Every morning, 59-year-old Mary Coronado wakes up with a smile. She starts her day with a prayer, offering thoughts for herself, her loved ones, and even strangers. Mary embraces each day like a holiday, donning her finest dresses and meticulously doing her makeup and hair—without exception.
"Life is how you make it," she says.
Known affectionately as "everybody’s aunt," Coronado instantly invites new acquaintances to call her Tía Mary.
"I believe I was sent to this world to be everybody’s aunt," she says with a laugh. "I don’t even remember who my original nieces and nephews are anymore!"
Mary Coronado’s journey began in Coahuila, Mexico, where she lived an ordinary life until an unknown illness left her unable to walk or talk. With limited medical resources in her small town, she never received a diagnosis.
"To this day, I don’t know what hit me," she says. "I had to learn to walk and talk again. Literally start from zero."
Once she regained her abilities, Mary pursued the American dream, arriving in San Antonio with her husband in 2002.
How did Mary become everyone’s beloved aunt? Her passion lies in making piñatas, a craft she initially reserved for her nieces and nephews.
"I think God takes control of my hands, and that’s why my piñatas are so amazing," she says.
Mary’s hobby turned into a business after she was diagnosed with uterine cancer in 2014. "We had to start paying for doctors and medical treatments, so I told my nieces and nephews that my piñatas wouldn’t be free anymore."
And thus, Piñatas Tía Mary was born.
Mary never stopped crafting piñatas, even through the pain. "I would stand up and say, ‘Not today, cancer, not today,’" she recalls. "Ironically, that was the most difficult, but also the best year of my life."
By the time she recovered, her piñatas had gained recognition within the Central Texas Hispanic community. A friend invited her to join JUST, a community organization that provided the support she needed to expand her business.
"To produce more of my beautiful piñatas, I needed money to buy more supplies. When I heard of JUST, everything fell into place," she says.
The pandemic posed new challenges, but the resilient entrepreneur adapted by using social media to reach clients and Zoom to stay in touch with her JUST support group. Though initially stressed by the technological demands, she realized she was stronger than the obstacles.
"I have no time for negative thoughts. I shake them off. We have to be positive and move forward, only forward," she says.
On a typical day, you might find Tía Mary crafting piñatas in a sequined gown if she feels elegant or in a Hawaiian outfit if she’s feeling tropical. Her JUST group and clients describe her as the best aunt anyone could have and a charismatic leader they can rely on.
And if you need a cool aunt, Tía Mary is always looking for new nephews and nieces!