As we continue to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, KSBY spoke to two Latina women about their journeys as local entrepreneurs.
Little by little, Latinx entrepreneurs are working to overcome their challenges.
For Sylvia Martinez, it’s through food.
Originally from Mexico, Martinez moved to the United States and founded the culinary company Mama Latina in 2012.
Educating over 300,000 people online about her culture through food.
“I love being able to stay home with my kids, work when I want, and make my own products,” Martinez said.
It’s how she connects with her two children.
“When they start raising their own families, they can come back to the blog and get recipes from there,” Martinez says.
She is a self-made entrepreneur experiencing opportunities she never thought possible.
“I create unique content on my blog and advertise on my blog. Companies hire me to develop recipes using their products and to help people understand how to use their products.” I write about it,” Martinez said.
Her friend Norma Lapko also runs her own business.
She started selling arts and crafts and decorating with crystals in 1999 using tweezers. After a few years, her career took off.
“I eventually grew that company into hundreds of accounts, stores, and hotels selling our products. My wife and I started manufacturing these products and used tweezers to create these crystals. ,” Rapko said.
So she invented a needed product that didn’t exist: Krei Styler.
Working on her craft is faster than before.
“Using innovative tools, we glued 700 crystals to the shoe within 40 minutes,” says Rapko.
Her products can now be found in hundreds of Michael’s Craft Stores nationwide.
According to a study by McKinsey & Company, Latino founders run nearly 2 million businesses in the United States and are the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs, yet they receive 2% less venture capital funding. It is said that it is less than that.
