Interviews

Introduction: Some of us don’t have the luxury to be scared. Have you ever been too poor, or too tired, or too sad, or too something to be scared? Like when everyone else (who’s right-minded) would be scared you are not and, you step forward because you are already getting beat down, what’s another one? A fighter’s halfway through the fight you know. What is it to live a personal hell so severe that state troopers, shotguns, white supremacists, and German Shepherds –look like a walk in the park? I’m not saying she wasn’t scared the trip to DC was the only time she ever got away from my Abuelo.  The bus, charted by (Gilberto Valentin the most important Puerto Rican you ever heard about) was yellow-stepping on the stairs with my 5-year-old father in hand – a civil rights advocate and domestic violence victim- Simultaneously. Right now, as Latinas, we are too poor to be scared. It’s go time. It’s stand-up for your sister because “if you’re going to talk to her like that, you’re going to talk to me like that time”, it’s “what would your mother say” time, it’s time to call it out. We need to celebrate gentlemen-Don’t roll your eyes at me at you read this and text your toxic-ex —  we all have them, girls. It’s time to free our sons of toxic patriarchy- no sweat (for me that comes in between baseball and chicken nuggets) nevertheless. The work though, it’s serious and needs motivation; for my grandmother, it came from her belief in the transformational power of the love of Jesus Christ and I honor that. Lucita is the founder of the first “Walk Against Domestic Violence” here in Rochester NY.  She preaches love and Christ. When they call the leaders (just like my grandmother), she steps forward. Confidently in every step, there’s a brown leather sandal of Jesus, it’s inside their shoe print they walk so close to him.  Owner of “Taina Soy”, a faith leader who has expanded her ministry to business. She creates jewelry that celebrates and preserves our unique Puerto Rican culture – specifically our indigenous heritage. She smiles like the sun, it’s hard to explain until you see her beaming back at you pumping all the positive energy of Christ’s forgiveness into the atmosphere “Christian” is an action word. She knows it. Plus, Lucila means light. Christian light, holding the hope in the dark, Lucila Matos.  Quantum Physics teaches that nothing is fixed, that there are no limitations, and that everything is vibrating Energy, and that everything is in a state of potential. You, we, are in a state of potential, as the largest group of female workers in the United States we are the potential. Lucila Matos’s ministry builds community, she has the power to join people in spirit, to convene, to bring forth a group of God’s children in action, and to guide that action to improve the lives of others and that is what will fuel her business success. Lucila’s continued success is evidence there is a distinct space for businesspeople whose mission and purpose are motivated by their faith. She also happens to be the founder of the first “Walk Against Domestic Violence.” Rochester has ever held. August 20th, 11 days before what would have been my grandmother’s 99th birthday and three years since my grandmother’s passing, meet me and Lucila in Rochester to continue to make LatinaHerStory. Love to Dona…  And if you can’t join us in person, be sure to join us digitally. TAG US!  Set your route, WEAR PINK, check-in, and we will share you and your message! We are together even when we are far away. INTERVIEW: Where were you born and what were the values in your home? I was born and raised in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Ponce is a beautiful town in the south of Puerto Rico. I was raised with good Christian values, values of respect and kindness, and love for others. What was your experience like as a student? My experience as a student was good. A student is always inclined to the arts. My favorite class was social studies I had my struggles like a lot of teenagers, but my parents were always there for me. What was your first or favorite job? This is a hard question, I think I am a natural caregiver, any job where I’m able to give, always will be my favorite. A job where I am a source of help or hope that is a job for me. My first job was I work for the Airline Delta it’s fun What advice do you have for other Latinas and people who want their voices to be heard? My best advice to other Latinas out there is to be focused, organized, and consistent. Find another woman with similar goals and be supportive. Encourage other women, to work together and work hard. But consistency is the real key, never give up! keep trying until you see results. What is your theory on human potential? My theory about human potential is that all people are different with different goals values and abilities. we all have the potential to fight and meet our goals, grow, and improve. Therefore, it is a quality whose training and results are very subjective. We can’t base our success on other people’s success or compare our processes. How do you define a businessperson? A businessperson for me is a visionary, a person with the ability to work hard to make a dream come true. A person that doesn’t give up any matter if your network is millions of dollars or a hundred dollars is a person that sees an opportunity and goes for it. Is there a businessperson and or mentor that you look up to and why? My mother will always be the person that I look up to and my mentor, Sonia Rodriguez always has been an example of a woman of God, a woman

One of the best things about growing a community around #Latinaherstory and #latinasinbusinessNY is that I meet amazing women who continue to inspire me. They take risks and risk-taking is something that, I didn’t know I didn’t like. I’ve become a little bolder, drawing on the strength of their “formation” stories that we share at our events. We all get together after eating and talking and make deliberate space to share our stories. I used the word “deliberate space”, and I am going to come back to that. How do you build deliberate space? You respectfully show an individual that you are in whatever capacity that looks like to you. To us, it looks like sitting in a circle and giving each other eye contact and no phones. Organically sometimes Latinas build deliberate spaces to share like – Noche de damas – at church but most of the time we can’t economically afford the time it takes to build deliberate spaces. Because you must pause. That needs to change, we need to embrace change and build deliberate space around the people and the ideas we support. And in those spaces with your colleagues or with your elders or sisters, give each other space to be flawed, to speak Spanglish, to not know, and most of all to be ambitious. Our community has a rich history in the United States and some of that history frames the ending of marijuana prohibition differently for us. As a result, we need to build deliberate spaces to learn about what this means for our community both from an economic perspective and social justice perspective. Marijuana prohibition impacted the lives of the children whose family members were prosecuted under its law. One such child has now grown into a beautiful strong Puerto Rican woman, and she has decided, properly, to use the end of marijuana prohibition in the United States to her economic benefit. If that’s not economic restorative justice I don’t know what is. She’s braved, her name is Dianelix Rivera and she is the CEO and owner of Loud Sirnez Cannabis Fashion Boutique. Why is this important?  She is not looking to cut even for the impacts that marijuana prohibition marked on her family’s economy, she’s looking to overcome economically and form a new future. Loud Sirnez Cannabis Fashion Boutique is loud proud and sharing information about the positive and medicinal effects of Cannabis. Resistance can be an outfit and Dianlex knows that. Restorative Justice is defined as Restorative justice is a response to wrongdoing that prioritizes repairing harm. It can be defined in three action terms: Encounter, Repair, and Transform. As a community, we know that persecuting someone for the possession of a plant that has been used for thousands of years as medicinal is wrong (encounter), we know the policies that were shaped to enforce marijuana prohibition were unjust in that they specifically targeted communities of color; we know that to reverse these racist policies we need people impacted by those racist policies at the table (repair), we know we need to transform our understanding of Marijuana. Dianelix Rivera is a pioneer. She is less than thirty years old, a student of the world, the oldest of four children, and a Latina whose Puerto Rican heritage inspired her to be unafraid of the unknown. Maria upturned her life, and Covid impacted her, as a student she has had successes and gained perspective. At present, she is also enrolled in a program for small businesses at our SBA at SUNY Buffalo State College. Ageism is defined as prejudice or discrimination on the grounds of a person’s age. We must accept two things as a community (1) cannabis is now legal and a source of economic opportunity (2) young people will lead the way. Statistically, Latinas will grow the marijuana, but will not be afforded a seat at the table to discuss it. INTERVIEW: Where were you born and what were the values in your home? I was born and raised in Puerto Rico predominantly by my single mother of four (4). I was the oldest and our values consisted of family unity, humility, and hard work. My momma worked a lot and was an example of perseverance and taught me, in combination with my own experiences, to never give up. Her determination in raising a family with limited support through also pursuing a professional career as a pharmacy technician and studying to be a nurse while also providing was very inspiring and taught me lots of strength and gratitude.  What was your experience like as a student?  I consider myself more a student of life than traditional schooling systems. Theoretical learning takes special discipline; however, I have found that in my experience, I have learned more through the mastery of following my path.  My educational resources vary, I was in pursuit of my bachelor’s degree in Communications & Journalism at the University of Puerto Rico in Aguadilla, however, did not get the opportunity to finish the program due to my moving to Buffalo after losing everything in Hurricane Maria in 2017. When I moved to Buffalo, I came to continue my degree but through the paths of life, real-life factors, and financial needs, roads lead to a different pursuit. I can proudly say my approach to being a student has been of extreme value to me in my journey. I am currently participating in a program with the Small Business Center Development and Buffalo State College and am consistently looking to grow and expand my knowledge through workshops, mastermind alliances as well as mentors who have helped shape and guide my trajectory. I strongly believe learning from natural laws, art, and entrepreneurship in a combination with consistently reading books has made me a good student of life.  3 What was your first or favorite job?  My favorite job before entrepreneurship was in the wireless and marketing industry, being part of the T-Mobile events and social media team. Hospitality was my least

I don’t think I ever fully believed in myself until I started writing this column. Honestly, I’ve spent most of my life scared of nothing. By writing, I have gotten to know myself and my dreams again.  As I started to follow another plan of forming my LLC (Limited Liability Corporation), I reflected on the commonalities in my experience and the experiences shared by some of the Latina HerStory alumni. It seemed – like life- being in business was more complicated – just because I was Latina. I remember searching for Latina-owned businesses to work with for Latina Herstory, and it was hard. I realized what I was looking for didn’t exist: (1). a centralized listing of Latina owned businesses (that was inclusive of a home or small niche business that are characteristic of our core economies of our community); and (2). a group of women that I shared common values and life experiences with that I could talk to about business. So late one night, on our Latina Herstory page, I added a tab that reads “Latina Business Directory.” It turns out; It’s the only one in New York. It’s the only page exclusively dedicated to Latina businesses in New York, accompanied by an accessible private community. Its history, ironically, one  month in or so, we had a gathering, we had  15 seats, sold 19 tickets, and we outsold. We started a community digitally, which has grown into 40 plus Latina women and our allies. One of the women in attendance’s name was Stephannie Alcazar (two n’s on purpose), a woman who brought the spirit of the city of lions (a nickname for Ponce) to the table. Stephanie is the woman who will marry my two projects, who embodies the values that have propelled me forward, and a work ethic incomprehensible to even some of the most brutal moms I know. Thus, our Latina HerStory features will be businesswomen listed on our directory each month. Each month we will marry our column with a podcast broadcasted on Facebook that will bring our communities together and encourage others to learn about independent Latino-owned papers and local journalism. We will ultimately form a fund to build a giving circle and issue microloans to our members. Big dreams and I need big help, so again, Stephannie. In 200 words or so, she dares to believe in people more than themselves. Ella de Ponce, Fuerte is elegant, intelligent, sensitive, and easily one of the most generous people I have ever met. Spoiler alert, there’s a lot more to this amazing woman who also happens to be the proud Latina owner of “Wonderland’s Soothing Creations.” She will be everywhere in May. Look for her interview in print in our papers. If you want to catch a glimpse of her life, join our Latina HerStory or LatinasinBusinessNY communities and view the first episode of our podcast. The reason I chose to write about Stephannie is not that she’s donating 40% of her profits to LatinasinBusinessNY and granting 10% off on her entire shop for the month of May for any purchases using the Promo Code: LIBNY716 or because she makes me feel like I can take over the world. When you open yourself up to God’s love in the form of people, it can be a mighty blessing. Even her “formation story” (the story of why you started your business) is inspirational. Stephanie’s motivation to start her business centers on her love for her special needs son and his sensitivity to harsh indigents. She started making soap as a mom (her favorite job). One of her greatest assets (admittingly) is her partner in life and business, Joseph Santiago; he suggested they start a business after Stephannie lost her job during Covid, and she hasn’t looked back since. Stephannie wakes at 5 am and makes a LatinaHerstory every day- support her like you do our column. THE INTERVIEW What advice do you have for other Latinx people who want their voices to be heard in their community? I would tell them not to give up fighting for what they want to achieve; it’s not about winning. It’s about not giving up What is your theory on human potential?  The limit is the sky, and people have already made it to the moon. I believe that everyone has potential, but to use that potential, they need to figure out what they want to do and what they want to achieve. What experience do you have as a businessperson?  As a businessperson, some of the best experiences I’ve had so far are that I’ve grown as a person, and I never stop learning. Also, now I make plans- I try to be more organized, and I get to be more creative at the same time. I’ve learned to be more open-minded, and I’ve learned to manage my time better.   How would you define a businessperson?  I believe a businessperson must be committed, decided, and can create their path: a person willing to take the risk and the chance to achieve their goals. 5. Is there a local business person you look up to? I look up to those local businesses still standing even when they’ve struggled to stay up and run but didn’t give up. I look up to those business owners that day who fight hard for what they want and don’t give up, and if they fall, they get up and come back stronger even if I don’t know them personally; I know they are out there in this region. Read More From This Writer All Post Art Books & Poems Business Community Education Entertainment español Food & Culture Health Interviews Military & Veterans Peace People Politics INTERVIEW #31: MARIA CRUZ July 4, 2023/No Comments On June 2, 2007, I posted my first Facebook photo. I made identity-affirming Latina-centered student content before it was seen Read More INTERVIEW #30: CASSANDRA BOCANEGRA PONCE June 4, 2023/No Comments My son is a six-year-old CEO. We started