A site called "Hispanic Tips" covers international and national highlights. I also read Latina Style, Latina Magazine and Siempre Mujer.

Paula: What advice would you give to women wanting to get into the garment industry?

Molly: Be very thorough about your research, don’t jump into it. Find out all about your competition, look at the resources available to you: Chamber of Commerce, Internet, Small Business Administration. If you’re not prepared to do that you are not prepared to launch your business.

Paula: What’s the best piece of advice you ever got?

Molly: My mentor at Levi's always taught me to follow through. Whether it’s good or bad even to say “I won’t be able to send out the order today”. I now follow through with everything and I mean from returning people’s calls to due diligence on research.

Website: www.palomitaclothing.com