Leading the Way to Economic Empowerment Part II
Maria Hernandez and Kathleen Chavez-Rège

The Alamo Travel Group was founded in 1982 and Patricia Pliego-Stout took the helm as sole owner and president in 1990. Alamo is a nationwide provider of corporate, leisure, federal and state travel services, grossing $64 million annually in sales. For Pliego-Stout, one of the keys to success was building her business through government contracts, which she believes is easier to secure once having established a vendor agreement. It was that steady flow of revenue that opened up new opportunities for her to acquire experience resulting in exceptional financial performance for Alamo.

“I am very fortunate to be in the position I am today”

“I am very fortunate to be in the position I am today,” says Pliego-Stout. “It is good to know that because of our efforts as entrepreneurs and leaders, our daughters and our granddaughters will have it much easier than we did.”
Pliego-Stout, a native of Mexico City, arrived to the United States in 1974. She raised her two children while working as a university administrator but wanted to have more independence and raise her family. In the last 16 years, her company has evolved from leisure travel, to corporate travel, to a federal contractor.

Her advice for the would-be entrepreneur: “You must like what you do. Make sure you have a business plan and have the money to see it through. Don’t risk your life savings or your children’s college funds.”

Jeanette Candelaria
Greetings! Inc.
Attitude is everything

Jeanette and Martin Candelaria have celebrated 25 years of marriage and seven years of business partnership. Their business, Greetings, Inc.,—about to reach $1 million in annual revenue—creates brochures and mailings for political campaigns and specialized marketing material. They recently managed the promotional material for Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez. Born and raised in New Mexico, Jeanette credits the successful partnership and marriage to their ability to communicate and be each other’s cheerleaders. “Martin and I both have our strengths. I am more patient than he is. But I can be more demanding in some areas. He looks at the big picture. I look at the details. Most of all we are there for each other—when one of us gets overwhelmed the other one is there to help the other,” says Candelaria.

The hardest challenge they’ve had to overcome each year has been keeping up with the ever-changing technology and impacting media, communications and marketing. Initially, the company focused on the creative development of materials and mailing them. With an investment in a printing press, they began to be seen as a full service shop that took care of a project from start to finish—which customers found valuable.

Even with a staff of seven, Candelaria also knows work/life balance is a big issue for any entrepreneur. She sees herself as being very fortunate that her husband shares in the business as much as he does and they have worked hard to keep work at work. “I guess it’s a good thing you don’t know what you are getting yourself into because if you did, you might not do it,” she says. “People often think it must be great to work for yourself because you can choose when to work, but I often say, ‘yes, we get to choose whatever 12 hours of the day we want to work.’”

Candelaria says that her success comes largely from a strong work ethic that was instilled at a very early age. She also feels that it is essential to keep an eye on one’s attitude. “You have to look at problems that come up and not look at them as problems but opportunities that will empower you to set new pathways for making your company a success. The next time this same situation comes up, you’ll know what to do.”

Lupita Colmenero
El Hispano News
Listening to your customer’s needs

Lupita Colmenero and her ex-husband initiated El Hispano News over 20 years ago when another Spanish-language newspaper in Dallas—El Sol de Texas—went out of business. The success of their media business has allowed Colmenero turn her focus on a new venture based on the enormous requests the newspaper receives for assistance with basic life skills. The goal of Padres un Paso Adelante (Parents One Step Forward) in partnership with the Dallas Independent School District, is to educate parents on basic life and parenting skills that will help build strong children and successful students.

Colmenero’s goal is to reduce the drop out, drug use and gang rates among Latino youth. “I can’t comprehend when someone says my daughter or son is 15 years old and I can’t control them. Parents need to start early to talk, to discipline and to educate their children. Parents need to understand how important that is,” she says. “Growing up today is difficult and parents, especially Hispanic parents need to be aware of the importance of the words that come out of their mouths, they can determine what type of self-esteem their son or daughter will build. Even if they don’t mean it to cause harm, when you talk to your children with indifference or in a diminishing manner it affects them in so many ways.”
Padres un Paso Adelante will approach everything from parental educational workshops in local schools, to providing access to low cost health services (in partnership with UnitedHealthcare). In December of 2006, the program held a gala acknowledging 10 parents with Parent of the Year Awards. Winners received a home computer and technical support for their children. Colmenero is also eager to see local institutions establish a scholarship program for parents who want to get or continue an education.

On becoming an entrepreneur, Colmenero tells women not to wait.

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t have everything in place. Start taking one step each day.”

Monica Garcia Plieman
OMS, LLC
Get the right people on your team

Monica Garcia Plieman grew up in Westminster/Arvada, Colorado with six brothers who gave her a strong sense of competitiveness that would prove quite useful for her as a Latina entrepreneur consulting in technology. Optimum Management Systems, LLC provides technical consulting on financial software (i.e. Oracle, SAP, Momentum) to federal entities like the Peace Corp, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Departments of the Interior and Transportation. With $7 million in annual revenue and 90 employees in Colorado and Washington D.C., Garcia-Plieman has succeeded by “getting the right people on the bus” she says quoting her favorite author, Jim Collins, of Good to Great.

“Latinas have a tendency to think and make decisions with a big heart, but in business you can’t always do so. Eventually you need to learn to be tough—not every employee will work out and you cannot let your business suffer because you feel for their situation and carry a maternal instinct,” says Garcia-Plieman.

Her early interest in owning her own business came from a firsthand experience seeing her parents grow their small construction company into a successful venture that took the entire family from lower social economic status to a comfortable middle class lifestyle. “My parents worked very hard but I saw that with a strong work ethic and control of your own destiny you could do well. I knew I wanted to do the same for myself someday.”

Even so, there were challenges that Garcia-Plieman wishes were not such a problem for entrepreneurs. Access to capital was one of her biggest challenges and another is managing the business for maximum profitability. “There are times in this roller coaster when you think ‘Wouldn’t it be easier to just get a paycheck every week from someone else?’ But this is when you have to ponder about the importance of what you are doing, the treatment of your employees, your clients and the lives and the other businesses that you’re affecting. You also have to ask yourself, are you still having fun?”

For working mothers like herself, Garcia-Plieman knows the challenge of work-life balance. Recently, she began to schedule her children’s events and special family days so that everyone understood she would not be available for work when she needed to be a parent or a wife. “As a woman, you tend to want to serve everyone,” Garcia-Plieman notes. “But at the end of life few people will say, I should have spent more time at the office. Most of us are likely to think we should have spent more time with our families.”

Each woman featured in this two-part series offer a pearl of wisdom that we have summarized in Los Diez Consejos or Ten Tips. In our own work as consultants and business leaders, these insights are the ones we clearly recognize from a wide range of business research and textbooks. You may want to clip, frame, or even center stage Los Diez Consejos on your desk, kitchen counter or garage bulletin board. And just as important, each entrepreneur may want to form a circle of like-minded Latinas who are willing to explore these Consejos and support each other.

Our expanded coverage of Latina Entrepreneurs will run in every issue of LATINA Style Magazine throughout 2007. In addition, read complimentary editorial content and resource information at www.latinastyle.com
 

Diez Consejos or Ten Tips for the Would-Be Latina Entrepreneur by the Successful Latina Entrepreneur

1. Set up your legal structure. If you don’t want to pay a lawyer a couple of thousand dollars today, maybe you’d like to pay her ten thousand later. Here’s where an ounce of prevention is much more than just a pound of a cure. (See our special focus on legal issues for starting a business on our last issue on page 14) 2. Do the math. Find out how much money you need to have in the bank in order to keep yourself and your business afloat if it takes a while to bring in your first customer. 3. Choose partners wisely. Your business partners need to share your values, your vision and particularly your work ethic. Make sure you are all committed to succeed. 4. Get ready for a lot of hard work. There are many advantages in having your own business, but there is no escape to the hard work that goes in expanding any business. If you are looking for an 8 hour day shift and a regular steady pay, this is not for you. 5. Don’t go at it alone. Build up a network of advisors, supporters and associates who can give you candid feedback or open doors for your success.

6. Stay informed about your business’ bottom line. Keep your criteria for success in clear view. Are you making money or not? If yes, how much? Is it sustainable? 7. Don’t re-invent the flat tire/Don’t spin your wheels. Most small businesses need strategic plans, business models, or financial models. Make use of key resources available through reputable business resources like the Small Business Administration and your local chamber of commerce. 8. Be honest with yourself-Know your strengths and weaknesses. It’s impossible to be perfect at all aspects of your business so leverage what you know and get help for the rest. 9. Engage your customers and your community. It’s not only the right thing to do but it also keeps your networks of potential customers, employees or vendors growing and ready to take your business to the next level. 10. Take care of yourself and you will take better care of your business and your loved ones. The maternal instinct runs deep in our cultural roots. Use it to take care of your health and spirit so that you can achieve your dreams and take care of your family.