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

Andre Hidalgo > www.2StrongMusic.com

Andre Hidalgo, Owner, 2 Strong Music

What do you need to be an entrepreneur?
Passion, Hustle perseverance cause with out those it will never happen.

What inspired you to start your business?
My love for Bachata Music & after launching Aventura's career I just had to keep going.

How did you finance it?
At first it just worked my regular 9 to 5 and payed everything my self then as time went by the music started paying for itself.

Does being Hispanic/Latina have any influence on your business?
Yes of course as I run a mainly Latin based Record Label.

In the face of adversity, how do you decide to drive ahead?
Sheer will power and inspiration from my own work and what I had already accomplished.

What is the biggest challenge your business has faced?
The greed of others in the industry which in turn brings disloyalty, hate & opportunities blocked. 

If you could change one thing about your business. What would it be?
I would make the industry more united & honest.

What was your childhood ambition?
Funny but my childhood ambition was to have beautiful big family, marriage, kids & house was all I needed.

Tell us about three entrepreneurs that you admire.
Steve Jobs, P Diddy and Pitbull.

For business meetings, which do you prefer: breakfast, lunch, or dinner?
I prefer lunch or dinner.

What sacrifices in your personal life did you have to make in order to become successful in your business?
My biggest sacrifice was having less time with my kids & of course never sleeping.

What is your favorite quote?
"I'd rather die on my feet than live on my knees" ; "Love & Loyalty" which are words i live by. The second one I'm not sure if its a quote that out there but its a quote that I always use.

Is it difficult to be unconventional?
It is at times because most people dont understand or get the genius behind some unconventional ideas & a lot of the times these are the ones that make history or change the world.

Biggest mistake made?
Trusting people too much, believing in there honor, morals or dignity that is usually not there.

Do you consider yourself an innovator? Why?
Yes I do. Mainly because I think outside the box; I usually see what most don't. I never just follow the crowd; I'm not afraid to try the new different things that i know can work.  Its just a shame not everyone realizes that ....haha.

About the Company
2 Strong Music is a Latin indie Record Label it was founded in 2001 By Andres (DRE) Hidalgo CEO, Producer and owner. A visionary in the Latin Urban Music world Andres has solid experience discovering, producing, developing & managing artists into award winning overnight success stories! Such as Aventura, Xtreme and Prince Royce.
Website: Sitio Web: www.2StrongMusic.com

What It's Like to Be a Latino Entrepreneur in Silicon Valley

November 24, 2014 SAN JOSE, Caif.—Alex Murillo leans forward in his seat, sipping coffee from a shot glass and waving his hands as he talks. He points to the screen of his MacBook Pro, explaining the genius behind Audive, the mobile application he is developing that allows users to record cover songs and mix tracks with music enthusiasts around the world.

"This is the secret sauce," says Murillo, hitting a key on his computer that fills the air with the sound of a man singing in Italian. "You can bring in vocals from a guy in Italy or you can bring in the flamenco guitar from Spain."

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Jessica Alba Talks Latina Identity, Complexities Of Race In New Generation

Jessica Alba feels Latina thanks to her father’s Mexican roots, but she knows that topics of race and identity won’t be so clear cut for her children.

The “Sin City” star is the face of Glam Belleza Latina’s Fall issue and spoke to the magazine about her heritage and why race becomes a more complicated for her daughters’ generation.

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From Tobacco to Tortillas: Latinos Remake Durham, North Carolina

DURHAM, N.C. -- Roselia Flores rushes into La Superior and quickly genuflects before the encased Virgin of Guadalupe statue in the corner of her supermarket.

“My first priority is God, then family and then work,” said Flores, who built the expansive Latino grocery-, bakery-, meat shop-, tortilleria-in-one.

A native of Mexico, Flores came to Durham from California in the mid-90s when the Latino population was about 2,000 people, just 1 percent of the city's population, according to a study by the Latino Migration Project at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.


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Franchise Business Opportunities a Growing, Viable Path for Hispanic Entrepreneurs

DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla., Sept. 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Coverall North America, Inc., a leading franchisor of commercial cleaning businesses, is a viable option for aspiring Hispanic entrepreneurs interested in starting a business. Franchised business owners have found that being your own boss and having a flexible schedule to spend more time with loved ones are the benefits of ownership.

Of the 8,000 Coverall franchised business owners worldwide, 25 percent of them are of Hispanic descent.

National Hispanic Heritage Month Sept. 15 – Oct. 15, was enacted into law in 1988 to celebrate the history, cultures and contributions of Americans whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America. Sept. 15 is significant because it serves as the anniversary of independence for Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.

"Coverall offers people the opportunity to become their own boss and take control of their future," said Rick Ascolese, CEO of Coverall. "We wish all of our business owners continued success as they operate their businesses for themselves and their families."

From Mexico, Robert Yepez started a Coverall franchised business eight years ago. Over the years, his business grew exponentially. Today, his franchised business services nearly 250,000 square feet each month.

Alan Landaverde, another Hispanic Coverall Franchised Business Owner, is originally from El Salvador. Landaverde worked in the aerospace industry for 25 years before changing his career path and starting a commercial cleaning franchised business. Like many business owners, Landaverde wanted the freedom of owning a business and more time to spend with his children.

Mercedes Cisneros moved to the U.S. in the 1980s and later started a Coverall commercial cleaning franchised business. She has owned her business for eight years growing it through customer referrals.

Coverall franchised business owners cite customer service and going above and beyond expectations as keys to their success.

"When a customer calls we do everything we can to help," said Yepez. "There is no task that my team cannot take on."

Coverall has been recognized with numerous awards for its franchise opportunities. Recently, the franchisor was named by G.I. Jobs as a 'Hot Franchise for Veterans' and was also named to USA Today's 'Top 50 Franchises for Minorities' list in 2013.

Learn more about Coverall franchise opportunities visit http://www.coverall.com/tufuturo

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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Women in Business: Vivian Issak Interview on the radio with KC Armstrong

Interview starts at one minute:
http://www.wrnw1.com/archived-shows/vivian-isaak-kc-armstrong-september-4th-2014/

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.