You never knew how strong you’d have to be. You never knew how many obstacles you’d encounter. All you knew was that you had to do this. Creating a Vision Choosing to be an entrepreneur is the evolution of you and the circumstances that brought you to this point. The ultimate challenge is not what will test your success but what will keep you focused and working towards greatness — the greatness not of monetary success, as that will come, but of creating a vision for your company, your clients and your community. They say artists are in constant battle to define and create the reality they want to see. An entrepreneur is no different. Creating a vision for your company or your client is what will keep you alive as an entrepreneur and make the difficult moments worth the effort. Such vision needs to be relevant to our times with an eye toward knowing you will truly impact the lives of many.

Dianne Segura, President and CEO of Segue Enterprises and 2003 Anna Maria Arias Memorial Business Fund Award Recipient

Choosing Champions
True champions champion others. As a Latina, and as an entrepreneur, you need to surround yourself with those who will foster your success and the success of your company.

Champions like Anna Maria Arias knew the importance of championing others. Arias’ creation of LATINA Style not only allowed for us as Latinas to come together, but more than 10 years later the magazine continues to be a platform to foster our growth and address our challenges as Latinas.

In 2002, LATINA Style, Wells Fargo and the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, to honor Arias’ mission to support her fellow Latina entrepreneurs, created the Anna Maria Arias Memorial Business Fund Awards. The Awards, now in their fourth year, put unrestricted capital into the hands of our country’s fastest-growing small-business owners: Latina entrepreneurs.

According to recent Small Business Administration findings, the number of Latina entrepreneurs continues to grow at five times the national average. We must embrace this growth with a sense of responsibility toward others, toward lending our own support to the Latina business community.

We are not only the future face of small business in America; we are the seeds for a stronger and more conscientious country.

Empowering Others
As the growth of Latina entrepreneurs continues to rise, we stand to impact and set the pace for the business world, while having the dual role in America of raising future generations.

It is crucial not only to view clearly our responsibility as entrepreneurs but also to view that responsibility with the buy-in to empower others for their own personal and professional success.

As a third-generation Latina, I was groomed by my mother to be the woman she always wanted to be. I became a living extension of my mother’s vision of herself: assimilated, educated, world-traveled and cultured. We follow in the footsteps of generations who’ve struggled for justice, social equality and fair representation. For all that has been fought by our country’s mothers, our tias, our grandmothers, it is crucial that we, too, fight for the generations now following in our footsteps.

It is our responsibility not only to encourage current and future Latina entrepreneurs but to have the commitment and foresight to also empower our fellow Latinas to be the mothers of our country.

Segue Enterprises (www.seguebiz.com) is a marketing, entertainment and business consulting group based in Los Angeles that includes client successes for the Cesar E. Chavez Foundation, the City of Pasadena, State Farm Insurance and The Anthony Quinn Family.