Here I am wearing a comfy top from Kmart as part of my LatinaSmart collaboration and sporting a much lighter mane of hair. It’s a bit blonder than I wanted but for the sake of not going bald, I’m going to just be a rubia for a bit. Why not? But this post is not about that.
This month Kmart asked their bloggers to focus on Entrepreneurship & Innovation. I come from a family of entrepreneurs so naturally I love this topic. Wait, let me rephrase that. I come from a family who came to this country, worked 17 hour days, saved every dime and eventually purchased a business or property of their own.
However, being an entrepreneur is not something I thought about too much to be honest. I always worked for museums and felt very content being under the “dome” so to speak, of such awesome institutions. I did however work for several museums simultaneously as a contractor, so I liked making my own schedule and not necessarily answering to anyone. It wasn’t until the recession hit that I realized I needed to make some serious choices. I thought – How could I combine my experiences as an artist and museum educator? And what about my stint as an actress? How can I fit that in? How can I bring the spirit of the NYC museum scene that I missed so much to my life in LA. What to do with everything I’d done? If there is one thing I learned from my education is to be fearless, take risks. In art and art history, the greatest minds worked ferverously every day and never gave up – no matter the criticism. One day I just decided I would write about art and the things I love – just to gather all of my passions in one place. I wanted to flush out ideas, inspire and feel inspired. That simple. Since then, I discovered my passion for writing, photography and curating. I started using my museum world know-how and past museum program development skills and started working online for various places. I put myself out there. I merged all of my experiences and began a career online and in social media as a writer and photographer and am now knee-deep in many exciting projects. I even joined forces with another entrepreneur Ana Flores (owner of Latina Bloggers Connect and Spanglish Baby) as an Account Executive connecting brands with bloggers. If you know me, you know when I put my mind to something, it’s all or nothing. It started with an idea and it launched from there.
Right now, there are tons of recent graduates wondering – Now what? I remember that question very well. In fact, it repeated itself many times. Everyone’s path is different. You may have “studied” one thing but (who knows) you may find another passion in your journey. My advice – Never let that fire in you burn out. Stay focused but don’t be afraid of that hidden path. Be realistic … but know that it’s OK to dream.
