Kathy Cano Murillo, otherwise known as the Crafty Chica, creates a one-woman enterprise through creative talent and persistence.

Her legions of fans know her as the “Crafty Chica,” and today craft entrepreneur, syndicated columnist, artist, book author and tv/web personality Kathy Cano Murillo lives up to her alter ego.

In fact, if it weren’t for the fact that Kathy was crafty she might not be where she’s at today.

Continue reading "Crafting a Route towards Creating a Business" »

Filed 31 de Enero, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Forging new lives and business south of the border, Aran and Margot Shetterly publish an English-language paper for fellow American expatriates who call Mexico home.

Margot Lee Shetterly had four great loves in her life before she met her husband Aran — business, writing, traveling and learning languages.

Margot and Aran Shetterly

Margot’s dream had always been to combine these four loves and create a business that allowed her to do all these things. As fate would have it, when Margot met her husband-to-be, she soon discovered that they had more in common than mutual attraction.

Come to find out, Aran loved all the same things Margot did.

So together the couple traveled to a foreign country — Mexico; learned another language — Spanish; and created a new media company to publish their English-language monthly, Inside México.

Their target audience? The over one million English speakers who live south of the border.

Continue reading "Sharing Their Love for Business Takes a Couple South of the Border" »

Filed 28 de Enero, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Christianne Meneses Jacobs creates a Spanish-language children’s magazine as a tool to help bicultural families keep the Spanish language alive for their children.

Nicaragua-born Christianne Meneses Jacobs had a problem: How could she ensure that her U.S.-born toddler would grow up speaking and retaining her Spanish as she got older?

Founder and Editor of Iguana magazine, Christianne Jacobs takes time to visit with her magazine's namesake.

It was a problem Christianne knew many bicultural Latino families faced. However, she knew she didn’t have to look any farther than her own past for the solution.

Continue reading "One Mother's Quest to Create a High-Quality Children's Spanish Magazine" »

Filed 24 de Enero, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Combining a love for dogs and the desire to be self-employed, Marlena Cervantes creates a unique service that lets people share dog ownership.

Marlena Cervantes and her two friends.

Marlena Cervantes had one dream — to be self-employed.

But it couldn’t be just any job. It had to be something that earned this California native a steady income while also providing a social service.

But what kinds of self-starting jobs can do both in the beginning stages?

Marlena didn’t have to look far to find the job that met her strict criteria. It was literally lying at her feet — wagging its tail.

Continue reading "“Man’s Best Friend” Unleashes New Opportunity for Dog-Loving Entrepreneur" »

Filed 22 de Enero, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Erica Ortiz breaks gender barriers and speed records to cross the finish line as a Latina pro drag race car driver.

Erica Ortiz

Florida-native Erica Ortiz has always had a competitive streak. It’s what fueled this Cuban/Puerto Rican’s dreams of athletic success throughout her school years.

Yet when a serious car accident sidelined her dreams of playing college sports, she had to find something else where she could channel her winning athletic instinct.

She found it — drag racing.

Continue reading "Revving for Career Success on the Fast-Track of Drag Car Racing" »

Filed 16 de Enero, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Political newcomer, Mary Abeyta, builds on her history of helping others to pursue a run for public office.

Mary Abeyta

At the age of 9, when most girls are enjoying weekend sleepovers and outings to the mall with their friends, Mary Abeyta was spending weekends traveling by Salvation Army bus serving as a translator for over a dozen Spanish-speaking families on their way to visit loved ones behind bars.

Not knowing how to fill out the necessary paperwork that would let them see their loved ones at the Huntsville, Texas state prison, the families depended on “Little Mary” to make everything okay for them.

It’s a mission that Mary continues to this day with aspirations for political office.

But it wasn’t always this way.

Continue reading "Pursuing a Dream One Handshake at a Time" »

Filed 10 de Septiembre, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (5)

Businesswoman Carrie Ferguson Weir proves it’s never too young to express Latino pride with her line of baby t-shirts.

Carrie Ferguson Weir

Carrie Ferguson Weir spent all of her professional life asking the hard questions. As a daily newspaper journalist, this Cuban-American Latina was accustomed to asking the kinds of questions that force honest responses.

However, it wasn’t until she had her own daughter and found herself wrestling with the age-old “working mother dilemma” of either returning to work after maternity leave or being a stay-at-home mom that Carrie found herself on the receiving end of her own interrogation.

What could she do that would give her the freedom to be a stay-at-home mom and a successful businesswoman?

Continue reading "Cracking open business success with a yolk of an idea" »

Filed 14 de Agosto, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Empowerment coach, Nancy Marmolejo, sells clients on recognizing and valuing their own strengths to achieve their greatest potential.

Nancy Marmolejo

Entrepreneurialism is in Nancy Marmolejo’s blood. Having a father who loved being his own boss, and who put Nancy and her six brothers and sisters to work in the “family businesses” over the years, Nancy couldn’t help but follow in those same footsteps — but on her own terms.

Continue reading "Transforming Ordinary Business Owners into Extraordinary Entrepreneurs" »

Filed 4 de Agosto, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lupe Ruiz-Flores is a children’s book author who discovered it’s never too late to tell a good story.

Author Lupe Ruiz Flores

Being a published writer was Lupe’s life-long dream. Growing up with little money, especially to buy such luxury items as books, Lupe’s earliest inspiration for storytelling was from listening to the stories her father and grandmother would weave for her family’s entertainment.

But with a family of her own to raise and a 26-year career busily devoted to being an aerospace engineering technician for the Department of Defense, Lupe's dream always seemed to be pushed onto the back burner.

Continue reading "Crafting memories into memorable stories" »

Filed 20 de Julio, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0)