Hispanic Executive Entrepreneur Awards by Crains, New York City, Oct 13

Register here:

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/events-calendar/details/4/3459207

Phoenix Is Rapidly Becoming a Top Ecosystem for Hispanic Entrepreneurs

According to the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce 2015 DATOS report there are more than three million Hispanic-owned firms in the U.S. with an aggregate revenue of $517.4 billion and Hispanic female firms are growing at a rate of 88 percent.

In Arizona, the number of Hispanic-owned businesses grew 70 percent from 2007 to 2012 with the majority of businesses being female-owned, according to the report.

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Sandra Diaz > www.diazandco.com

Sandra Diaz, Owner, Diaz & Co.

What do you need to be an entrepreneur?
Perseverance, curiosity, adaptability and ability to motivate others.

What inspired you to start your business?
People kept contacting me to advise them on developing a roadmap to market their products and services to U.S. Hispanics.

How did you finance it?
So far, from organic growth.

Does being Hispanic/Latina have any influence on your business?
It allows me to bring a personal point of view to client challenges in addition to the professional knowledge, which builds credibility.

In the face of adversity, how do you decide to drive ahead?
Prayer, engaging coaches and sharing with trusted peers to uncover new ways to tackle the issues.

What is the biggest challenge your business has faced?
Time management, especially trying to decide between good and best opportunities.

If you could change one thing about your business. What would it be?
I would like to have a partner.

What was your childhood ambition?
In grade school, to be an Astronomer. In high school, to be a Fashion Designer. My parents were scientists and my mom also owned several fashion and textile businesses.

Tell us about three entrepreneurs that you admire.
My mom, for her perseverance and leadership.
The late Tere Zubizarreta, for pioneering the Hispanic/ multicultural marketing industry as a woman in the 70s.
Carlos Santiago from Santiago Solutions Group, for his analytical approach to driving growth from cultural and generational segments.

For business meetings, which do you prefer: breakfast, lunch, or dinner?
Whatever works best with my commute schedule so that I do not have down time in between meetings.

What sacrifices in your personal life did you have to make in order to become successful in your business?
Moving from an apartment in Manhattan to a room in somebody else’s house in Brooklyn for four years to save on rent.

What is your favorite quote?
“I have had a lot of very expensive learning experiences, but I’ve never let them stop me from getting up in the morning and trying again.” Larry Levy, Co-Founder, Levy Restaurants; Chairman and CEO, The Levy Organization.

Is it difficult to be unconventional?
Not usually, but sometimes it feels lonely

Biggest mistake made?
Letting the tight timeline of a potential client dictate my way of communicating or doing business. And not giving people feedback before I decide to stop working with them.

Do you consider yourself an innovator? Why?
Yes because I like to find ways to challenge the status-quo and am always learning new things.

About Diaz & Co. 
Diaz & Co. is a boutique strategy consulting firm that equips brands and retailers to grow business and reduce inefficiencies by catering to U.S. Hispanics while meeting the needs of mainstream shoppers at the same time. Our strategic solutions and training enable companies to maximize the Hispanic appeal of their mainstream initiatives while identifying if and how they should pursue Hispanic-specific strategies to address any offering, messaging and/or media gaps.

Latino Entrepreneurs To Students: Ask Questions, Be Ready For Anything

HARTFORD — Leticia Colon de Mejias gave a swift rundown of her life in the Bulkeley High School auditorium Thursday.

"I'm a mother of six children, I own four companies, last year I made over a million dollars and I'm under 40 years old," said Colon, who founded Energy Efficiencies Solutions, a Windsor energy conservation firm, four years ago with a $25,000 loan.

The longer version? It involved seeing every job as an opportunity, researching ideas and being ready for anything, she told students. "None of the doors will open until you start asking the questions," she said.

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The Best And Worst Cities For Hispanic Entrepreneurs

Hispanics and Latinos now make up the largest ethnic minority in the U.S. By 2050 they will constitute a third of the country’s population, according to census figures and their impact in business continues to grow. Latinos today account for more than 70,000 of the country’s CEOs and the number of Hispanic entrepreneurs has tripled over the past twenty years – surging from around 557,000 in 1992 to over two million in 2012, according to a report by the Partnership for a New American Economy.

Together, they brought in an estimated $486 billion in revenue, says the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

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Eddie Rodriguez >www.latinworksmusic.com

Eddie Rodriguez, CEO, Latin Works Music

What do you need to be an entrepreneur?
Faith in God, passion, stick to it, preparation, a plan, contacts, opportunity and patience.

What inspired you to start your business?
I was working full time as VP Sales for Reed MIDEM involved in a new event called MIDEM Latin America & Caribbean. It is a Latin Music Industry Trade Show & Conference held at the Miami Beach Convention Center 1997, 1998 and the last event MIDEM Americas in 1999.  Since my position was eliminated due to budget cuts plus MIDEM decided to organize only one music industry trade show per year in Cannes, France at Le Palais du Festival as they have for the last 50 years I was on my way to being out of a job. A mentor, the late Jack Hooke (Tito’s manager with the late Ralph Mercado) passed away and I called Tito to express my condolences. He thanked me and asked if I was available to work for him. My answer was when did he want me to start and he said right away. I spoke to Ralph Mercado and Latin Work Music was contracted to manage the King of Latin Music The late Tito Puente.

Does being Hispanic/Latino have any influence on your business?
Yes, since being a bi-lingual Latino working as an entertainment marketing professional, I understand the diversity of the US Hispanic consumer being Hispanic has been key to my success with projects.

In the face of adversity, how do you decide to drive ahead?
Faith in God and keeping the momentum going on a project until it is completed or you come to the end of the road with it. Then I look to my right and start a new road on a project that inspires me.

What is the biggest challenge your business has faced?
Staying relevant with the fast paced evolution of the music industry globally in the last 15 years especially in the distribution of digital content, live concert streaming rights, downsizing of multinational recording companies and the continued growth of the smart phone / tablets / smart TV sectors.
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If you could change one thing about your business. What would it be?
I would have more trade shows and conferences in New York, Miami and Los Angeles where the next generation of Latin music industry leaders can rendezvous annually to learn about the present and future state of affairs of the business.

What was your childhood ambition?
To be a doctor until I learned that studying chemistry and biology were too boring for me.

Tell us about three entrepreneurs that you admire.
Sir Richard Branson, Mark Zuckerberg, Jimmy Iovine.

For business meetings, which do you prefer: breakfast, lunch, or dinner?
All three work well for business meetings for me.  However, I must be disciplined about nutrition and diet.

What sacrifices in your personal life did you have to make in order to become successful in your business?
Traveling alone up to 70% of the year for out of town business meetings, concert tours, trade shows, conferences and conventions. You miss special occasions with family and friends.

What is your favorite quote?
Let The Games begin.

Is it difficult to be unconventional?
Yes. It is difficult to find investors that have faith in the future of the music Industry. What generates revenues today is digital audio / video streaming (paid subscriptions) concert tours and music publishing. Being unconventional means thinking out of the box to be successful.

Biggest mistake made?
Wow, the biggest mistake was taking a break from the concert promotions business to focus on educating myself in the digital and technology side of the music Industry for the last 5 years. However I’m back with new ways to monetize content to generate revenues for investors and return on investment to our clients via traditional and new media outlets.

Do you consider yourself an innovator? Why?
I was involved in a anti-piracy software and digital download technology companies early on and have promoted recorded digital music and video distribution via mobile since before the iPod and smart phones.

About the Company
Latin Works Music is a 100% minority owned Latin music concert organizer, marketing and promotions company. We produce events in venues such as Madison Square Garden NY, The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles and nightclubs throughout the USA. We are experts in activations of experiential consumer engagement and experts in gathering data at live events to increase data base for brands messaging to the $1.2 Trillion dollar in annual spending (2013) US Hispanic consumer (population 56 M). 

Study: Albuquerque 31st for Hispanic entrepreneurs

A new report released by financial information site WalletHub ranked Albuquerque at no. 31 in the U.S. for Hispanic entrepreneurs. Rankings were based on each city’s Hispanic purchasing power (we’re number 26) and business friendliness (a less-exciting 71). 

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Springs Resident Honored As Stony Brook Hispanic Entrepreneur of the Year

A small-town boy from Palmas, Ecuador, Luis Heras felt he could accomplish big things, but staying in Ecuador, and pursuing electrical engineering as he had planned, didn’t appeal to him as much as making it on his own abroad. So he moved to the United States in hopes of something more.

Now, 20 years later, he owns his own fuel company, Heras Fuel Oil Corporation in East Hampton—and was just named Hispanic Entrepreneur of the Year by Stony Brook University’s Small Business Development Center

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40 Top Latinos in American Media

This has been a really great year for Latino talent in American media. But before we get into the details of a year in Latino media excellence, I want to first share how this list comes together every year.

Methodology 
Like most media events in digital times this list of top latino talent begins on Twitter. Friends, fans, family, and especially colleagues of excellent Latinos in media recommend them to @vato, me. I add all of the recommended Twitter handles to a private Twitter List that I build and monitor throughout the year in Tweetdeck.  I have created a Collection in Tweetdeck for storing specific top Latino tweets for embedding  throughout next year's list, just as I have Alberto Ciurana's mighty tweet below.

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