Albania Rosario > www.uptownfashionweek.com

Albania Rosario, Founder and CEO of Uptown Fashion Week and Creative Director to Fashion Designers of Latin America (FDLA) Interviewed by Laura Rosado

What do you need to be an entrepreneur?  
A decision to take your own path and make a difference.

What inspired you to start your business? 
I noticed the lack of Emergent Latinos in the NY Fashion Week and the Industry as a whole.

How did you finance it?
I was willing to put in every dollar I owned in to make it happen and I learned how to raise financing in different ways.

Does being Hispanic/Latina have any influence on your business? 
Yes and No. The diversity is mostly a challenge, being a young Latina in this country comes with its own obstacles that I had to overcome, For example, English not being my first language was and still is very challenging. No, because the nuts and bolts of running a business disregard your background.

In the face of adversity, how do you decide to drive ahead?  
All I look for is creativity. The designers I work with know that NY is the Fashion Capital of the world, we must bring creativity and unique styles and always keeping our roots involved.

What is the biggest challenge your business has faced? 
The lack of others not being able to see my vision. 

If you could change one thing about your business. What would it be?
I wouldn't change anything, building my own path as I go and see how much we have grown feels very exciting. 

What was your childhood ambition?
To be able to leave a legacy for my family and our future generations.

Tell us about three entrepreneurs that you admire.
Tony Robbins
Oprah Winfrey 
Fern Mallins 

For business meetings, which do you prefer: breakfast, lunch, or dinner?
Breakfast, early In the morning when you are fresh and full of energy.

What sacrifices in your personal life did you have to make in order to become successful in your business?
Time for family and personal life. In general, I sacrifice now so I can have freedom later. 

In addition, I'm married to my career. There is no 9-5 when you are becoming an entrepreneur, you just go and keep going until you get it. 

What is your favorite quote?
"Do not and the take criticism from someone who has not constructed anything."

The biggest mistake made?
Everything Happens for a reason.

Do you consider yourself an innovator? Why?
Totally.
I broke into an industry that's has been well-established way before me, and brought in a fresh perspective. 

Description of the company
FDLA  — What has become the signature multicultural fashion event of New York City, FDLA founded its development on providing exposure for established, emerging and upcoming clothing designers from around the world in an effort to extend meaningful fashion trade. Accomplishing this has been an undertaking in nurturing opportunities for the publicity of international talents whose creative abilities are overflowing but financial resources are not.

FDLA prides itself on continuing its work throughout the year to build bridges engaging community inclusion by leading events, social activities and diversity initiatives. 

FDLA THE SHOWS
With the top-notch guest list and international media coverage, FDLA reaches a multitude of consumers and continues to grow each year.
Last season’s show in September was a major success, providing to the fashion community that FDLA must be considered a player in the New York City world of fashion and around the world.

FDLA is fast becoming the place to be for socialites, celebrities and those seeking to discover the next big name. 

With a number of designers bringing new thoughts and ideas from around the world, FDLA has now established itself as a crucial stop on the fashion circuit around the world bringing Latin Designers to international platforms around the world such as South Korea, Switzerland, Dubai, and counting...

Chennai Pharma Entrepreneur Braved Odds To Sell Meds In Latin America

When C.C. Paarthipan, a first-gen pharma entrepreneur, listed his tiny Chennai company, Caplin Point Labs–with revenues of less than $1 million–it was oversubscribed 117 times.

He raised about $900,000 in the 1994 IPO and deployed it in a formulations plant in Pondicherry. But in just a few years the company got mired in quality-control issues; consignments were rejected, and it became a penny stock

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5 tips for launching your startup in Latin America

My business partner and I looked at each other quizzically as we listened to the pitch from LinkedIn’s Dublin-based Latin America sales-rep. The sales-rep was clearly from the region, but her go-to-market strategy seemed prepped, cooked and served in sauces with a distinct North American flavor.

We asked, “Can we try the platform before we buy?”, to which we were told, “no.” “Can we negotiate a discounted rate to account for the assorted taxes that increase our costs?”, “No”. 

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A Peruvian entrepreneur has translated the popular Birchbox concept, a New York-based beauty subscription service, to the Peruvian market.

Inspired by the original e-commerce platform, which encourages beauty buffs to try new products and review them online, Pinallos Delgado launched DeluxeBox.pe.

Peruvian women can try new products via a ‘discovery’ subscription as well as purchase beauty products and join an online community to share reviews.

“We wanted to come up with an idea that could work in Peru and the region, that was scalable and that could fit with our personal interests,” Delgado told the Financial Times.

DeluxeBox has now been trading for two-and-a-half years and boasts 10,000 customers and relationships with 90 beauty and personal care brands. The company, which was financed through savings and investment from Peru’s Wayra accelerator program, broke even for the first time last year.

Delgado is now considering expansion within South America and branching out into products for men as well as developing business intelligence for beauty companies based on the information collected from customers. “We have presented our start-up to investors in Colombia and Peru, and are evaluating and negotiating our second investment round,” she noted.

The next Silicon Valley is Latin America, says Gartner

Latin America is bound to make the most noise in innovation and digital business, according to IT research company Gartner.

"We are living the Latin America moment," said VP of research Patrick Meehan during the Gartner CIO & IT Executive Latin America Summit in Mexico City. He added that "no other region in the world" offers the same capacity to become the next IT world hub.

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Guilbert Englebienne, Globant Founder

Guibert Englebienne tiene 48 años y nació en Mar del Plata.
Es ingeniero en sistemas.
@guibert y se define como: Outdoor sport lover, rockstar wannabe. Globant igniter, Endeavor evangelist.
En 2002 fundó Globant junto a sus amigos Martín Umaran, Martín Migoya, Néstor Nocetti.
En 2014 Globant comenzó a cotizar en el NYSE (GLOB). Tiene un market cap de US$ 750 millones y un precio de acción que ronda los US$ 22

Luis Escobar > Editor in Chief of LatinVision Media

Luis Escobar, Managing Editor at LatinVision Media Inc. See here: www.latinvision.com/magazine

Being Hispanic…Does it have any influence on your business?

Yes, absolutely. It helps to assimilate the best of both cultures and be more receptive to other cultures as well.

In the face of adversity, how do you decide to keep going?

I just try to learn as much as I can from that experience, forget it and move on.

What is the biggest challenge you have faced?

It hasn't come yet.

If you could change one thing about your life, what would it be?

I should have paid more attention to my physics teacher in high school.

What was your childhood ambition?

I did not really have any. I was having too much fun that there was not time for being ambitious.

Tell us about three people that you admire.

Saint John Perse, Adam Smith,  Nelson Mandela.

For meetings: breakfast, lunch, or dinner?

Breakfast. Then I feel free.

What is your favorite quote?

"Pluralitas non est ponenda sine neccesitate"

Is it difficult to be unconventional?

Being conventional is difficult.

Biggest mistake made?

The next one.

Do you consider yourself an innovator? Why?

More than and innovator, I’m a curious guy.

About Luis Escobar

Luis Escobar got his masters in Philosophy in La Habana, Cuba and taught at several institutes of higher education. After relocating to the United States, Luis Escobar worked as a translator and business analyst for Moody’s Investors Services. Luis then started his journalism career working for a short time at el diario/La Prensa then moved quickly to The Associated Press as a journalist and copy editor. Gaining 10 years plus experience moved to The Wall Street Journal Interactivo and Dow Jones Newswires. While at WSJ and Dow Jones he continued to study behavioral finance, behavioral economics and international markets at New York University.  He also worked doing research and consulting for Fortune 500 companies.

Follow Luis on www.magazine.latinvision.com

Carolina Garcia-Aguilera - Independent Writing and Editing Professional

Carolina Garcia-Aguilera, Independent Writing and Editing Professional

What do you need to be an entrepreneur?
I don’t think that an individual needs to posses one specific, single characteristic to be a successful entrepreneur. Rather, it is a combination of characteristics that are necessary: unwavering belief in oneself and in the business one wants to create; awareness that it will be a long, difficult road; having the cash resources to weather periods of not having income coming in; self-discipline; strong support group (personally and professional); having a thick skin (not being deflated by being rejected); having flexibility; being open to suggestions, but not being swayed by them; ability to function on little sleep. 

What did inspire you to start your business?
I had always known I wanted to be a writer, and the genre that interested me the most was the mystery field, specifically the one that featured a female private investigator as its protagonist. In order to write credible, believable books, I was convinced that I had to actually work as a private investigator, so I interned at an investigative agency here in Miami to acquire the necessary knowledge. I stayed at that firm for two years, and, then applied for, and was granted, a private investigator’s license (C-8800297). After acquiring my license, with a partner, a former Federal agent, I set up a private investigative agency where we handled all sorts of cases, both criminal and civil. I worked for ten years as a private investigator before writing my first novel, Bloody Waters, which was published by G.P.Putnam’s Sons in 1996. The experience I had acquired during that time proved to be invaluable for writing the novels.

How did you finance it?
My partner and I used some of the money we had saved from working at the agency to pay for the minimal start up costs (corporation fees; liability insurance; stationery; telephones; etc.). Additionally, we made a deal with two attorneys and a former judge who shared office space in a building they owned that we would work three cases a month for only costs and in return we could have use of two empty offices; have the services of the receptionist; share a conference room; use the copy machine, etc. It was a beneficial arrangement for all concerned.

Being Hispanic….Does it have any influence on your business?
Yes, being Hispanic is definitely an asset in my business. I live and work in Miami, a city that is overwhelmingly Hispanic, so the fact that I am Cuban and fluent in Spanish is extremely helpful. I understand my clients’ background and culture so I can relate to their specific situations.

In the face of adversity, how do you decide to keep going?
Fortunately, I have not faced too much adversity- I consider myself to be extremely fortunate in that respect. However, the times when I’ve faced adversity, I’ve always told myself that I’ve worked too hard to get to where I am in life to let a setback stop me. I visualize how I will feel after I’ve resolved the problem, and that is usually enough to help me overcome whatever it is. I transform the situation into an “objective” one from a “subjective” one. In other words, it’s not personal. It is what it is and I just have to deal with it in that way. No feeling sorry for myself, ever, no matter how unfair it might be.

What is the biggest challenge your business has faced?
There is not one “biggest challenge” that I have faced- there are several ones, not surprising, given the field in which I work. Most of my business as a private investigator is as a result of referrals from attorneys. As a private investigator, I usually work alone. After discussing the case with whoever hired me, I study the particular situation and figure out the best way to work the case. The attorneys I work with- especially on criminal cases- rely on my expertise and work product when deciding how best to proceed when crafting a defense. Although I’m very thorough when conducting an investigation, a huge challenge is if I’ve missed something and the final report that I present to the attorney is incomplete. When first starting out, a majority of my cases were domestic- infidelity, bigamy, how genuine so-called “green card marriages” were- but as time passed, I could become more selective. I started working as a private investigator in Miami in the 1980’s, when the city was considered to be the cocaine capital of the world. At times it seemed as if every case I worked had a drug angle to it. Given that, I had to be very, very careful when choosing my clients.

If you could change on thing about your business, what would it be?
I would like to change the perception that private investigators are all sleazy, alcoholic individuals who lurk around wearing trench coats and videotaping spouses screwing around. The public at large believes that we only work cases involving infidelity. Domestic cases are only a small part of our business, a fact that is especially true in Florida, a “no-fault” divorce state, meaning that infidelity has no bearing on any financial settlement between spouses.  Private investigators work cases that deal with all sorts of situations- financial, insurance fraud, money laundering, wire transfer fraud, tax evasion, background checks; etc.- but it seems that we cannot get rid of the “sleazy” label.      

What was your childhood ambition?
I always wanted to be an archeologist. In college, I was a history/political science major, so as a requirement for graduation, I had to take many history courses, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I suppose that working as a private investigator fulfills my need to conduct investigations and look for clues as to what has taken place, a skill that archeologists must possess to discover secrets, albeit ones that took place centuries before.

Tell us about three entrepreneurs that you admire.
Jeff Bezos
Martha Stewart
Charles Schwab

For business meetings: breakfast, lunch, or dinner?
Definitely lunch. I am not a morning person, so meeting at breakfast is not an option. I’m Cuban, so I have to have consumed a serious amount of coffee before I become what could be considered operational. Lunch is perfect. Whatever business needs to be discussed can usually be concluded in an hour. Dinner is not good for me, as I like to drink red wine with my meal, and I don’t want my faculties affected by liquor. It’s not that I get sloshed, it’s that I like to be totally clear headed when discussing business- it’s just too important. Also, at dinner, the temptation is to linger at the table after a meal, and I’m not one to do that when discussing dinner. I do that with family and friends.

What sacrifices on your personal life did you have to make in order to become a  business success?
I am the mother of three daughters. When I started working as a private investigator they were three, eight and ten years old. Although I tried not to let work affect my time with them, there is no question that I was forced to make sacrifices if I was to be successful. I could not tell a client that I could not attend a meeting because I had to drive a ballet carpool. After some hits and misses, I learned how to manage my time so that the impact on my family for me to be able to successfully work my cases was minimal. On the other hand, my daughters were able to learn from my juggling my personal and professional life how hard choices are made. I hope I’ve been a good role model for them. Thankfully, they’ve turned out well. My eldest daughter, Sarah, the lawyer, is also a mother to her baby Violet- proving that, with careful planning, it is possible to have both a personal and professional life- although not easy by any means.  

What is your favorite quote?
“The harder I work the luckier I get.”

Is it difficult to be unconventional?
No, not at all. For me, it’s way easier being unconventional than conventional. I became a private investigator in the mid 1980’s in Miami, at a time when only 20% of the investigators in Florida were women, and, of that number, only a very few were Hispanic.  I’ve never really considered my career choice to be unconventional- additionally, much to my mother’s chagrin, I’ve never much cared what anyone thought of me. I never set out to be a private investigator and run such an agency; for me, working in that field was a means to an end. I knew I wanted to write a series of books featuring a Cuban-American female private investigator protagonist who lived and worked in Miami, and becoming one was the best way to achieve that goal. It also gave me “street cred”.

Biggest mistake?
Too many to mention- but, thankfully, nothing that could not be corrected, or used as a painful learning experience- until I got smart. Examples: getting stiffed on fees; trusting the wrong people; doubting the good ones.

Do you consider yourself an innovator? Why?
No, I definitely do not consider myself an innovator. I had a goal, and I limited myself to working towards it.

Your company.
Cuban-born, Miami Beach based Carolina Garcia-Aguilera is the author of ten books as well as a contributor to many anthologies, but she is perhaps best known for her Lupe Solano mystery series. Her books have been translated into twelve languages. One Hot Summer, her seventh novel, was made into a film for Lifetime Television. Ms. Garcia-Aguilera, who has been a private investigator for over twenty-five years, has been the recipient of many awards.


I’ve been very, very lucky (see answer #12). I’ve finally been able to live my life as I wish: I set my own work schedule, working from my office at home, accompanied by my four dogs (all huge; all rescues), often being visited by various members of my family and friends, drinking as much red wine as I want, going to bed at whatever time I want. Perfect.