Today we’d like to introduce you to Glorisela Carrasquillo.
Hi Glorisela, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
After 30 years of helping my husband in his family business in Puerto Rico, we received the news that they no longer needed his services. It was all over. It was February 2020, and the pandemic had just started. Like everybody else, our lives came to a stop. That pause gave me the opportunity to ask myself: What do I want to do? For so many years, I had been “the wife of…” without any titles of my own. I had let myself be absorbed by a very noisy world, full of people always around us, and finally, there was silence.
I started reflecting on the movie of my life and realized that I had fought so hard—but not for my own dreams. I prayed and waited for an answer. Eight months later, I made a decision: I was going to Florida. I didn’t know exactly what I was going to do, but I knew I had to leave my country. On October 5, 2020, my husband and my twin daughters took a one-way flight to Orlando, Florida, where we would meet my oldest son, who was already there.
The next morning, I opened my eyes and felt completely lost. At that moment, I realized this was going to be tough. For the next two years, I struggled to find my footing, trying to move forward in a world that seemed to have no alternatives due to the pandemic. Anxiety took control of me. I had to wear a mask, one for everyone and another for when I was alone. I felt like I was breaking from the inside. I had so many questions with no answers. I couldn’t forgive myself for decisions I hadn’t made sooner, and I felt like my life was coming to an end—that I didn’t have much time left. Some days it was me, some days it was my daughters, and other days it was my husband. We were all emotionally broken, but we supported each other. Our life was upside down, but we were together—my beloved family. I thought, at my age, everyone else is planning to retire, and here I am, trying to start a new life. All of us were trying to find our way back on track.
It was July 2022 when my daughters and I started talking about creating a decoration business because that’s what I’m passionate about. We came up with the name Magical Staging and began discussing what we wanted to do. A few days later, my youngest daughter, Ania, told me, “Mom, Disney is hiring people for the Christmas season decorations. I think if you apply, it will give you a big picture of what you can do.” She filled out the application for me, and the very next day, I received an email from Disney offering me an interview. Everything moved so fast. Within two weeks, I started working as a Support Decorator at Disney Holiday Services, and I loved it. Everything was magical. I started learning “the Disney way” and how everything worked behind the scenes. I was fascinated, but I knew it was only seasonal. I knew that in January 2023, it would end, but for the moment, I didn’t want to think about that.
I was supposed to be there for six months, but after five weeks, I received an unexpected call. Someone from the office came to the work table, called my name, and asked, “Can you come to the office?” I asked, “What did I do? Did I do something wrong?” She said, “No, the Magic Kingdom team is here and they want to interview you. Do you want the interview?” I said yes, but I had no idea what was happening. Everything was moving so fast. I walked into the office, and two gentlemen were sitting there. They welcomed me and started asking me questions about sewing. In Puerto Rico, I had studied sewing and tailoring. A few minutes later, I left the office with an offer to join the Magic Kingdom Decorating Team. A week later, I started working in The Magic Kingdom Decorating Shop.
So much was happening so quickly. It was a new challenge for the next 90 days, and this team received me with open arms. They made me feel like I truly belonged to that small but mighty family. It’s a small group, but they are the best—patient, considerate, and supportive. They made me believe I could face the challenge and be successful because it’s so difficult to get into that department. Every day was full of new challenges: furniture, seasonal decorations, curtains, pennants, banners—every decorating element in the whole park. I wanted to prove that I could do it.
My first big challenge was decorating the lead float in the Christmas Parade. Now, I’ve had the privilege of decorating the Christmas Tree Float for three consecutive years.
Disney was never part of my life plan. Disney was just a place where we celebrated, but I never saw it as a job opportunity. God had a plan, and I couldn’t understand it at the time. My shift started at 5:30 a.m., and for a long time, I cried every morning on my way to work because this was not my plan. Then I realized that God had placed me in the perfect spot. It was what I’d always loved. In 2018, I studied Interior Design and Decoration, and it was as if God had been preparing me, but I couldn’t see it.
One day, it all clicked. I understood that I was part of something important, that I was blessed, and I asked God for forgiveness for not seeing it sooner. When people asked me, “What do you do for a living?” and I said, “I’m a Magic Kingdom Decorator,” they would often ask me more questions about it. I could see the excitement and astonishment on their faces. Some people would say, “I never knew someone like you, you’re the magic behind the magic.”
Magical Staging went on an indefinite hiatus, but one day my husband told me, “I think you should pick up that business again. It could go really well for you.” Anytime an idea, suggestion, or dream comes to me, I always put it in God’s hands first and wait. Developing patience is one of the hardest things in life, but that’s how it works. I’ve learned to trust in God’s plan. It’s not easy, but it’s always the best choice.
A week after my husband’s suggestion, I received a call from my cousin in New Jersey, who runs a decoration business there. He invited me to decorate the Saint Joseph Church for the 150th Anniversary of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Festival. That felt like a sign for me, and I knew it was something I had to do. I am incredibly grateful to the Lord for blessing me and lighting my path when it was full of fog. I went to New Jersey, and those days were special for me. I was doing something meaningful outside of my job—decorating to honor the Lord—and I felt a deep sense of peace and confidence.
When I returned from New Jersey, I told myself: I can, I want to, and I’m going to. At one point, I didn’t know what I wanted, if I could, or where to go, but I was never alone. Life isn’t always easy, and it’s easy to feel lost, but don’t give up. Keep trying, because at some point, something extraordinary can happen.
I know everyone has a story to tell, and this is part of mine—how the last five years have unfolded. Now, I can say how proud I am of my family and myself. I can’t wait for the next chapter. I’m writing it now, and it has a name and a face: Magical Staging.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It hasn’t been a smooth road because first I have to heal some emotional wounds, I had to get on track, it has been an emotional journey. You contacted me 3 years ago for the interview, at that moment I was not ready, I was trying to put myself together again and this process can be so unpredictable.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
As a Decorator you have to have the visions first, see it in your mind. You need to find the way how to make it a reality following the theme and the details and how you transmit it to the people.
I can decorate residential and commercial space for Holidays or celebrations.
I’m proud of how I have been facing challenges because sometimes you”ll be afraid but you have to do it even with fear. I think, that when you try and overcome the challenge is one of the best feelings in life.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
I have so many memories from my childhood but one of my favorites was playing Barbies with my sisters. We had everything from Barbie, the house, the car, the Camping RV, shoes, clothes, I remember how I could imagine everything of Barbie’s life. I remember sometimes creating a fabulous office or living room in our living room coffee table. I think that my passion from Decorating comes from there.
I remember how good my Mom was with her hands. She loved to do handcrafts, she made every bow for me when I was a kid.
I remember making ceramics with my godmother and sewing with my neighbor at a very young age.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/magicalstaging/
