The Power to Change

We are Sandra and Sonia Alvarado, sisters, born in Chile to modest, hard-working parents. We were in grade school when Mom and Dad brought us to Los Angeles in pursuit of a better life.

Our parents worked menial jobs to put food on the table and taught us to believe in ourselves and the power of education. Recognizing our parents’ sacrifice, we quickly learned English and both went on to receive bachelor’s degrees in television and film production.

Our field was a difficult one to break into. We sent out hundreds of résumés, only to be rejected time and time again. But we never gave up on our dream to work in television. We started at the bottom as unpaid interns, even cleaning the studio floor when necessary.

Our perseverance and work ethic paid off. Sandra became a director of a Spanish-language newscast and Sonia a producer of a weekly show about minority entrepreneurs. By the year 2000, we had won four Los Angeles Emmy Awards and one Golden Mike Award between us.

After achieving success in television production, we set our sights on a new, more challenging goal: entrepreneurship. In 2001, with $200 for stationery and a cell phone, we started our video-production company, Aces TV, from Sonia’s bedroom. We designed a website, mailed announcements, and made hundreds of phone calls, but the work did not come.

Giving up was not an option for us. We kept thinking about the words of writer Napoleon Hill: “A quitter never wins and a winner never quits.” We used credit cards to purchase video equipment and pay all our bills. In our previous jobs, we had production teams that would follow our directions. As business owners, we were the team. We saw our business drought as an opportunity to further develop our skills. We participated in the entrepreneur program at Valley Economic Development Center, attended workshops and networking events, and learned computer video editing.

For the first three years, we invested more than we earned, so taking a salary was out of the question. It was a scary time, but we believed in the value of what we had to offer. We gravitated toward working with nonprofit organizations and felt successful because our work was helping to make a positive difference in the community. Our videos highlighted companies such as the Women’s Economic Development Center, the Filipino American Service Group, and Project Cuddle, an organization that works to prevent baby abandonment. Creating something that has the power to change people’s lives for the better is a job we are very proud of.

Our educational video about the importance of folic acid to help prevent certain birth defects is being used to spread the message in the Hispanic community. We also joined forces with our sister Monica, a genetic counselor, to produce videos in English and Spanish educating patients about cystic fibrosis, a disease that is the biggest genetic killer of children and young adults in the United States. These videos have been ordered by doctors and hospitals from across the United States and as far away as Australia.

Being entrepreneurs has given us a great sense of accomplishment and personal rewards. Our flexible schedule also allows us to volunteer with various organizations. We taught a video-production class at a home for at-risk boys, ran a marathon to raise money for AIDS, and are volunteers for Padres Contra el Cancer and Project Cuddle.

Ours is a story of struggle and determination in search of the American dream. We were deeply honored to receive an Anna Maria Arias Memorial Business Fund Award. The grant helped Aces TV to produce a video for Buenanueva Foundation, a nonprofit organization that helps to prevent teen pregnancy and assists young mothers in continuing their education and becoming self-sufficient.

We are determined to honor Anna Maria Arias’ memory by becoming role models for other Latinas, encouraging them to set big goals and to never give up on their dreams.

By Sandra and Sonia Alvarado