Patricia Vaccarino > www.xanthuscom.com

Patricia Vaccarino, Founder, Xanthus Communications LLC and its subsidiary PRforPeople.

What do you need to be an entrepreneur?
To be an entrepreneur in today’s business climate, you must build a strong brand identity for you and for your business. You must invest in yourself. You must invest in your own public relations campaign. Some people feel shy about self-promotion and believe that it self-aggrandizing or even narcissistic. You must get over any reticence that tells you that by promoting yourself you are being immodest. This is business, not child’s play. In order to succeed in today’s business environment, you must aggressively promote yourself and your business. You must embrace the fact that public relations or self-promotion is simply a business development tool and is necessary to grow your business and to increase revenue. You may not have a spectacular budget to work with, but do have to have a budget. Your budget is what will dictate exactly how you can create your own fully integrated promotion and establish metrics to assess whether or not you did indeed get your return on your investment.

What did inspire you to start your business?
Back in the late 1990s, I had the pleasure to work with an Internet company called PublishingOnline. While I was there, I worked with individual authors who wanted to be published on the internet. I quickly learned there was a real need for professionals to market themselves the same as any company in a way that was cost effective and got results. So when I started my own PR firm, I decided that I wanted to do PRforPeople.

How did you finance it?
I have bootstrapped my business. From the onset, my company has consistently sustained profitability. Since it is a service-oriented business, I maintain very little overhead and keep my costs low. I don’t believe in incurring debt unless there is a strategic reason for doing so. I also curb my costs in small ways by outsourcing IT services to developers in India, and by working with highly experienced senior-level independent contractors who want to maintain their “freelance” autonomy and do not want permanent employment.

Being Hispanic…Does it have any influence on your business?
On the west coast, I am more influenced by the Mexican-American culture whereas on the east coast, there was greater influence from Cuban Americans, Puerto Rican Americans and Dominican Americans. Many of my Spanish-speaking clients have strong expertise in branding and PR and know how it works. Two fine examples are Fashion Designer Nick Verreos of Bravo TV’s Project Runway and Alicia Silva President of Synergy Design Studios who specializes in sustainable architecture and green living.

In the face of adversity, how do you decide to keep going?
You simply put one foot in front of the other and keep moving.

What is the biggest challenge your business has faced?
To be successful in today’s complex market place, you must be able to break through the clutter. It does not matter if you are an artist or an actor or an accountant or an attorney, you must have the ability to be seen and heard above the din. Breaking through the clutter requires dedication, persistence and hard work. I face the same economic challenges and uncertainties that all of my clients are currently facing. We are all in this together. We must all stay the course and persevere.

If you could change one thing about your business, what would it be?
I would expand more rapidly on a global scale.

What was your childhood ambition?
When I was in the 4th grade, my teacher saw that I had a gift for writing so she worked with me to help me cultivate the craft of “storytelling” that grew to be very sophisticated and far beyond my chronological years. So for the rest of my life, I had great confidence in my writing and the ability to use this talent to serve my clients-- to tell their “stories” to the media.

Tell us about three entrepreneurs that you admire?
Diane von Fursteneberg--for her ruthless focus and her ability to reinvent her own brand.
Estee Lauder for her persistence and brilliance at promoting her own brand.
Melinda Gates--for putting a new brand face on what it means to be a social philanthropist.

For business meetings: breakfast, lunch, or dinner?
Breakfast meetings are excellent for light fare and intense, focused conversation. At the end of the day, dinner is an excellent way to relax and have a long, complex conversation. I am not a fan of lunch, mainly due to my fitness regimen--lunch invites too much food that weighs down the afternoon just when you need to put the pedal to the metal and accelerate.

What sacrifices on your personal life did you have to make in order to become a business success?
I say no to a lot of social events and to spending time with friends. In the last week alone, I have declined several parties, two book club gatherings, four dinners, two lunches and delayed a trip to my vacation home on the Oregon coast. I cannot take the time to travel right now. Leaving the country isn’t even a remote possibility. My priorities are my business and my family. Some people tell me that I work too much and that I don’t have enough fun, but to me building a business and making my dreams come true is much more fun and satisfying than anything else in the world!

What is your favorite quote?
“Good PR is establishing the greatest number of high quality relationships that reach across industries and sectors to get you a return on investment.” –Patricia Vaccarino

Is it difficult to be unconventional?
To attract the right people, clients, customers and partners, you must repel the other people who would never be your clients and partners. You must take a stand and speak the truth about who you are. If you choose the middle road and describe yourself in an average way to avoid offending someone, know and understand that you have doomed your personal brand to mediocrity. By trying to offend no one, you have showed the world that you have nothing to offer to anyone. Staying safely in the middle will waste your time and get you nowhere. Get rid of the wrong people. Define your brand. Refine it further. Make it sharp. Don’t be afraid of standing out. Exceptional people always frighten the weak and mediocre.

Biggest mistake made?
One of my strengths is the ability to persevere against all odds. One of the hardest decisions is knowing when to pull the plug on a project, a campaign or a client. If you have reached a fork in the road, it is often hard to assess whether you should press on and persevere or pull the plug to minimize your losses. If I had known back then, what I know now, I would have walked away from a lot of people and situations sooner instead of persevering and hoping that things would get better. Experience has taught me much greater precision and clarity in knowing when to strategically change direction.

Do you consider yourself an innovator? Why?
I am the most innovative when I work with my clients. I always advise my clients to think outside the box. How you define your brand persona should be precise, creative and memorable. You are not a celebrity. You are a professional with a job and a career or you are an entrepreneur with a business. Or maybe you are an up-and-coming actor, artist or singer—a creative talent—who wants fame. No matter what your occupation is, you must find a way to stand out from the crowd. I have a client who is a Rabbi and is uniquely positioned as a youth and culture expert. I have a client who is a plastic surgeon who is not just a plastic surgeon, but expert in the psychological aspects of cosmetic surgery. I have a beauty expert who knows everything there is to know about the conditioning and growth of naturally long eyelashes. And while you must find a way to distinguish yourself from all the other professionals who share your same occupation, there is also a time when you must think inside the box. There is a time to simply say I am a rabbi, a physician or a beauty expert. Don’t forget to think inside the box. But always remember when to shove that box aside and explode with an original or innovative idea that will get noticed!

About the Company
Founded by Patricia Vaccarino in 2003, Xanthus Communications LLC is a boutique PR firm with large firm capabilities that is based in Seattle and in New York City. Xanthus offers the full range of traditional public relations services as well as technologically sophisticated channels of communication. Xanthus Communications LLC specializes in doing PR for People and offers PR programs designed specifically for individuals. Our mission is to help you to build brand equity in your name by using the media to increase the number of your clients or business partners. For more information, please scan http://www.xanthuscom.com. In 2007, Xanthus launched a second website to house its individual clients who are all professionals in their respective fields.
Please see http://www.prforpeople.com.

Digital and Social Media Convergence 2009 Conference: Meet the Latin Disruptors of Media, Entertainment, Technology & Advertising Attracts Influen...

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE) -- The Latin Media and Entertainment Commission of the City of New York (LMEC) and LatinVision Media announced today the full lineup of participants in this year’s Wednesday, October 14, 2009, Digital and Social Media Convergence 2009 Conference. Janet Robinson, CEO of The New York Times, will do the opening remarks. A three-hour Business Networking Reception follows where industry, talent and investors will be able to connect in a more relaxed environment at the crossroads of the world.

The 2009 Convergence Conference is the premier event for Latin media, entertainment, technology and advertising CEOs and executives looking to grow their business and explore new opportunities with Latin audiences and to reach the mainstream, which spotlights the constant state of creation and evolution required of business leaders in today’s rapidly changing digital and social media landscape.

“This year’s Convergence Conference will bring together the best minds of the country’s Latin media, entertainment, technology and advertising sectors to the center of the world’s greatest stage – New York City,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “This collaboration between our City’s Latin Media and Entertainment Commission and LatinVision is another example of the great work our City is doing to solidify our position as the Latin media and entertainment capital of the world.”

Speakers are going to explore ideas and offer wisdom on the constant changes that are taking place within these industries. Among the varied topics are what creativity means in a digital world, whether the Web can support quality content, and how technology can change not only the way a company sends messages to consumers but also the way a company operates locally, regionally and internationally.

“Convergence 2009 captures the feverish pace of transformation happening in the media, entertainment, technology and advertising world today,” said Carlos Vassallo, CEO of LatinVision. “It is clearly a time of great change. A look at the top 50 US Websites shows that many are getting more traffic from abroad than from the US Spanish and is the third most used language in the world on the Internet with 130 million users after Chinese and English,” added Mr. Vassallo.

Speakers are a “who’s who” of CEOs, top marketers, senior executives, publishers, and industry gurus and experts. To view the speakers simply log onto

www.latinvision.com/conference/speakers.pdf

In addition to the lineup of keynotes, Convergence 2009 offers its attendees an unrivaled opportunity to learn from CEO’s and senior marketers who will share their experience from across a variety of emerging platforms including streaming, podcasting, radio, blogging, social networking, Internet, WiFi, audio, video and mobile casting and case studies of new ventures and how they got started through financing and networking events

For a full list of confirmed speakers and information on how to register, please visit www.latinvision.com/conference

Several sponsorship packages are still available. For more information on sponsorships, please contact Carlos Vassallo at 646-519-2452 or via email at: carlos@latinvision.com

About the Latin Media and Entertainment Commission (LMEC)
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg created the LMEC in 2003 with the mission to make New York the capital of Latin media and entertainment.

The Commission advises the Mayor on business development and retention strategies for the Latin media and entertainment industry, to retain, recruit, and expand Latin media and entertainment productions, businesses, and jobs in New York City and to attract and host high-profile Latin entertainment productions and events and to support and create New York based events

The Commission is made up of leaders from the Latin and mainstream media industry, community leaders from the nonprofit and cultural sectors, and leading executives from the financial, advertising, publishing, new media, and real estate sectors.

The heads of seven City agencies, under the direction of the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, serve on the commission as ex officio members.

About LatinVision Media
LatinVision Media Inc. is a New York based Company that operates business portals targeting US Hispanic and Latin American professionals, entrepreneurs, executives and business owners in a small and medium-sized companies.
See all our sites here: http://tinyurl.com/LatinVision and follow us on twitter at www.twitter.com/latinvision

Contacts:
Carlos Vassallo
CEOLatinVision Media Inc.
POB 376 Church St. Station
New York, NY 10008
www.latinvision.com/conference
carlos@latinvision.com
Tel: 646-519-2452
Fax: 469-533-4874

Carlos Manzano
Executive Director Latin Media and Entertainment Commission
New York City Economic Development Corporation
110 William Street • New York, NY 10038
www.nycedc.com
cmanzano@nycedc.com

Shawna Baca > www.4elementsent.com

Shawna Baca, Founder, 4 Elements Entertainment.

What do you need to be an entrepreneur?
I think you need a great concept and business plan, a clear vision and most of all be a risk-taker. At some point, even with doing all your homework, you need to just be able to trust in your plan and jump into the fire.

What did inspire you to start your business?
Actually, the business originally started in San Diego when me and a few friends started a local community theatre company and rented out space in downtown. A couple years later, I moved to Los Angeles and started making short films, spec commercials, etc. to build my portfolio and needed to form a production company. As my portfolio grew, so did interest in companies to hire me. I sort of grew into my business.

How did you finance it?
I personally financed it and kept overhead cost to a minimum. I already had a body of work and I needed a web-site. The advantage to my business is that I have a team of people that work with me, whom most own their own equipment.

Being Hispanic…Does it have any influence on your business?
Yes, the market of advertisers are starting to broaden their demographics globally and we are a team of professionals who range from 1st generation Latinos to 4th Generation Latinos. My grandmother is not going to be interested in the same things I am and visa versa. Understanding that first and foremost from living it helps give us an advantage of understanding how to market to a multi-cultural global community.

In the face of adversity, how do you decide to keep going?
I have a motto "where there's a will, there's a way." I think I thrive more when the odds are against me. It's like a challenge and being creative it's nice to overcome those challenges, that's how art happens. I always think if it was easy then everybody would be able to do it.

What is the biggest challenge your business has faced?
I think competing with larger companies who have been around for 20+ years. It's harder to compete with them. The only way I can keep up with them is to put a large body of quality work with them. For instance, we are smaller but we are nominated for two Imagen Awards this year for BEST ON-AIR ADVERSTISING PSA's and two of the other nominees are Fox and Telemundo. Just because we are smaller doesn't mean we have small ideas.

If you could change one thing about your business, what would it be?
I think I can find more creative ways to gain more exposure to my company. I think it's about marketing the business to more corporate clients.

What was your childhood ambition?
When my friends and I used to play as kids, I always wanted to play the owner of the store where they bought their babies diapers and food. I loved numbers. When I was five, I was privy to be on set with Nick Cassavettes, who rented out my uncle's house for a shoot. After that, I was hooked and knew I wanted to be a filmmaker.

Tell us about three entrepreneurs that you admire?
Maria de Lourdes Sobrino, CEO and Founder of LuLu's Desserts Corporation. I have read articles about her. She's from Mexico and had a dream to make and package Latin desserts. Her company is one of the most successful women owned Latin companies in the US. She built from the ground up when there wasn't even an Ethnic section in supermarkets. Anna Maria Arias, who founded Latina Style Magazine and set out to help young Latina entrepreneurs. Although, she is no longer with us, the magazine continues to thrive and has created the Anna Maria Arias Memorial Business Fund helping Latina Entrepreneurs. I really respect Laura Posada one of the co-founders of the Posada Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to reaching out to families in need whose children are affected by Craniosynostosis and provide them with emotional support through the Foundation’s family support network.

For business meetings: breakfast, lunch, or dinner?
Lunch for sure. Dinner is a little personal and more intimate. Breakfast is a little to quick for me. Taking time out of the middle of day is a perfect way to get to know your client.

What sacrifices on your personal life did you have to make in order to become a business success?
I don't have a personal life. When I get up in the morning, I'm on the go... and it's non-stop until the evening. But, when you do what you love, it's really not work.

What is your favorite quote?
"The place where you made your stand never mattered. Only that you were there... and still on your feet." - Stephen King

Is it difficult to be unconventional?
I think you have to be unconventional. Or at least that's how things operate in my world. I own a film production and new media company, and I'm constantly having to be creative in all aspects of my business with the exception of Accounting of course.

Biggest mistake made?
Not starting my business sooner. I really think I should have started five years earlier.

Do you consider yourself an innovator? Why?
I don't know if I see myself really as an innovator. I am a woman with my own vision. I don't really think about breaking codes, I just think about fulfilling a need.

About the Company:
4 Elements Entertainment was founded in 2005, and specializes in Film and New Media projects that target the nation's growing multicultural audience. We work closely with 4 Elements Production's clients to develop American ethnic, urban and diverse media content. Our approach has a vantage, we are a multicultural team that identifies with the "New American" and cross-generational diverse population. 4 Elements Entertainment is a full service production company and advertising agency offering a one-stop boutique experience.

In March of 2008 Shawna Baca was honored by La Opinion newspaper and the City of Los Angeles with a "Mujeres Destacada" award for her contribution to the community in the Arts and Culture sector and she was given the New Media Director Award by the Professional Latinos In Entertainment which was sponsored by Anheuser Busch. On Sept. 5th, 2008 she was honored at the Latina Symposium in Washington D.C. with an award and recognition for being a Latina Entrepreneur.

Sara Echezarreta > www.saraechezarreta.com

Sara Echezarreta, Owner, Sara Echezarreta.

What do you need to be an entrepreneur?
A strong will of achieving your own project. And dare to.

What did inspire you to start your business?
Since I graduated as a Graphic Designer, I worked for big structures, where I learned to work in a corporate way. Then, I was always wanting to work for the projects in more a global way.
So, after working for companies for many years, also working as a teacher and making all the Masters I found on my way (Management, marketing, Aesthetic & Typography), six years ago I felt ready to start my own business, sure of giving an optimum service, from my point of view, to the target I was interested in.
I had the best providers for everything, and I felt confident about that. (Best recourses with minimum structure)
I focused on small companies because they need integral service and they represent like 70% of the Argentinean economy.

How did you finance it?
I was really lucky with the bosses I had at my company, who got involved in my personal growth. They helped me to buy equipment and let me work from my own office, and that way, I started my independent professional career. At the same time, I committed to continue working for them, but from my own place. And so we did. They are still my most important client. Luck is also important, and that was a big help.

Being Hispanic…Does it have any influence on your business?
I think that making my professional career in Argentina gave me the training to be able to adapt to the permanent changes of the rules. Besides, creative professionals from Argentina have a good reputation internationally.

In the face of adversity, how do you decide to keep going?
I was formed in adversity. I have known only a few really prosperous scenarios. I grew up giving short steps, not waiting for immediate results. Observing a lot and trusting in my intuition.

What is the biggest challenge your business has faced?
Sustain.

If you could change one thing about your business, what would it be?
I don’t know. Probably, to have less meetings and more time for inspiration.

What was your childhood ambition?
I wanted to make an aesthetic experience out of life. I didn’t really know how, but I knew there was something important in it.

Tell us about three entrepreneurs that you admire?
Steve Jobs. Talented, visionary. He created a lot of products that I deeply enjoy, and make nicer my everyday.

Fernando Sulichin: Film Producer. He moved to Los Angeles by himself at the age of 20, against other people's will. He had to live in a Buddhist Temple for house and food, and studied at UCLA. He is a person who always needed to have a lot of fun, and made a profession out of it. Today he produces films of Spike Lee, Oliver Stone, David Lynch, among others.

Maru Botana: I know her since we were kids. She was always cooking while I didn’t understand why. Now I understand it perfectly well. She is an example of sustainable growth.

For business meetings: breakfast, lunch, or dinner?
Lunch. Is the only meal I don’t mind if is invaded with work.

What sacrifices on your personal life did you have to make in order to become a business success?
I had to miss a lot of everyday moments with my kids.

What is your favorite quote?
The wise man in the storm prays to God, not for safety from danger, but deliverance from fear. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Is it difficult to be unconventional?
It is difficult to be different to what you are.

Biggest mistake made?
I didn’t calculate right the complexity of a work and it turned out extremely expensive to me.

Do you consider yourself an innovator? Why?
I consider myself honest, which is helpful for creating (but not always politically correct)

About the Company:
Sara Echezarreta.
Design and Corporate Image, Web Design.
Small and medium size companies.
Participates on design or redesign of the business along with the clients.
Satisfaction guaranteed.
http://www.saraechezarreta.com/

Claudio Destéfano > www.dbiz.com.ar

Claudio Destéfano, Owner, d:biz.

What do you need to be an entrepreneur?
The first step is to love the project. Then, the second key point is to select a team to work with you, that makes you feel comfortable with the venture, and helps you achieve it.

What did inspire you to start your business?
Every venture is born from an emotional situation. In September 2003, when I decided to make my own company, I was the head of the "Business" section of Infobae, a newspaper of Buenos Aires. My wife, Maria de los Reyes, called me to the office at eight o´clock to tell me that my daughter Bianca (by that time she was three months old, today she is 6 years) smiled for the first time. That night I reached my house at midnight, and after having dinner I woke the baby up so she would smile to me. It was one o'clock on the morning, and it didn´t made sense to me that, in my 40 years, I could not enjoy the smile of my daughter. The next day I told the newspaper´s director that I would be no longer working for the company, that I wasn´t in a rush, that it was an strategic decision. I worked two more months for the newspaper (from September to November 2003) and on January 15, 2004 the DestéfanoBIZ was born, the daily interactive business newsletter that is now called d:biz. I began with a community of 2,000 subscribers and one sponsor (Prosegur Activa), and now, five years later, it has 20,000 bizers (subscribers), one hundred sponsors, and twenty on the waiting list.

How did you finance it?
The initial investment was negligible because the project started with a system created by my webmaster (Powersite SA), who started the making of newsletters with us (today he is the market leader, with more than 100 newsletters in operation), a journalist and the commercial manager of my radio show. That´s why I took the structure that I already had in the journalist and sales areas, and the technology did not involve any cost at all.

Being Hispanic…Does it have any influence on your business?
It´s a typical argentine journalist product, with a relaxed style and words created by the community itself, as georgies (U.S. dollars), ar-manis (argentine pesos), and terms that are spelled as pronounced in their original language (instead euro we say iurous, Gugul instead of Google, or güikend, replacing weekend, to give just a few examples). Perhaps this kind of product wouldn´t work in a more formal society, but I proved that it does for Argentina.

In the face of adversity, how do you decide to keep going?
I always look at the half full part of the glass. Always, and it works for me. It´s not very orthodox definition of my business, but found no one better to define it. In Bizers we define ourselves as "seekers of laps." We seek a lap to a necessity. In Argentina we use that expression to define who is always looking for a way to solve a problem. By keeping the compass always facing to the solution, there´s no way that we can see a problematic situation as a hardship, but as an opportunity.

What is the biggest challenge your business has faced?
Without doubt, to make the company go up the hill. Enterprises such as this, so custom made as me make it from the first moment, has the weakness to tends to be a "one man show." The interesting key about "Bizers proyect" is that most people perceives that I am the one doing everything. The secret was to bring up a team where everyone wears the company´s t-shirt, and in many cases (at the time to answer and act) they are more Destéfano than me.

If you could change one thing about your business, what would it be?
In my lectures I always use the same answer. Companies generally have unproductive areas, and people entrenched in position where the managers can not eliminate them because it´s economic or relationship cost. I always say, and I maintain year after year, that if that if somebody blows up my company, I would call back each of the 30 members of Bizers to rebuilt ir. This means that each team member is part of my ideal team group.

What was your childhood ambition?
To become the number one business journalist of Argentina. This isn´t a zero sum game, and the decision is more subjective than rational, I won´t ever know if I reached my goal. But that, far away from being a problem is the main challenge. It makes it impossible for me to fall asleep on the laurels, because the horizon is is always remote, and it offers me new challenges to approach every day. I won´t give my competitors the chance to see me resting. I´m sorry pals.

Tell us about three entrepreneurs that you admire
Sir Robert Baden Powell, founder of Scouts, because he was a true visionary that transformed war tactics into life lessons that still remain the same. Steve Jobs, an advanced man. Richard Branson, the biggest of all.

For business meetings: breakfast, lunch, or dinner?
Dinners, because the guest are relaxed assuming that they will have very little business talk, turn off their cell phones, and even give themselves permission to drink a some wine. There´s where the greatest opportunities are available.

What sacrifices on your personal life did you have to make in order to become a business success?
My strategy is, at this moment, to make a fully interactive media. This implies a risk: return every e-mail that arrives. I did it from day one, and I keep it up to today. This implies that, at the present time, I have to answer about 600 e-mails per day (or "emilio," as we call it in d:biz). That´s an average of 100 per hour, so it implies the sacrifice to spend so much time at the computer, which can deprives me of enjoying more time with my wife and four children.

What is your favorite quote?
I have three favorite phrases. One is "if you can imagine it, you can achieve it," and as a marathon runner as I am, I made it part of myself when I ran the Marathon des Sables in 2002 (230 kilometers in seven days in the Moroccan Sahara). The second one, from Michael Dell, says "in the business world there are two types of people: the quick and the dead.". And the third is by Walt Disney, and I use it every time I look back and see how my business grew. Walt, in executives meetings of Directors, used to say: "remember that everything started with a mouse."

Is it difficult to be unconventional?
Not at all. It's fascinating, because people always expects something different, new, innovative. That is the fuel that is needed to create permanently, to feel young as the years pass.

Biggest mistake made?
Neglecting a radio project that I started with some friends, which made me lose a lot of money, which I'm still paying today. I always say that one is wrong at least once in his life. The thing is to try not to loose so much. I couldn´t do it. It was very expensive. But I learned not to neglect the details, which become the kings in each enterprise I start.

Do you consider yourself an innovator? Why?
Absolutely, because I always go against the flow. I stopped working at a bank in good times to make me strong in financial journalism, I stopped being a lion's tail in the most important newspaper of Argentina (Clarin), I refused to be the mouse´s head in the pioneer business magazine in my country (Apertura), and left the safety of an executive job to make my own business at my forties, following what my heart that told me: "you have to enjoy your daughter's smile. There will be no second chance". Risky, yes, but I came out.

About the Company:
Bizers Productions is a content´s producer with five business units:

a) d: biz (www.dbiz.com.ar), an interactive business newsletter that reaches 20,000 executives for free, and the world's first interactive diary certified ISO 9001/2000.

b) Bizers Media: includes all journalistic activities that make "no d: biz. Example: A radio program, Radiografía, that for more than 12 years invites a company president every week (1530 were interviewed), television micros at TyC Sports (Argentina´s main sports signal) and SubTV (the channel of Metro Buenos Aires) and chronics in newspapers and magazines (El Cronista y El Gráfico).

c) Bizers Content: that produces content and communities for others. At present, this division generates 10 products for different businesses.

d) Corporate Bizers: business unit that makes relations events for companies.

e) Bizers Sport develops brands images for sports institutions. It now works exclusively with two football clubs: Tiro Federal de Rosario (www.tirofederal.net) and Sarmiento de Junín (www.sarmientodejunin.com.ar).

The company employs 30 people, and in 2008 had a turnover close to one million dollars, or georgies, as we call on our planet, the planet d:biz.

William Lopez > www.GregorioTies.com

William Lopez, Founder and CEO, Gregorio.

What do you need to be an entrepreneur?
To be an entrepreneur you need to have a vision and the fortitude to make your dream a reality. It’s like seeing through the eyes of a child: Anything is possible, No limits and Thinking outside the box.

What did inspire you to start your business?
What inspired me to start Gregorio was my realization that what I wore as a professional did not express who I was from a cultural standpoint. I see many Latinos succeeding in the United States and I wanted to celebrate it and express it via fashion.

How did you finance it?
Like many entrepreneurs, I saved and received help from a variety of business folks with various disciplines.

Being Hispanic…Does it have any influence on your business?
It has everything to do with my business. All of our designs are rooted in Latino culture telling a story that transcend boundaries and appeal to anyone who likes to be on the cutting edge of fashion.

In the face of adversity, how do you decide to keep going?
I think it’s more of how you think. I work a lot on positive thinking and stay away from cynical thinking. I focus on five key behaviors: awareness, acceptance, letting go, taking risks and generating.

What is the biggest challenge your business has faced?
Our current economy is challenging everyone. We are analyzing several bright spots in the apparel industry and are developing new line extensions.

If you could change one thing about your business, what would it be?
Gregorio is a young company and in the field of play there are moving parts which we are modifying continuously. In a few years I should be able to narrow down my response.

What was your childhood ambition?
As a child I wanted to be a Formula One racecar driver. However, I also had a vision that I would be president of a large corporation.

Tell us about three entrepreneurs that you admire?
The entrepreneurs I admire are Thomas Edison for his tenacity, Bill Gates/Paul Allen for their vision and Jesús Chavarría for giving Latinos a platform of inspiration.

For business meetings: breakfast, lunch, or dinner?
I like lunch for business meetings.

What sacrifices on your personal life did you have to make in order to become a business success?
It’s a balancing act with the family activities. As an entrepreneur you are “on” 24/7, therefore, I think my relationship with my wife suffers the most, however, we both understand that we are a team and we take on life one day at a time.

What is your favorite quote?
My favorite quote is from Thomas Edison, “I haven’t failed; I’ve just succeeded in finding 999 ways how not to do it.”

Is it difficult to be unconventional?
Yes, but think of our world without computers, ipods, Amazon, cell phones etc.

Biggest mistake made?
I have made many but overall I think it boils down to seeing an opportunity and not capitalizing on that opportunity.

Do you consider yourself an innovator? Why?
Yes, I consider myself an innovator. Successful businesses understand that growth is achieved when innovation is constant. A business will not stay alive if they continue to conduct business as usual.

About the Company
Gregorio is a new apparel company rooted in Latino culture, celebrating the vibrant spirit of Latino life with a unique elegant line of men's neckwear. These stunning handmade one-of-a-kind 100% premium silk ties, known in Spanish as Corbatas, feature designs that carry over the exquisite colors and images of the Latino culture more often observed through art, architectural styles and pottery.

Our goal is to dress today's fashion conscious person for their day at the office or for the social professional occasion with an accessory which allows him or her to feel the pride and exhibit the beauty of the Latino culture.

www.gregorioties.com