Amanda Smith > www.amandasmithcaterers.com

Amanda Smith, Owner, Amanda Smith Caterers.

What do you need to be an entrepreneur?
Instinct for ideas and a passion for believing that it can happen.

What did inspire you to start your business?
Running. I was running around the reservoir in central park, thinking about the park, about the summer and the upcoming concerts... and it occured to me that there was no service that existed that provided picnic baskets for the more than 100,000 attendees of these concerts. That summer, I was the first service that did.

How did you finance it?
Initially from my savings and then from the banks - I wish I had found another alternative.

Being Hispanic... Does it have any influence on your business?
It has a cache but not an influence. The influence is more from my background living all over the world.

In the face of adversity, how do you decide to keep going?
I don't know.

What is the biggest challenge your business has faced?
Needing to find a way to go from a ground level to the first level and then on. Each level is a challenge because you have to sacrifice in order to be recognized.

If you could change one thing about your business, what would it be?
The structure. Too much lies on me at the moment and at this stage it is more probelematic to adjust.

What was your childhood ambition?
To be a stewardess and travel!

For business meetings: breakfast, lunch, or dinner?
Lunch - como buena Mexicana!

What sacrifices on your personal life did you have to make in order to become a business success?
Time with my daughter - time for myself.

What is your favorite quote?
Follow your fears or be lead by your passion. Anonymous

Is it difficult to be unconventional?
Yes. One needs a lot of conviction and thick skin.

Biggest mistake made?
Leaving my first job when I was 21 (Mandarin Oriental Traineeship just out of college)

Do you consider yourself an innovator? Why?
I have original ideas but in my business it all so much the same that I do not consider them to be innovative, they are logical.

About the company:
Amanda Smith Caterers is a boutique catering and event planning company that services the metropolitan area. We offer foods not only from my native Mexico but from all over the world. Unlike other catering companies our interest is the food so everything is made authentically and with much attention. In addition we have an experienced crew that meets all needs with care.

Teresa Saldivar > www.teresasjewelers.com

Teresa Saldivar, Owner, Teresa's Jewelers

What do you need to be an entrepreneur?
Careful planning and hard work are important, but having the ability to properly and quickly execute the fundamentals is vital.
What did inspire you to start your business?
To open a business that would offer the highest standard of customer service with a professional staff that would create a positive shopping experience

How did you finance it?
Using my personal savings and financial support from my family.

Being Hispanic… Does it have any influence on your business?
Yes, being a Latina is an asset, especially because my business is located in Downtown Santa Ana, where 85 percent of the population is Latino.

In the face of adversity, how do you decide to keep going?
I see adversity as a challenge that allows me the opportunity to learn whether I have the capacity to endure it or the need for growth in a certain area.

What is the biggest challenge your business has faced?
When I relocated from a 465-square-foot store with three employees to a 1735-square-foot store with seven employees and my overhead tripled overnight.

If you could change one thing about your business, what would it be?
I would love not having to work weekends.

What was your childhood ambition?
That I would one day become a woman with confidence and poise.

Tell us about three entrepreneurs that you admire?
I admire Coco Chanel, Walt Disney, and Oprah Winfrey, each born into poverty who attained self-satisfaction by being pioneering (Chanel), visionary (Disney), and humanitarian (Winfrey).

For business meetings: breakfast, lunch, or dinner?
Breakfast or dinner, not lunch, because it keeps me away from attending to my customers.

What sacrifices on your personal life did you have to make in order to become a business success?
Having to postpone my continuing education and not being able to share quality time with family and friends.

What is your favorite quote?
There can be no real freedom without the freedom to fail – Erich From

Is it difficult to be unconventional?
When you have confidence and initiative—no it is not.

Biggest mistake made?
Not having the resourcefulness to have purchased the building where my business stands.

Do you consider yourself an innovator?
Yes, because I introduced avant-garde jewelry to my Latino customers—a culture that is supposed to be status quo.

About the Company
Nowhere in Orange County will you find a better selection of religious medals or quinceañera jewelry. As a certified gemologist, Teresa can create your custom design for any occasion. Teresa is currently President of the California Jewelers Association

Teresa Saldivar, a Santa Ana native, graduated Santa Ana College and attended California State University at Long Beach. In 1985, after ten years of working in the jewelry industry, Teresa became the first Latina gemologist to own a jewelry store in California. Along with her sister, Patricia, Teresa's Jewelers has been in the same location at the heart of Downtown Santa Ana for over 20 years!