Moneda Moves
By Lyanne Alfaro
Moneda MovesNov 16, 2022
This Investor Is On A Mission To Help Latinas Scale the Capital Ladder | Libra Leaders Founder Laura Moreno Lucas
You were just hearing from Laura Moreno Lucas, a Latina entrepreneur, about the purpose behind her latest initiative Libra Leaders (https://libraleaders.com/). It’s a new platform with a collective $1.2B in investment capital setting out to help founders “scale the capital ladder,” by providing access to a network of influential women at every level of the capital markets, growth opportunities, and the big unlock for the Latino cohort: capital. Her founding team including Carolina Bradili and Anastasia Martinez sets out to build a wholistic ecosystem to uplift the next generation of unicorns. But prior to Libra Leaders, Laura had a history of working in the space from being an entrepreneur at an exiting company, to board member at bath and body brand Nopalera to being a general partner in venture. Before then, we had a pleasure of working together at Nasdaq, the stock exchange, where she was managing director for new listings and capital market.
Today, we speak about the new endeavor to uplift women entrepreneurs, and learnings in her career as one of the few Latinas to rise through the ranks in capital markets. No te lo quires perder.
Notes: This podcast was recorded during Women’s History Month in the lead up to Libra Leaders’ launch which was reported separately via Forbes. Find it here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/lyannealfaro/2024/03/08/this-platform-with-a-12b-investment-capital-helps-close-the-latina-founder-investing-gap/?sh=10d90ac55abe
Our podcast host cited that fewer than 12 POC-owned companies had listed on NYSE. Our research suggests that the stat may be even slightly more striking. A recent Marketplace interview in fact cites that “There have only been about 12 ever in all stock exchanges that are minority-owned and controlled companies to reach a stock exchange.”
Find the interview with Dream Exchange here: https://www.marketplace.org/2023/06/27/first-minority-owned-public-stock-exchange-looks-to-make-its-debut/
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Paving the Way For More Than 30,000 Latinas In Tech | LIT Co-Founder Rocío Medina van Nierop
Welcome to the 2024 season of Moneda Moves mi gente. This year, we are speaking with leaders in the Latino entrepreneurship ecosystem who are paving the way.
And among them is Rocio van Nierop is Co-Founder and Executive Director of Latinas in Tech. For more than 15 years, she has been working in the tech industry and is and advocating for Latinx diversity and inclusion.
Today, Latinas in Tech consists of almost 30,000 women working at more than 100 of the top technology companies worldwide. As We All Grow cites, she now works with lawmakers at the city, state, and federal levels to help change the system from outside the tech ecosystem.
So I saw it fitting to ask her about her take on DEI in this year, a year where diversity equity and inclusion is being challenged by the right. No te lo quieres perder.
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Main podcast theme song from Premium Beat. Our music is from Epidemic Sound.
SBA Admin Isabel Casillas Guzman On How Latinos Tap Into Their Economic Power
On the final episode of Moneda Moves for 2023, we are speaking with Isabel Casillas Guzman, the 27th Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration.
"Everyone is trying to figure out how to target the Latino market," she says. "(Latinos) have an advantage in knowing what the needs and the wants are of this community at scale."
When it comes to speaking about accessing the Latino purchasing power, she’s absolutely right.
Most want a piece Latino market, and it’s a matter of how they can get to it. It’s the $3.4 trillion question — that’s our purchasing power, according to the Latino Donor Collaborative. For this reason among many others, major brands from Netflix to Walmart to Target want to access Latinos. We’re growing and here to stay.
And while we have all this purchasing power, one of the big issues we face as prominent business owners is access to capital. Earlier this year, we learned that the agency topped $3 billion in SBA-backed loans to Latino-owned small businesses, increasing more than 30% since 2017 (nearly double since 2020).
In today’s interview, we discuss how the SBA is helping get Latino business owners access to loans, how we tap into our own purchasing power and how the Supreme’s Courts ruling on affirmative action will impact small business owners. We also explore how the SBA responded when the ruling impacted a program of its own, helping nearly 5,000 disadvantaged small businesses secure coveted government contracts.
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Main podcast theme song from Premium Beat. Our music is from Epidemic Sound.
How A Mom's Salsa Recipe Kicked Off A National Biz | Hector Saldivar, Founder & CEO, Tia Lupita Foods
Today we speak with Hector Saldivar, Founder and CEO of Tia Lupita Foods, a better for you, healthy Mexican-inspired food brand that uses clean and simple ingredients in all their products. His journey started with his mom’s salsa recipe, which he wanted to package to share with the world. Tia Lupita Foods has expanded beyond salsas and is in the business of selling tortillas, grain-free chips and much more.
A little more about Hector’s unique journey: Hector moved to the USA in 2005 as a territory sales manager for a Mexican startup and moved up the ranks through the years working at companies like Nestle USA and Diamond Foods. Hector was an integral part of the Pop Secret Microwave popcorn leadership team that overtook Orville Redenbacher’s spot to become the number one selling microwave popcorn in the USA.
Tia Lupita today is the first brand to introduce Nopales Cactus as an alternative, functional and sustainable ingredient in the USA market. Tia Lupita Foods is a Foodbytes by Rabobank Judges Choice winner, Natural Products Expo West Pitch Slam Winner and a Naturally Bay Area inaugural pitch slam runner up. Hector has also been recognized by TIME Magazine as one of 80 Mexicans that are helping shape contemporary culture.
Today, we speak with Hector about the origin story behind Tia Lupita, bootstrapping and funding the future of his company.
Follow Tia Lupita Foods on Instagram: @tialupitafoods
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Follow your host Lyanne Alfaro on Instagram: @LyanneAlfaro
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A Pickup Truck, Pinole and People: How To Bootstrap A Business | Eddie Sandoval, CEO & Founder, Pinole Blue
Pinole Blue started out of a dorm room while Eddie Sandoval was studying business at Wichita State University.
His family is from Chihuahua, Mexico. Growing up, he would take trips twice a year to visit and bring home pinole, a multiuse, nutrient-dense mixture of roasted ground maize savored by his family for generations. He realized his family wasn’t the only one that missed having easy access to pinole but even American endurance athletes. Pinole is popular among the Tarahumara tribe of Chihuahua, who would drink it for energy before running long distances and have gained a spotlight for winning ultramarathons all over the world.
An entrepreneur at heart, Eddie bought half a ton of raw heirloom blue corn in Mexico and drove back from the border to start production in his parents garage. That spring semester of 2017, his dorm room at the time became the distribution center and headquarters, where other blends were developed.
After graduating from Wichita State and winning the new venture competition, Eddie pursued Pinole Blue full time. Today, makes different pinole drink mixes, protein mixes, cookies and stone ground tortillas all from organic blue corn while donating back to the Tarahumara community, where it's often used.
The company has been featured in major outlets including Buzzfeed, Remezcla and Shark Tank Season 13. It has a strong social media presence with more than 380,000 fans on TikTok.
We speak with the founder and CEO of Pinole Blue, Eddie Sandoval, about how he learned about pinole, the importance of his storytelling on social media and his very unique bootstrapping approach to his business.
Follow Pinole Blue on TikTok and Instagram: @pinoleblue
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Follow your host Lyanne Alfaro on Instagram: @LyanneAlfaro
Main podcast theme song from Premium Beat. Our music is from Epidemic Sound.
Meet the Veteran-Built Biz Supporting Afghan Farmers | James Keith Alaniz, CEO and Co-Founder of Rumi Spice
Keith Alaniz is in the business of doing good and doing well. He is one of the founders and CEO of Rumi Spice, a social enterprise that promotes peace in Afghanistan by connecting farmers with markets and empowering Afghan women.
Keith’s military service in Afghanistan inspired him to start Rumi Spice in 2014, which has since become an award-winning company known for its high quality spices and its commitment to fostering peace through business.
In addition to his military service, Keith has an impressive educational background. He received his undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M University and a Master’s degree in Engineering Management from the Missouri University of Science and Technology. He later attended the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where he earned his MBA and was recognized as the top entrepreneur for the 2018 class. Keith also worked for three years at Google as a program manager for the technical infrastructure supply chain team.
We speak with Keith about how his time in Afghanistan led to the creation of Rumi Spice, how the company bootstrapped and how it actively works to benefit Afghan farmers while running a profitable business.
Follow Rumi Spice online: https://www.rumispice.com/
Follow Rumi Spice on Instagram: @rumi_spice
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Follow your host Lyanne Alfaro on Instagram: @LyanneAlfaro
Main podcast theme song from Premium Beat. Our music is from Epidemic Sound.
When Complex Flavors Meet Culture & Convenience | Miguel Leal Co-Founder & CEO, SOMOS Foods
When Miguel Leal saw American shelves representing Mexican food, he noted there was a big opportunity to create this offering: a CPG company that is both culturally-relevant and convenient. Enter SOMOS Foods, which makes Mexican food with authentic recipes and plant-based, Non-GMO ingredients. Tacos, tostadas, nachos and chilaquiles are all ready in ten minutes.
His experience in building successful food brands is extensive. He previously helped accelerate growth at KIND Snacks, where he served as Executive Vice President Marketing for three years. There, he first connected with SOMOS co-founders Daniel Lubetzky and Rodrigo Zuloaga.
He is a Mexican-American food industry veteran who comes to SOMOS following two years as the Chief Marketing Officer at Cholula. Before then, he was at Danone and Diamond Foods working on the Kettle brand. His food career began at PepsiCo's Frito-Lay managing the Lay's potato chip category for nearly three years. Miguel moved to the United States to receive his MBA from The Wharton School at UPenn.
A fun fact: Born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico, Miguel's favorite Mexican meal is home-cooked picadillo with rice and beans.
Follow SOMOS Foods on Instagram: @eatsomos
Find SOMOS Foods online: https://eatsomos.com/
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Follow your host Lyanne Alfaro on Instagram: @LyanneAlfaro
Main podcast theme song from Premium Beat. Our music is from Epidemic Sound.
How A Mexican Staple Can Create the Future of Snacks | Nemi Snacks CEO and Founder Regina Trillo
From being inexperienced to making yourself capable. I love the snippet from Regina Trillo, Founder and CEO, Nemi Snacks. Nemi Snacks are crunchy sticks made from seeds and nopales (a.k.a. prickly pear cactus) in Mexican-inspired flavors like Mexican Lime, Smoky Chipotle, Chile Turmeric and Churro.
Originally from Mexico City and now based in Chicago, Regina felt unrepresented the moment she stepped foot in Chicago grocery stores. Regina found well-established brands portraying Mexican cultura in a stereotypical way, brands that were unlikely to upgrade their ingredient list and innovate in the marketplace.
Nemi Snacks was founded with a mission to elevate Mexican cultura in the U.S. through high-quality Mexican snacks in sombrero-free branding. Nemi works directly with Mexican farmers, uses real chiles and spices and no artificial colors or ingredients. Regina has spent her legal career advocating for human rights by providing legal services to immigrants and implementing programs on a range of global human rights issues in Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa and the United States.
I’m so excited to share the interview with you today. This is Regina Trillo, Founder and CEO of Nemi Snacks.
Find Nemi Snacks Online: https://neminative.com/
Follow Nemi Snacks on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nemisnacks/
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Main podcast theme song from Premium Beat. Our music is from Epidemic Sound.
Funding the Future of Food | Supply Change Capital
Welcome back to another season of Moneda Moves mi gente. This season we are talking about food: It makes the world go round. Some might say food is everything we are: An extension of our regions, our tribes, to paraphrase the late chef and journalist Anthony Bourdain. But it’s also an interesting business opportunity.
Last year, venture capitalists invested more than $20 billion in this space even after economic conditions had tightened. And as we know on this podcast, Latinos (alongside people of color) are among the biggest creators of business in this country.
Throughout this season, Moneda Moves is bringing funders investing in the future of food and founders paving the way for intimate conversations on how they invest, fundraise and build truly scalable companies. Our panel today is from our first live event in Chicago, where we have founders from the consumer packaged goods space to the food tech space.
On the mics we have Perteet Spencer, Founder of AYO Foods, who launched the company to celebrate ingredients, flavors and culture of West African diaspora. We also have Michelle Ruiz, founder of food tech company Hyfe, who brings more than ten years of manufacturing experience from the likes of Exxon Mobile. Also joining us is Shayna Harris, managing partner of Supply Change Capital, investing in early stage, high growth food tech businesses and culture-first brands. Shayna has more than two decades of experience as a food industry leader and operator. She and her co-founder Noramay Cadena just closed a $40 million fund. Congratulations!
A trifecta of women that are joining us in our conversation today to talk about what the future of food looks like, from both a funding and scalability perspective.
Finally, a shout to our collaborators who helped put on our first live podcast event, DishRoulette Kitchen, a nonprofit working to provide funding and education for BIPOC restarateurs across Chicago, and Industrious where the event was hosted.
Let’s dive in. Welcome to Funding the Future of Food.
Follow Supply Change Capital On Instagram: @supplychangecapital
Follow AYO Foods On Instagram: @ayofoods
Follow Hyfe On Instagram: @hyfejefe
Follow Moneda Moves on Instagram: @MonedaMoves
Follow your host Lyanne Alfaro on Instagram: @LyanneAlfaro
Main podcast theme song from Premium Beat. Our music is from Epidemic Sound.
The True Power In Reshaping Media Narratives | The Avana House Founder Karina Martinez
It’s the last episode of the first season of 2023 and I couldn’t think of a better topic to close this season about multi-hyphenates than with an episode on storytelling. If you’ve listened to this podcast before, you know I’ve spoken about this: The power of storytelling. It has the power to shape reality, attract and grow our businesses. Today, we are speaking with an expert in the industry on the PR side: that’s Karina Martinez, founder of The Avana House.
It’s a public relations and storytelling agency founded to reshape media narratives through storytelling. In 2018, Martinez opened the doors to the agency with the intention to celebrate leaders, flavors and brands that represent what our diverse BIPOC communities look like. The name Avana is an homage to Havana, Cuba where Martinez’s parents were born.
In just a few years The Avana House led storytelling for some of the fastest-growing emerging brands and created moments in publications like The Today Show, Food & Wine, and The New York Times. Today, we speak with Martinez about her calling to increase representation and authentic stories in media, leveraging data to do so and how her unique journey into PR has defined the way she runs her business and built her team.
Follow Karina on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karina-martinez-001/
Follow The Avana House on Instagram: @TheAvanaHouse
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Follow your host Lyanne Alfaro on Instagram: @LyanneAlfaro
Main podcast theme song from Premium Beat. Our music is from Epidemic Sound.
The Biz of Building Community: From Finance To Influencers | Rachel Basoco, Digital Community Architect
For Rachel Basoco, community building has opened doors to a wide range of industries from lifestyle, to entrepreneurship, and as of late the world of finance and of Paris Hilton. In a world where building trust is priceless for public figures and companies alike, it pays to have an engaged community when platforms have established a relationship with them. It’s Basoco’s job to help build that through community.
Today, she is a multi-hyphenate at her core as Director of Digital Communities Advancement and Growth at Fidelity Investments, Web3 Community Manager at Paris Hilton’s company 11:11 Media and founder of Rachel Basoco LLC. Through her own company, her clients have included self-funded start-ups, Fortune 500 giants, and tech unicorns. She helps each partner craft and execute a community strategy that enables them to acquire customers faster and retain them longer.
Today we speak with Rachel about her entry into community building via building her own company in New York City to expand the space Latina creatives fill, Trenza. We also talk about how she built community at one one the City’s staple coworking spaces for women entrepreneurs, Luminary. Rachel also shares her priorities in community building today, from the world of finance to influencers.
Follow Rachel Basoco on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelbasoco
Follow Rachel on Instagram: @RachelBasoco
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Follow your host Lyanne Alfaro on Instagram: @LyanneAlfaro
Main podcast theme song from Premium Beat. Our music is from Epidemic Sound.
Exploring Identity Through Ecosystem Building | Marcia Chong Rosado
Marcia Chong Rosado (she/her/ella) faces multidimensionality head on. She holds multiple identities within her work, but also in her personal life as she’s navigated cultures across continents, socioeconomic spaces, and industries. Her goal? To bridge venture and civic engagement worlds. Personally, Marcia operates within and outside of evolving labels, including identifying as multiracial from diverse ancestors, Ecuadorian, as an immigrant to the United States.
Today, she is a Director at Cinematica Labs, focused on building mission-oriented entrepreneurial ecosystems in partnerships with ecosystem builders, like Pharrell Williams’ Black Ambition. Marcia is a Coach with the National Science Foundation’s Convergence Accelerator program uplifting teams of scientists addressing national-scale societal challenges. She is also involved in civic engagement as a Commissioner on the Worcester County Commission on the Status of Women to promote rights and opportunities for women and girls, and as an Advisory Board Member for the Commonwealth Seminar, a privately funded program focused on “Opening the Doors of Government to Everyone”.
Marcia’s work in venture ecosystem building, startups, nonprofits, and partnerships has been noted by Amplify Latinx, HBCUvc 31 under 31, Boston Business Journal, Harvard Law & Policy Review, and Forbes.
We speak with Marcia about the navigating identity, community and venture ecosystem building in the startups ecosystem and what an equitable future looks like. Take a listen.
Connect with Marcia Chong Rosado on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marciaxchong/
And on Instagram: @marciaxchong
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Follow your host Lyanne Alfaro on Instagram: @LyanneAlfaro
Main podcast theme song from Premium Beat. Our music is from Epidemic Sound.
How A Founder Turned Venture Capitalist Builds For Success | Rachel ten Brink, General Partner of Red Bike Capital
If there is anyone who knows the ins and outs of building a team for success, whether it’s in entrepreneurship or venture capital it’s Rachel ten Brink. Today she’s General Partner and co-Founder of Red Bike Capital, a Latino and woman-led Venture Capital fund based in New York that invests in early stage, high-growth startups that drive the economy and improve people’s lives. Red Bike supports US-based founders in FinTech, Ecommerce SAAS, Marketplaces, and Wellness, leveraging the team’s 30+ years of experience with an authentic connection to the startup ecosystem and a strong track record in asset management. And just earlier this year it closed equity investment from Bank of America, which we discuss at the top of this podcast.
Prior to founding Red Bike Capital, ten Brink was Co-Founder and CMO of Scentbird, a Y-Combinator backed ecommerce startup that raised $29M in venture funding. Today, it is our pleasure to welcome Rachel, a proud daughter of Cuban immigrants who has built a career in entrepreneurship and venture capital to the show as we discuss the firm’s Bank of America investment, navigating tough economic times and building a winning team.
Follow Rachel ten Brink on Twitter: @rtenbrink1
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Follow your host Lyanne Alfaro on Instagram: @LyanneAlfaro
Main podcast theme song from Premium Beat. Our music is from Epidemic Sound.
Investing In the Future of Media, In Web3 | Trustless Media Co-Founder Zack Guzman
Zack Guzman is a crypto journalist through and through. But in the last few years, he decided to also challenge the current media model and raised $3.25 million dollars for it. Today, he is the co-founder of Web3 media company Trustless Media, and host of the first community-owned, mainstream crypto show "Coinage."
Now, Zack has worked for his fair share of traditional US news outlets. He has also previously worked at Yahoo! Finance as an anchor and at CNBC as a reporter covering startups and tech. His reporting has been featured across multiple platforms including the New York Post, Washington Post, Huffington Post, NBC, Entrepreneur and AOL. Today, we speak about to new media model Zack is fostering, how raising funds had everything to do with the right connections and timing (among them, Netflix co-founder Marc Randolph) as well as how community plays a core role in the future of Web3.
Note: We also discuss navigating uncertainty given funding was raised by Sam Bankman-Fried’s Alameda Research and the recent downfall of Alameda/FTX.
Follow Trustless Media: https://www.trustless.media/
Follow Zack Guzman: https://twitter.com/zGuz?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
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Follow your host Lyanne Alfaro on Instagram: @LyanneAlfaro
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What It Takes To Build 'Familia' & Community In VC | Model & Venture Capitalist Cheryl Campos
Hello Moneda Moves listeners and welcome to a new season of the podcast, where we serve you stories about money and cultura from first builders. For the next few episodes we will be talking with multi-hyphenates of the business world: whether they’re part-time models and VCs, a journalist turned Web3 company founder, or a community builder working for Paris Hilton and Fidelity at the same time, the super power shared here is that these leaders in their respective spaces transit different worlds, and with that comes rich lessons in money.
Today, we’re going to speak with Cheryl Campos, called “The Multihyphenate Queen” in article we wrote for Hispanic Executive, having transited investment banking, modeling, community building and venture capital. It’s some of these many skills that led her to build La Familia, an ecosystem built just two years ago for Latino founders and venture capitalists to come together. Today, it supports more than 300 venture capitalists throughout their careers from breaking into venture to creating their own funds and is backed by the likes of SVB, Comcast, Samsung Next, Techstars, and more.
I met Cheryl when we were early in pursuing our careers in New York City and from one first gen kid to another have very much enjoyed seeing her growth to Head of Growth and Partnerships at Republic, the investment platform helping everyday people get access to private markets. Recently, we spoke with her from Stanford Graduate School of Business, where she’s getting her MBA. We talk about breaking into VC, the importance of community and the future of her career.
Follow Cheryl Campos: https://twitter.com/modelvc?lang=en and https://www.cherylcampos.com/
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Follow your host Lyanne Alfaro on Instagram: @LyanneAlfaro
Main podcast theme song from Premium Beat. Our music is from Epidemic Sound.
Latina-Owned JZD Prepared For A Launch At Target, Years Ahead | JZD Founders Jen & Vero Zeano
Mi gente, it’s your host Lyanne and your are listening to the last Moneda Moves episode of 2022! To close out the season, we are featuring a staple Latina brand near and dear to my heart that we’ve followed for years, the iconic apparel and accessories company Jen Zeano Designs. Its Texas-based founders and couple Jen and Vero Zeano are community-builders at their core having engaged their family, friends and locals in their business as they bootstrapped on their way to their historic debut in Target in 2022.
A bit of background JZD and what it stands for: You may have run into their work via Jessica Alba or Jenna Ortega who have both worn their work, or their relatable, empowering and witty designs that echo phrases engrained in Latine culture (think Poderosa, Vibras Bonitas). Having created their renowned Latina Power design in 2014, and launching as an Etsy store, they were far from an overnight success, but what they did learn was how to lean on each other, harness the power of their community as they expanded their social media, sales as they quite literally prepared to land in a retailer like Target this year during Latinx Heritage Month.
Today, we speak with the founders about their reflections on the journey here and taking bigger bets on their business over the years.
As we enter the thick of holidays and sala season aka dressing your best for the living room parties, we’re also thinking about how to spend our moneda mindfully. So you can bet today’s featured builders have a holiday gift guide. You can see their gift guide here: https://shopjzd.com/pages/holiday-gift-guide
Felicidades, Jen and Vero! Onto the interview. I hope you enjoy as much as I did, mi gente, and I’ll see you in 2023.
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Main podcast theme song from Premium Beat. Our music is from Epidemic Sound.
The Business Behind Building A Trailblazing Latina Network | We All Grow Latina Founder Ana Flores
Today, we are talking about Latina power and community building. We speak with the founder and CEO #WeAllGrow Latina, Ana Flores, a digital and IRL lifestyle community of impactful Latinas and Femme-Latines who support and uplift each other. Their goal? To increase visibility and grow our social and economic power.
The community started in 2010 and since then has grown into a following of 253K and counting on Instagram and bringing people together in person from their Las Founders events out west to their annual summit which just made a return this year.
I first attended their summit several years ago, where I had the opportunity to meet other Latinas growing businesses and spaces of their own from writers to life coaches and ecommerce. All are mujeres I still follow and keep in touch with today. In this episode we speak with Ana about We All Grow’s story, turning a profit and the nonlinear story of building.
Follow We All Grow Latina: https://www.instagram.com/weallgrowlatina/?hl=en
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Follow your host Lyanne Alfaro on Instagram: @LyanneAlfaro
Main podcast theme song from Premium Beat. Our music is from Epidemic Sound.
How To Start Managing Your Finances Like A CEO | Her Dinero Matters Host Jen Hemphill
We are deep in the fourth quarter of the year and while personally it’s a time of gratitude, it’s also a time when companies are knee deep in the annual budgeting process to set themselves up for the new year. So naturally, we're also thinking about building! What are our goals, visions and plans for the new year? These are the kinds of questions we encourage you to begin thinking about as well.
Today, on Moneda Moves we have a guest who is a firsthand expert in this space to share her story and practical tips for our listeners creating their financial plans for 2023: Jen Hemphill, money expert and podcast host of Her Dinero Matters. Jen is an Accredited Financial Counselor and started her podcast to talk about the importance of learning your money story and how to build confidence in personal finances.
Jen started her podcast around the same time our host started covering the influence of Latinos and money, so we discussed her storied journey, the difference between different kinds of financial guides and how to best prepare for the new year. Take a listen.
Learn more about Jen Hemphill and Her Dinero Matters: https://jenhemphill.com/her-dinero-matters-podcast/
Follow Moneda Moves on Instagram: @MonedaMoves
Follow your host Lyanne Alfaro on Instagram: @LyanneAlfaro
Main podcast theme song from Premium Beat. Our music is from Epidemic Sound.
On A Mission To Onboard One Million Latinos to Web3| Web3 Familia Co-Founders
Hello Moneda Moves fam, it’s your host Lyanne and I’m so excited to share today’s interview with Web3 Familia, a nonprofit DAO activating across the country to educate, onboard and connect the Latinx community in the Web3 space. But first, I want to give you a bit of a personal update that will impact our listeners of the show. Earlier this year, Moneda Moves was chosen as one of seven teams around the world to be a part of the Google Podcast Creators Program, a five-month accelerator that will provide funding and mentorship to help us grow and help us better serve you. We are so excited to share updates from the journey, and in the meantime you can expect our Moneda Moves episodes to drop on a monthly and adhoc basis through the rest of the year. We’ve already hit the ground running and are eager to come back in full capacity even better in 2023. In the meantime, if you like the show, please leave a review in Apple podcasts or Spotify — it would mean the world to us.
Now, onto today’s episode. Today, we are speaking with Orlando Gomez and Magdalena Madrigal, two co-founders of Web3 Familia, a decentralized autonomous organization. And that’s a mouthful, so just a bit on what a DAO is: It’s an organization run by rules encoded as a transparent computer program. It’s controlled by the organization’s members versus, say, a central government or a hierarchical structure. No managers are needed, and the idea is that this would eliminate bureaucracy and red tape, thus truly making it a project with shared ownership by the community. And that’s a word you’ll want to listen for in this interview: Community. Web3 believes heavily in this and that when you leverage community plus the power of blockchain technology, we can really reimagine the way organizations work. So today, we are speaking with Web3 Familia about how they are onboarding one million Latinos across the country to Web3 and the opportunity they see in this space, not only for Latinos but anyone who wants to get involved. We also discuss how their DAO is run, opportunities for growth in the space and how Web3 can benefit creatives. Let’s take a listen.
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Learn more about Web3Familia: https://www.web3familia.com/
Follow Moneda Moves on Instagram: @MonedaMoves
Follow your host Lyanne Alfaro on Instagram: @LyanneAlfaro
Main podcast theme song from Premium Beat. Our music is from Epidemic Sound.
Diverse Founders Are Driving the Future of Fintech | WTFintech? Creator Nicole Casperson
The stories we tell matter. I believe that to my core. It’s why Moneda Moves exists as a space to host more stories about the intersection of Latines, underrepresented communities and money. So you can imagine how excited I was to interview a trailblazer creating inclusive reporting around fintech, documenting diverse voices and leading the way. Today, we speak with Nicole Casperson, Creator and Founder of WTFintech?
It’s a newsletter, released twice a week all about founders in fintech, trends and how that affects you, the end user. Why does fintech matter? It’s reinventing the way you do your banking, investing, preparing for retirement with technology. It’s also a huge opportunity to get the relationship with our underrepresented communities right, to increase access and better deliver services to consumers. Casperson shares how she thinks fintech can impact our future, how she increases representation in media and more. Enjoy the interview — this was a good one.
Subscribe to WTFintech? https://workweek.com/brand/wtfintech/
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How One Team Is Democratizing Access To Hollywood | Avenida Productions Founders Fanny & Nelson Grande
In this episode of Moneda Moves you hear from Fanny Grande, an award-winning filmmaker, actor and director with more than 14 years of experience in the business. The pain points she experienced during her time in the industry are quite common. Representation in Hollywood has historically not accurately reflected the talent in our communities.
Latinos are more than 18% of the US population yet make up less than six percent of the share of broadcast TV roles. Fanny saw this issue. So, together with her business and life partner, Nelson Grande, they set out to build a tech-powered solution. They’ve built Avenida Productions— an LA-based business to help independent filmmakers create, fund, and distribute their projects.
We are proud to say this episode of Moneda Moves is sponsored by LAT VC, a purpose-driven venture capital firm investing in Latino-led businesses, including Avenida Productions. LAT VC is on a mission to catalyze the most entrepreneurial yet undercapitalized cohort in the US by investing in businesses led by Latinos. It’s aiming to invest more than $100 million in US Latino Entrepreneurs. You can learn more about via lat.vc.
Learn more about Avenida Productions: https://avenida.tv/
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Unlocking Economic Power Starts With Latinas | SHENIX Founder Olga Camargo
Today we are talking about an issue near and dear to my heart, unlocking Latina power.
For a second, I want to do a flashback to a world before the pandemic, when the word “unprecedented” took a whole different meaning. It was the word we could use to describe: Latinas were projected to grow by 25.8%, close to 9 times the projected growth of white women in the labor force, the new businesses generation in our communities, and the growth in Latinas earning a college degree. Enter the pandemic, and this is when we saw our community take a hit and Latinas exit the domestic workforce at one of the highest rates.
And while the last two years certainly pose an challenge, Olga Camargo, founder of fintech company SHENIX is optimistic we have much more economic power to unlock in our Latina community, with some education, advocating for equal pay and investing.
SHENIX is a Latina-founded app that works with its clients to educate, provide negotiation skills, and develop actionable plans to build wealth. It’s also based in my hometown, Chicago, where Latinos are the city’s second-largest ethnic group. I’m eager to see the impact this app makes in my hometown, and ahead of then we are talking with Olga about founding her fintech company and the importance of culturally-relevant financial service.
Learn more about SHENIX at https://shenix.app/.
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The New Generation of Wealth Builders | The First Gen Mentor Giovanna Gonzalez
Building wealth and navigating a career when you’re first generation in a new country is hard. And Giovanna Gonzalez GETS IT. She’s a proud first generation American, daughter of Mexican immigrants, first generation college graduate, and first generation white collar professional. But it’s not impossible, and it’s just a bit easier when you have a mentor in your life.
In the last ten years, Giovanna’s paid off her $50,000 collegiate and car debt, and today is debt-free with a net worth of $120,000+ and teaches hundreds of thousands of her followers how to build their own wealth via her brand and TikTok, The First Gen Mentor. On her account (@thefirstgenmentor), she teaches financial education and shares tactical career advice with more than 184K followers.
Today, we speak with her about her journey to becoming a finance educator, full-time creator mid-pandemic and how she’s taking her immigrant family with her on this financial journey.
You can continue to follow Giovanna on TikTok @thefirstgenmentor and on Instagram at @gigithefirstgenmentor, where she will be teaching money and career tips.
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El Negocio, Socio: A Brand Strategy That Lasts| Kids of Immigrants' Daniel Buezo & Author Ashley K Stoyanov Ojeda
Welcome to part II of the two-part series between Moneda Moves and Latinx professional network La Nueva Link. We’re talking all about Making it and building a brand identity that lasts. Joining me today on the panel is co-founder for the network, Deb Renteria. Thank you so much for joining us, Deb. Also joining us to share her expertise is author of "Jefa In Training" Ashley K Stoyanov Ojeda.
Latinx-owned businesses are the fastest-growing segment of the U.S small business ecosystem. It’s a fact. But in a highly competitive environment, the stakes are also high. Per Bureau of Labor Statistics report, by the end of the fifth year, about half small businesses across the board will have failed. Therein lies one of our critical questions: How to create a brand and business that lasts? Today we speak with two experts in the space to share their guidance and experience.
Meet our panelists:
Kids of Immigrants was founded by Daniel Buezo and Weleh Dennis as a medium to express their passion to create, empower and love. Inspired by their roots, environments and life experiences the mission statement is simple -- DO THE BEST WE CAN WITH WHAT WE HAVE.
Ashley K Stoyanov Ojeda is a community-builder, business-development strategist, coach, and socialpreneur. Originally from Queens, NYC. After creating a national organization that has been featured in The Recording Academy, called #WomxnCrush Music, she has dedicated her career to creating opportunities and developing businesses and communities of underrepresented entrepreneurs through her coaching and consulting, and has become known as the Business Hada Madrina and author of business-launching toolkit “Jefa In Training."
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Main podcast theme song from Premium Beat. Our music is from Epidemic Sound.
El Negocio, Socio: Fundraising The Big $1 Million | Shop Latinx's Brittany Chavez & LAT VC's Laura Moreno Lucas
Today, we're talking about the big $1 million dollars and how to successfully fundraise in today's digital age. In the first of a two-part series done in collaboration with Latinx professional network La Nueva Link, we discuss what it takes to fundraise and build a brand that lasts.
Latino entrepreneurs historically have had difficulty attaining the capital from banks and investors needed to survive and scale. Per a report published by McKinsey, “Latinos have the lowest rate of using bank and financial institution loans to start their businesses compared with other racial and ethnic groups,” leaving them to rely more on personal funds.
In this episode, we speak with Latinx founder of Shop Latinx Brittany Chavez, who has raised more than $1 million, and leader in the venture capitalist space as well as Partner at $100 million fund LAT VC Laura Moreno Lucas, to demystify the fundraising process and the gaps in the system where it can better serve Latinx founders.
Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a weekly digest of Latinx and money news: https://monedamoves.substack.com/
Learn more about Listo!: listofin.com
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Providing Access To Credit As A Key To Building Wealth | Listo! CEO Sam Ulloa
Getting access to responsible financial services has been a long journey for our Latinx communities in the United States. However, it is these very tools like access to credit-building that are key to creating generational wealth. Ask Mexican immigrant Sam Ulloa, who witnessed this first hand.
Today, finding solutions for underserved communities is a personal mission of his. As CEO & Co-Founder of Listo!, Ulloa runs a fintech platform that is democratizing access to fairly priced, life-changing financial services for millions of hardworking and often "credit invisible" families in the US.
He is a two-time founder in the fintech space, Stanford’s School of Business graduate and started his journey in the US working with his parents in agriculture and observing the gaps in the tools first generation and immigrant Latinos needed to build a financial record.
Listo! has already helped thousands of hardworking families save more than $190M in loan interest and fees and over $6M in auto insurance-related fees.
Today we speak with Sam more about his journey and mission to provide access to credit, among other financial services with Listo!
[Update Editorial Note: This podcast was recorded when the inflation rate was lower — as of February 2022 that rate is 7.9%]
Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a weekly digest of Latinx and money news: https://monedamoves.substack.com/
Learn more about Listo!: listofin.com
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What It Takes To Become A Jefa In Charge | Jefa In Training Author Ashley K. Stoyanov Ojeda
Ashley K. Stoyanov Ojeda is expert at helping people launch themselves into their endeavors whether it’s music, a career or founding and growing a company. Her journey to coaching entrepreneurs has been anything but traditional, yet wholly authentic — and that’s her superpower.
Through building community for the music industry, and then learning about how to help others do the same, she became fondly known as the “Business Hada Madrina” or Business Fairy Godmother.
Today, she is a business-development strategist, coach, and author of the newly-debuted book, Jefa In Training, a guidebook to becoming a successful entrepreneur. Ashley's career started in the music industry in 2012, and after working at major record labels, created her own network for local womxn songwriters, now a national organization that has been featured in The Recording Academy, called #WomxnCrush Music.
Since the growth of her organization, she has dedicated her career to developing businesses and communities of underrepresented entrepreneurs through her coaching. Her book has received praise from the likes of Eva Longoria, We Are All Human’s Claudia Romo Edelman and SUMA Wealth’s Beatriz Acevedo. We speak with Ashley today about her path to entrepreneurship and actionable tips for Latina entrepreneurs. Without further ado, here’s the jefa in charge.
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Main podcast theme song from Premium Beat.Our music is from Epidemic Sound.
The Journey Beyond Raising One Million Dollars | Agua Bonita CEO Kayla Castañeda
Bienvenidos, Moneda Moves listeners! Lately, we’ve been thinking a lot about fundraising for companies. Because as we discuss the rise of new Latinx entrepreneurs, this kind of capital you can secure as a founder is just as important. It’s what helps a company scale and grow. But attaining this kind of capital and raising more than $1 million has not historically been a straightforward journey for entrepreneurs of color, and even less so for Latinas.
So today, we are sharing a story to help shed some light on the process and how the pandemic thrust former startup employees into the world of entrepreneurship. This is the story of Agua Bonita’s Co-Founder and CEO Kayla Castañeda, who broke fundraising records in 2021 while selling canned aguas frescas, a delicious fruit-derived drink popular in Mexico and Central America. Both she and her co-founder, Erin PonTell, arrived at entrepreneurship experienced in the beverage industry but also out without jobs after their employer startup closed mid-pandemic. As they so wittingly shared with Bustle: “We joke a lot — when life gives you lemons, make aguas frescas.”
Castañeda became one of two Latina co-founders who raised $2 million in an oversubscribed pre-seed round for their company. This happened just a year out from founding it and also made Castañeda the first Afro-Latina owned beverage brand to raise this amount.
Among the investors? Supply Change Capital, whose founder Noramay Cadena we interviewed in just our last episode of Moneda Moves. (And we suggest you listen to it!)
Our hope is that Agua Bonita is an example, but not the exception, to help many other Latina founders raise the capital needed to grow their business. Without further ado, here’s our interview with Kayla Castañeda, Co-Founder and CEO fo Agua Bonita.
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Our music is from Epidemic Sound.
The Great Venture Capital Shake-Up | Venture Capitalist Noramay Cadena
Welcome back, Moneda Moves listeners! Now if you’ve heard from from us before it should come as no surprise: Latinos are entrepreneurial at their core. Much so that between 2007-2017, 50% of all new small businesses created were Latinx owned, per a report from Bain & Company. During that same decade, only one percent of investment from top venture capital firms went to Latinx-owned businesses.
Today, we are going to talk about this gap and a term you’ve likely heard before: Venture Capital. It's a kind of financing investors supply emerging companies with big growth potential. Because while these investment numbers may not be favorable for Latinx-owned businesses looking to scale, VC founders and operators like Noramay Cadena of Supply Change Capital are positioned to shake up the space.
A bit of background: She's a former Boeing engineer turned investor with three degrees from MIT. Today, Cadena is focused on investing in the intersection of food, culture and technology. Supply Change Capital does this all the while focusing on diverse founders, which are tracking to become the majority citizen in the US. We speak Cadena about her pivot into venture capital, how she invests in companies and biggest findings from her time in the space.
Building Credit For A Global Generation|TomoCredit Co-Founder & CEO Kristy Kim
As we emerge post-pandemic, we've entered a new era, mi gente. An era that's transferred to a new generation we call Generation G, for global. These are often hard-working young adults, hungry to effect change and contribute to economic growth. They also more often have a good amount of cash versus good credit history.
It's this audience that Kristy Kim, founder credit building startup TomoCredit is tapping into. Picture this: You're an immigrant student attending one of the most prestigious schools in the US, with a good track record otherwise, but getting rejected from auto rate, insurance loans, mortgage because you don't have a credit score. That was exactly Kristy's issue and one she knew affected so many people living in the US, especially immigrants who didn't grow up building credit. Informed by her personal experience and that of her industry after working internationally in VC, she built TomoCredit for over 30M people who were just like her and never got the chance to start building credit. Today, we speak with Kristy about the difficulties behind building credit in the US, and how TomoCredit seeks to solve these very issues. No te lo quieres perder.
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How Creativity Is An Ultimate Biz Advantage | FEMX Quarters Founder Jessie Medina
If there’s any entrepreneur who can speak to the power of navigating multiple worlds, and tapping into her inner creative as a business executive it’s Jessie Medina, Founder of diverse creative space FEMX Quarters. Jessie, a Dreamer from Argentina, is no stranger to embracing being a multi-hyphenate. She’s gone from being an immigrant to successful corporate executive, to podcast host a Forbes Next1000 entrepreneur. FEMX is a space in San Diego built to connect like-minded women entrepreneurs, leaders and creatives. Today, Lyanne Alfaro, Host of Moneda Moves speaks with Jessie about building a company as an immigrant, making the move from corporate to entrepreneurship and what she’s learned along the way.
Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a weekly digest of Latinx and money news: https://monedamoves.substack.com/
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Our music is from Epidemic Sound
Breaking Money Barriers To Bring Access to Sports | Up2Us Sports
On this episode of Moneda Moves in partnership with adidas, we are speaking with Mario Argote, Chief Marketing Officer of Up2Us Sports, helping bring sports to underprivileged communities. He calls it a gateway to further opportunities. Opportunities like new skills, networks, and mindset. And it’s especially a game-changer for those who don’t have access today.
Sports are a big part of US popular culture and can be a formative part of our children’s education curriculum. But whether or not they have the privilege to partake largely depends on a variety of factors -- among them related to money.
More than 80 percent of children from higher-income families participate in sports. Meanwhile, less than 60 percent of children from lower-income families, making less than $30,000 a year, take part -- that’s according to the Pew Research Center. And that comes as little surprise, given that schools serving a high percentage of students in poverty are less likely to offer sports.
Up2Us Sports, which is sponsored by adidas, is a nonprofit on a mission to address these socioeconomic disparities, often taking place in people of color communities. Today, we discuss how the organization is providing solutions with bodies in these neighborhoods -- and we hear from a Up2Us Sports Sports Coach, Diana Luna, and Up2Us Sports VISTA volunteer, Emily Murtaugh, helping programs run more efficiently. We speak about the impact these volunteers have on kids in areas of need, how the program impacts their professional advancement and how they facilitate connection through community.
No te lo quieres perder.
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Moneda Moves is a platform, newsletter and podcast all about the Latinx community, our relationship with money and role in the American economy. Because many money issues don’t impact just our community, we also explore intersectional money issues impacting POC communities.
Follow Moneda Moves on Instagram and Twitter @MonedaMoves and subscribe to our weekly digest at monedamoves.substack.com.
Your host is Lyanne Alfaro, who tells stories about what’s next in the world of technology, business and entrepreneurship. With more than a $2.7 trillion GDP, she is especially passionate about exploring the Latinx influence in the world of business, which she speaks about via newsletter, podcast and platform, Moneda Moves. She is an award-winning journalist, having reported in national outlets including CNBC, NBC Latino, Business Insider, Millie Magazine and worked on audience engagement as well as strategy.
You can find Lyanne across Instagram and Twitter @LyanneAlfaro.
Surviving And Leading A Business Amid Crisis| Holy Matcha Founder Geraldine Ridaura Schumacher
Today we speak with Geraldine Ridaura Schumacher, a Latina entrepreneur based in California and a self-proclaimed numbers person. In 2016, she set out to start Holy Matcha, one of the first businesses selling the powdered green tea drinks in San Diego. By last year, following the start of the pandemic, she had stretched herself far more, all to help her business stay afloat.
On this episode of Moneda Moves, your host Lyanne Alfaro explores how one founder transformed her matcha business and took matters into her own hands to survive the pandemic.
This interview was taped end of June 2021, shortly after this summer’s reopening in California, so we also discuss her approach to leading her business today -- a year later -- her relationship between entrepreneurship and mental health as well as her cautious outlook for when businesses emerge from the pandemic. No te lo quieres perder.
Follow Moneda Moves on Instagram: @MonedaMoves
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Main podcast theme song from Premium Beat
Our music is from Epidemic Sound
The Journey To Rebuild Black Wall Street | Atlanta Life Insurance CEO Roosevelt Giles
Meet Roosevelt Giles. Today, he is President and CEO of Atlanta Life Insurance Group and alum of AT&T, where he built network protocols for the Pentagon and Special Forces.
But growing up, he and his nine siblings grew up picking cotton alongside his sharecropper parents. The plantation owner cheated his father, and, being illiterate, his parents had no way to prove he was keeping more of their profit than he was owed. Eventually, Roosevelt and his sisters paid off the family’s debt and managed to get an education. The company he runs, Atlanta Life, was founded by a former slave Alonzo Herndon who also happened to build one of America’s first successful Black businesses.
I’m your host Lyanne Alfaro, and on today’s episode of Moneda Moves, we talk about his journey to gaining a higher education, becoming a leader in technology and his ideas to rebuild Black Wall Street. These are ideas, as we discuss, that other disenfranchised groups in the United States can borrow as we work to close the racial wealth gap. Also in this episode, we talk about the kinds of responsibilities corporate companies must answer to now as it relates to people of color in a world that is emerging from the pandemic.
No te lo quieres perder.
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Our intro music is "Numero de Cuenta" by Fanta Nelida
Other music by Epidemic Sound.
A First Generation MBA Experience | ECM Podcast Host Priscilla Weninger
Priscilla Esquivel Weninger is a Texas Latina and daughter of immigrants from Mexico and Peru. She’s also a jefa, boss, who landed her dream job working within professional services as a human capital strategy consultant, having earned an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin with a full-ride scholarship — it’s a journey she embarked in her mid-twenties, when she realized that the salary she earned in the nonprofit space wouldn’t help her achieve the financial independence she desired in the long run.
She does not mince words about the journey to get there and stresses: The path is not linear. In fact, it involved imposter syndrome, a lot of mindset challenges and pivots.
In this episode of Moneda Moves, we speak with the host of the Early Career Moves Podcast, Weninger, about her trajectory, challenges as she embarked higher education and accelerators in her career. We also talk about what obtaining an MBA did for her career.
Redefining Business News For People of Color | CultureBanx CEO Kori Hale
Today we’re going back to our roots in journalism. We spoke with Kori Hale, who is CEO and co-founder of CultureBanx, redefining tech and business news for underrepresented communities using music.
Once an investment banker, Kori quickly developed an eye for news. She became the first Black woman to anchor a daily news show from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, covering the intersection of business and culture. Yet, she knew there was a need for business news that covered Black and people of color specifically. Enter CultureBanx, a website covering business daily and redefining coverage for these communities.
This interview was also done for Meet La Prensa, a network of Latinx and POC journalists across the US. You can find them on YouTube as Meet La Prensa.
Intro music is from Epidemic Sound.
How To Get America Back To Work | 35th U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez
President Joe Biden called the $2.7 trillion American Jobs Plan “a once-in-a-generation investment in America...the largest American jobs investment since World War II.”
The details of the plan are still coming to light, but elements include childcare, paid family leave, investing in community college.
What will this plan and Biden’s administration’s plans at large mean for the Latinx community and how will the administration help get our communities back to work? We spoke with 35th U.S. Secretary of Commerce and CEO or re-skilling tech company EmPath Carlos Gutierrez in our most recent episode for his assessment.
A big shout-out to journalist-based group Meet La Prensa, a new YouTube channel spotlighting Latinx and reporters of color. This episode was done in partnership with them.
Small Steps To Take Control of Personal Finances | Debt-Free Latina's Mayra Alejandra Garcia
It’s financial literacy month, mi gente, and that means we are diving in deep to personal finances. Today, we speak with Founder and CEO of Debt-Free Latina, Mayra Alejandra Garcia.
She is a financial coach teaching women and families how to get out of debt, grow their net worth and claim their financial independence.
In 2010, she was stressed out about our bills, living in a house she couldn't afford, had two car loans, student loans and credit cards. She was ready to make a change and learned how make a budget. A few years later, she created what she calls The Cash Flow Method, enabling people she coaches to see where every penny is.
The Power of Rookie Smarts | Entrepreneur Eliana Murillo
Early in her career at Google, Eliana Murillo learned she had “rookie smarts.” When she first heard this from a manager, she was perplexed. Was this a compliment? Less so?
Little did she know this flexible and hungry mindset was an absolute asset and that it would set her up for success in her 10 years at the company. Rookie smarts, a term written up by leadership expert Liz Wiseman, explores how being new and naive can be a benefit when it comes staying ahead in the workplace.
“Sometimes when you’re a rookie you don’t even understand what failure means or don’t even know all the rules, so you just go for it,” Murillo said in a recent episode of Moneda Moves.
As it turns out, this kind of smarts was embedded in Murillo’s approach for quite some time. Prior to her first corporate job, she’d taken on a variety of ideas from impromptu business at garage sales as a child to selling chocolate- covered strawberries in college. At Google, she started the first Latinx employee resource group, HOLA. Since then, Murillo founded more formal companies from the national network, Latinas Who Brunch, and her family business based out of Mexico, Tequila Alquimia.
A champion of Latina bosses, we sat down to talk with serial entrepreneur and former Forbes 30 Under 30 recipient Murillo about what it is exactly that fuels her work and why she’s decided to now start a company of her own, Eliment and Company.
This episode is done in partnership with The Mujerista, the digital-media publication and network dedicated to empowering and celebrating the next generation of Latinas making an impact on la cultura. Check them out across platforms at @TheMujerista.
Power To The Personal Finance Educators | Wealth Para Todos Creator Rita-Soledad Fernandez Paulino
Today, we meet Rita-Soledad Fernandez Paulino, an educator at her core.
This is the story of a former math teacher turned personal finance guide. At some point in her life, speaking about money with Soledad’s family was difficult, and she had a hard time envisioning beginning to invest.
Now an aspiring Certified Financial Planner, Soledad is taking followers on her debt-free and learning journey via her platform Wealth Para Todos. Soledad shares how she speaks about dinero with her family as a first-mover today and leads by example.
Journey to Building Wealth Juntos | SUMA Wealth Co-Founder & CEO Beatriz Acevedo
Meet Latina entrepreneur, Beatriz Acevedo. You may know her as the Co-Founder of mitú, the digital media brand for young Latinos.
Her career started in media at a young age, first on radio and later on television in Mexico. She later went on to co-found and chair LA Collab, a Hollywood initiative aimed at doubling Latino representation in Hollywood.
Acevedo’s latest co-founded startup is set on closing the Latino wealth gap. SUMA Wealth is making financial education accessible and relatable via in-culture content, fintech tools and digital experiences.
Last October, SUMA has raised more than $1 million in a pre-seed investment round led by Chicago-based Chingona Ventures. We speak with Acevedo about the vision for the Latino platform and why launching now is critical.
This episode of Moneda Moves is done in partnership with The Mujerista, the digital-media publication and network dedicated to empowering and celebrating the next generation of Latinas making an impact on la cultura. We couldn’t think of a more fitting brand to help amplify the message of jefas in the Latina community. Check them out across platforms at @TheMujerista.
Growing In The "Mexican Beverly Hills" | Writer, NYT Contributor Erick Galindo
Today, we are going to talk about the “Mexican Beverly Hills."
It’s what one culture writer calls the city of Downey, the California city with nearly twice as many Hispanic residents than any other race in ethnicity. Here, residents are also higher-earning than other neighborhoods in Los Angeles with similar ethnic makeup.
In his piece for The New York Times, author and Downey resident Erick Galindo writes, that moving to and growing up in a place like Downey “shows that Latinos can live a life of relative wealth and influence in the United States without having to give up ties to their respective and diverse Latin American cultures. But it also exemplifies a distinctly American idea: the possibility of upward mobility across generations.”
We speak with Galindo about what a place like “Mexican Beverly Hills” means for Latinos, his family building generational wealth, and how Downey challenged his relationship with money.
No te lo quieres perder.
Building A Fintech Company: From Pitch to Product | Qoins Co-Founder Christian Zimmerman
Have debt? Perhaps a better question is: Who hasn’t?
Today on Moneda Moves, we will talk about a Latino and Black-led fintech company Qoins helping users pay off more than $15 million dollars of debt at this point.
I speak with Co-Founder and CEO Christian Zimmerman who not only was named Forbes 30 Under 30 for social impact but also raised $1.5 million in its first institutional investment round to expand its platform and double its staff. Zimmerman didn’t build Qoins alone, but with the help of his co-founder Nate Washington. Today we’re going to discuss how a pitch turned into a full-fledged company and what it takes to build a team you trust.
No te lo quieres perder.
Pioneering in Building Wealth & Entrepreneurship | My Money My Future Founder Ramona Ortega
We are speaking with Ramona Ortega, founder of personal finance platform My Money My Future. As daughter of farmworkers and the first generation in her family to attend college then build wealth, she is on a mission to help other underserved millennials have a roadmap to wealth. In 2020, Ortega was named One of the Most Notable Women in Financial Advice by Crain’s New York Business.
In the first Moneda Moves episode of the year, we’ll discuss her journey as being the first in her family to secure wealth, to securities attorney, to founding her own company and what growth has looked like.
Meet Founder of the Latino Viral Tabletop Game Tragos | Founder Carolina Acosta
Hi, Moneda Moves listeners! When we think of the holidays, we think about sharing some laughs, drinks, maybe a good game or two with our loved ones. That’s the kind of feeling founder Carolina Acosta set to elicit when she created Tragos — a card and drinking game that celebrates Latino tradition and cultural-isms.
It’s got quite an impressive history too. Latino run and self-funded, the game has made more than $1 million since its founding two years ago. And earlier this year, Carolina earned a spot Forbes 30 Under 30 list. On this special episode of the podcast before closing out the year, we talk with the founder about her entrepreneurship trajectory and what inspired her to create the viral tabletop game for Latinos.
You can purchase the decks here and support a small business: https://tragosgame.com/
How Latino Small Biz Survives in 2020 | Small Business Majority's Xiomara Peña
Let's talk Latinos and business in 2020. At the start of the year, you could say our demographic was ...crushing it. I remember this story from USA Today titled: “Puro Cash: Latinos are opening more small businesses than anyone else in the US.”
In a country with roughly 60 million Latinos, Latino business owners grew 34%, compared to 1% for all business owners in the United States and they were applying for more loans than ever to grow their businesses. Our representation in the world of small business could not be ignored. But seven months into the year, Latino small businesses are among the most devastated by the economic side effects of COVID-19.
Joining me on this episode is Xiomara Peña, California Program Director and National Entrepreneurship Director for Small Business Majority. We speak about how Latino small businesses have been surviving, best resources to use and what the recent boycott against Goya products (#GoyaBoycott) could mean for these businesses.
Small Business Majority focuses on research, advocacy and education with the goal of building an inclusive economy that works for all, and specifically focused on serving minority populations. Learn more about them at https://smallbusinessmajority.org/
Let's Stop Normalizing Unpaid Internships | Pay Our Interns Founder Carlos Mark Vera
On this episode of Moneda Moves, we discuss unpaid internships, what's wrong with them and how we put an end to them.
More than half of graduating students who held an internship will receive a job offer by graduation. This is an abnormal stat: Less than 20% of students overall usually have a job offer at graduation, per a 2016 Rudolph Foundation report. And yes, students and graduates have it tough overall, but when you start looking at who gets paid, there are some glaring concerns. Women tend to engage in more unpaid internships than men, only one third of families can support students through an unpaid internship. Most students end up working a second job to make financial ends meet.
Due to the pandemic, this summer is not any easier for students, leaving them in a more vulnerable state than in years past. More than 60% of student internships have been canceled this summer, per CNBC. With Latinos and Black students holding the lowest internship participation rates overall, this week we talk about how our internships can better serve students, starting by paying them. On this week’s Moneda Moves we speak to Carlos Mark Vera, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Pay Our Interns.
Washington Insider & Entrepreneur Moe Vela On This Week's DACA Decision
We are coming to you at the end of a busy news week, in part, courtesy of the Supreme Court.
LGBT rights advocates had a big win at the Supreme Court Monday, winning a sweeping decision from the justices that protects gay, lesbian and transgender employees in the workplace from being fired, demoted or paid less based on their sexual orientation -- a 6-3 victory to those arguing for anti-discrimination protections.
This Thursday, June 18, the Supreme Court also blocked President Donald Trump’s effort to end legal protections for 650,000 young immigrants. Immigrants who are part of the 8-year-old Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program will retain their protection from deportation and authorization to work in the United States. The decision was a 5-4 outcome, with Chief Justice John Roberts and the four liberal justices were in the majority.
On this episode, we speak about what these decisions mean for how companies will respond to the LGBT decision and what the DACA decision means for Latinos and their contributions to the economy. We invited Moe Vela, the first Latino and LGBT to serve twice in The White House in a senior executive role, to speak to this on this episode.
Vela was born and raised in the Southern tip of Texas on the Mexican border and proudly Mexican American. He was CFO and Senior Advisor on Latino and LGBT matters to Vice President Al Gore. He was also most recently Director of Management and Administration and Senior Advisor on Latino and LGBT Affairs to Vice President Joe Biden. He is an attorney and ownsVela Group, a global business development consulting firm with clients in the United States and Latin America.
We get his take on these decisions and commentary on business trends he’s noticing from Latino clients and what the future could hold for the next generation of Latinos powering the American economy.
America's Uprising In A Divided Chicago & How Latinos Show Up | Visual Documenter Mateo Zapata
This is the end of what will be the longest week for many, though this is really what our black communities have faced for years on-end. Across the country, there are uprisings happening in the name of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Michael Lorenzo Dean, Eric Reason, Pamela Turner and so many others. As former President Obama explained in his Medium post, the call-out is explicit for the “reform of police practices and the broader criminal justice system in the United States.” The rate at which black Americans are killed by police is more than twice as high as the rate for white Americans. I do not claim to know how painful it must be for our black communities after decades of our nation watching black people die.
And, so, at the end of this week, this country is not where it needs to be, but it’s clear that masses of people are demanding a solution. In this podcast, we are going to talk about the responsibility of the Latino community in this because it’s huge. We will also be discussing lootings, shootings, how they are affecting the Chicago's most vulnerable communities and importantly, how people are banding together, protecting their small businesses and homes.
I spoke with someone who’s been documenting on the ground and who has worked with small businesses in our Chicago Latino neighborhoods, to get his observations: Mateo Zapata. It’s important to remember that this is not happening in a vacuum, Chicago has historically been one of the most segregated cities in the country - this which was completely engineered by the city by enabling redlining, now-outlawed lending practices that kept minorities out of certain areas, and keeping investment out of black neighborhoods. The most hurt by this were Blacks and Latinos, specifically Mexicans. To date, the segregation is still evident.
Note: This conversation has sensitive material.
Saving Dinero Cooking With What You've Got | First Gen Money's Dannielle Romoleroux
I’ve been thinking a lot about food in my kitchen lately. Why, you ask? Here’s one reason: US grocery costs have jumped the most in 46 years. So while our spending may not go to purchasing air travel, experiences or that new bar in town, I knew I couldn’t be the only one watching my spending at the grocery market.
To learn a bit more about how we can manage our food spend, I reached to Dannielle Romoleroux. She’s the founder of First Gen Money, a financial literacy company that focuses on the first-gen folks, those who are first to graduate from college or build wealth in the U.S.
She’s the daughter to Ecuadorian immigrant parents herself, and recently became debt-free, having paid off $26,385 in 26 months. Go Danielle! She’s also luckily employed, but keeping an eye on her budget. I spoke with Dannielle about how she manages her food spend during the pandemic as a first generation millennial and how she’s learning to Cocinar (Cooking) With What I’ve Got -- a clever name for her new YouTube series.
Audio Credits
Grocery Store Prices Hit Highest Spike In Almost 50 Years Amid COVID-19 Pandemic -- NBC Nightly News
Soft Mischief -- Jay Man