Alicia Ortiz, entrepreneur, operates and owns her own business called, RottenxAgenda. Her designs can be found at Dr. Strange Records in Alta Loma, CA and online internationally.
1. What’s your name? Where you from? What is something most people would never guess about you? My name’s Alicia, some people know me as Alice, and I’m the owner of a tiny business called RottenxAgenda. I’m from the Inland Empire.
Something no one would ever guess? Don’t let my face fool you. I look super uninterested and mad 90% of the time but I can be your biggest fan in whatever you’re doing. I like seeing people succeed. Whether it’s my friends going back to school, getting a new job, booking shows, debuting a new record etc., I’m all for it. It’s real easy to take things for granted and not see the hard work people put in, even in the small things. I’ll tell everybody and their mommas about em’ and how bad ass they are. Oh! I also love being outdoors, probably on a mountain somewhere.
2. What made you want to start your own business? I’ve always wanted to have some form of my own business ever since I was in elementary school. I wanted to make clothes and sell them in my own store. At the time, I was always going to the de-luxe, “off the mall” across from the Tyler Mall with my mom and brother. I wanted a store like that: band shirts, boots and the clothes I made all in one.
When I got a little older and starting going to the Showcase Theatre, I fell in love with it and thought I could do this! I wanted my own venue, part of me still does. There were a few venues I volunteered at whenever I could, and they would let me book shows. Despite a few of the much older gentlemen who would constantly call me “hun” and wouldn’t take me serious, it was always the other booking agents that were assholes haha. It was still the funnest thing I’ve done in terms of “jobs.” I meet a lot of great bands I still bug to this day.
With all of that going on, I’ve always been a little crafty and decided to start selling stuff online. It went on from there. Over the past few years I’ve practically lived at Dr. Strange Records. Me, and my guy Johnny, have a pretty bad vinyl addiction. We would go out of our way to shop there every weekend so we naturally became really close to the owners Bill and Cha Chi. They saw some of the jewelry I was making and told me to bring it in the next time I was in. Dr. Strange has carried RottenxAgenda accessories for about two years now. They’ve always been a big support and I appreciate it.
3. What is the best thing about being an entrepreneur? I can do things on my terms. I don’t have to get an approval about what my visions are or have to worry about deadlines someone else has. I make my own deadlines haha.
4. What is the hardest thing about being a business owner? The best part is also the hardest part, it really is just you. If you want to make a new product you better find the money for it. It can be challenging but I also feel like I appreciate my own stuff more.
5. What inspires your creations? I love horror movies and I love music. Both have been staples in my family so it’s only natural I gravitate toward them. I gotta thank my mom though, she used to let me watch all the horror movies I love as a small child. She’s the best haha.
6. Do you have a favorite accessory out right now? It’s definitely the glamour ghoul pin! It’s the first enamel pin I have released and I can’t wait till I release more. It’s a new adventure into the pin community and I’m super excited about getting into.
7. Have you ever hated anything you have made? Oh yea, I started out making hair accessories and with anything, it’s a learning process. You kinda find out, through trial and error, what works and what doesn’t. If I’m not completely satisfied with something I hold onto it and make adjustments untill I’m happy with it.
8. Who is your favorite celebrity ghoul and why? There are so many but the original Halloween queen, Vampira, is still such a bad ass. She was the first glamour ghoul, and didn’t care what anyone had to say about her. My talented musically gifted ghouls I love are Alice Bag (The Bags), Gitane Demone (Christian death) and Dinah Cancer (45 Grave).
9. Who would win in an arm wrestling match, Ash Williams or Freddy Krueger? This is such a hard question to me. I love them both and this is tearing me apart. I’ll have to go with my boy, Ashley. If he can kill a Deadite, he can use his mechanical arm on Freddy’s glove right?
10. How can people give you all their money? There’s infinite ways! If you want to find my creations in store at Dr. Strange Records in Alta Loma, CA. If your a recluse like me, you can direct message me on Instagram @rottenxagenda for a paypal invoice, visit my Depop Shop for discounted items, or find me on Storeny at rottenxagenda.storenvy.com .