Ramona Ferreyra: The Latina entrepreneur promoting Hispanic heritage and culture through micro-fashion

For Ramona Ferreyra, showing pride in your heritage and community starts at an early age.

A Dominican-American born and raised in the New York City borough of Manhattan, Ferreyra said her family had a strong commitment to making sure she and her siblings connected with and upheld their Dominican culture. For example, as a child, Ferreyra would often participate in heritage festivals and parades, perform in front of crowds, and take dance classes at the request of her mother.

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Top 50 NYC startups to watch in 2016

In 2015, New York City made a name for itself in tech. Startups blossomed among the city’s legacy industries, drawing a steady flow of VC money into growing industries like real estate tech, ad-tech, food-tech and fintech.

But what does 2016 have in store? We have carefully selected 50 young companies (all less than five years old) that we believe will make a big splash over the next 12 months:

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The NYC Venture Capital Year in Review: 2015

Today, we take a look at the state of venture capital and angel funding during 2015, both in New York and nationally. Analyzing some publicly available data from our friends at CrunchBase, we break down the aggregate statistics for all funding deals by stage of funding (Angel/Seed, Series A, Series B, and Series C+, as well as venture non-specified rounds < $10M).

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Jennica Carmona >www.jennicacarmona.com

Jennica Carmona, Owner, Si Se Puede Productions, LLC

What do you need to be an entrepreneur?
Ambition, focus, organization, and determination.

What did inspire you to start your business?
The desire to create opportunities for myself as well  as for  my colleagues.

How did you finance it?
Fundraising events, grants, and personal investments.

Being Hispanic…Does it have any influence on your business?
Yes. We choose to work on projects with a Latino theme, and/or work with Latino and other minority groups during productions.

In the face of adversity, how do you decide to keep going?
You have to believe in yourself and what you are doing. Believe that what you are doing will have a powerful and positive impact on other people- that will give you strength to keep going!

What is the biggest challenge your business has faced?
Raising the funds to complete the film, “Millie and the Lords”.

If you could change one thing about your business, what would it be?
I wish we had a larger staff to help with administrative tasks. We are a group of three and currently
do it all on our own.

What was your childhood ambition?
To be a dancer.

Tell us about three entrepreneurs that you admire?
I admire filmmakers Spike Lee, Ava Duvernay and Leon Ichaso.

For business meetings: breakfast, lunch, or dinner?
Breakfast- I have more energy at the beginning of the day!

What sacrifices on your personal life did you have to make in order to become a business success?
It’s a huge time commitment and you can’t always be with your family as much as you would like to be. Your relationships may suffer. It takes a lot of patience and understanding on the part of your loved ones. So I sacrificed a lot of time with family and friends.

What is your favorite quote?
“Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong”. (Ella Fitzgerald)

Is it difficult to be unconventional?
Yes, very. Particularly as a Latina woman. There are so many traditional roles that you are cast in, so many expectations. It’s hard to stand up to that and say no, that’s not what I want, I want to do something different. It may not be right for you, but it is for me.  

Biggest mistake made?
I don’t believe in mistakes- I believe in “learning opportunities”. 

Do you consider yourself an innovator? Why?
Yes, I do. I started my own production company with my sister and husband. That takes a lot of effort and hard work, not everybody does that. We don’t have big names or a lot of money, but we have a lot of passion and are willing to work hard to achieve our goals. I also think that we are innovators in the sense that we are creating opportunities for other artists, and we inspire others to do the same.

About the Company
We are a small independent production company that produces film and theater. Our first film, “Millie and the Lords”, is currently touring the film festival circuit. We have received the best Feature Award from the Viva Latino Film festival as well as the Award of Excellence from The Rincon International Film Festival. 
Our current play, Elvira, is currently touring at various college and universities throughout the country. 
Movie site is : www.millieandthelords.com
Personal site is: www.jennicacarmona.com
Facebook: Millie and the Lords