From WXXI news.

This is Connections.

I'm Evan Dawson.

Our connection this hour was made in the obituary section of the New York Times on November 12th, 1937.

The New York Times featured the passing of a man named Domingo Delgado, the export sales manager of the Eastman Kodak Company in Rochester, noting that Delgado had served the company for 40 years.

Who would have known about such a story that a Latino had become such a prominent figure in one of the country's most successful companies?

Julio Sáenz knew that story.

His 2011 book on Rochester's Latino community highlighted Delgado as a kind of pioneer.

Even referring to Delgado as one of Eastman's confidants.

In his book, Sáenz Writes, quote, from its simple beginnings, the community has grown into a vibrant place with over $1 billion a year in purchasing power.

Many Latinos now live in every suburb and town in Monroe County and beyond, and work in every professional field imaginable, end quote.

Perhaps Domingo Delgado would be proud of Julio Sáenz, who was recently recognized as the Rochester Hispanic Businessperson of the year.

The Hispanic community has seen tremendous growth and significant challenges as well, especially for small business owners.

And this our it's a window into that world as we celebrate our WXXI colleague Julio Sáenz, who's going to have to update that book 15 years later.

Not that you need another project, Sarah, welcome back to time.

Yeah, it's, Julio is the chief content officer for WXXI Public Media and occasional host of this program.

And yes, Rochester Hispanic Business Association's 2026 Hispanic Business Person of the year.

The 2016 Business Person of the year was Mercedes Vazquez Simmons, who was a member county legislator for ten years ago.

Now ten years ago.

Time flies for time flies when we get to the program.

Thanks for having me.

The person who helps run that program is Orlando Rivera, who's chair of the Rochester Hispanic Business Association board and host of the 2026 Hispanic Business Person of the year celebration.

Welcome.

Thank you for being here again.

Thank you for having me.

And welcome as well to Diana.

Calypso is a business consultant, a social scientist and advocate.

Welcome to the program.

Thank you for being here.

Thank you.

So we have Sáenz.

Just briefly, no surprise to us that you were awarded in this way, but what did that mean to you?

It meant a lot for me because, first of all, all the amazing people that have won it.

And so being in the media, I've covered the winners and interviewed.

You've chronicled this over the years.

Yeah.

So I've got to know a lot of them.

And, always been impressed with them.

And one thing I've always loved about the, Riba winners and who they award these two is that it's so diverse.

You have millionaires like Cody Morales.

I mean, who going to have a million?

You know, people who have million dollar businesses as well as someone who has a beauty salon or Elle Burgos, who's been doing people's taxes since since I was a kid.

So, and, that meant a lot to me.

It's such a variety of people.

And so, I'm very familiar with a lot of the past winners.

And so to be mentioned among them, to me is, an amazing honor.

Going back and reading parts of your book, it is interesting because you are going to have to update if there's been a lot of change in the last 15 years.

And yet, still, so much of that, I think, reads as an important tribute to the history that, as you have have said recently, a lot of Rochester areas didn't know.

And frankly, it wasn't in history books.

You pulled it from basements and from people's photos and from their archives personally in the attic.

That was probably a lot of work to do that.

And I imagine 15 years later, very valuable that you did that.

Yeah, I'm very glad that it's that moment, at least at that moment we gathered all that history.

There were things in there I, that I, that I was able to get access to the Democratic Chronicles, historical archives.

When they were still at their older building, that they're old building.

I don't know what has happened to those archives.

I was able to, you know, meet a lot of people who have since passed, had those conversations with people like Father Tracy, who's on or with those people that, told me just all these details, even I actually got to meet some of Domingo Gallo's, relatives.

He has family that lives here, and just, uncover layer upon layer.

Every time I thought I was done.

Oh, there's people here from the 40s.

There's now.

No, no, you get to talk to somebody else that were here in the 30s.

The 20s.

The next thing I know, I'm in the last century.

So it was an amazing project.

Yeah.

And I know that that was a small slice of Julio's story and background, and he's doing great work here.

Orlando Rivera.

What is the what is the goal in highlighting someone like this in the community here?

What are you trying to accomplish?

Yeah, it's important to highlight, you know, our our Hispanic professionals and their contributions to the community.

So our goal is to make folks aware that these contributions are being made in our community.

And we need to start having these discussions and putting folks out there.

Because it's it's just important to tell their story.

You're hosting the Hispanic Business Person of the year celebration, by the way.

Yes, sir.

Good party.

It'll be a great party when you want people to know about that.

So we've got a great program lined up.

We bring together business professionals and also civic leaders.

So the mayor's going to be there.

The county exec will be there, and we're all there with the idea of honoring Julio Sáenz, just for his contribution to our community over the years.

And he's got a great story step by step.

And I just enjoyed, the years of friendship that we've had and just, watching him be so successful.

And I think the storytelling piece of it is what he's so gifted at over the years, just watching him from connection to, the the inspire show to his job now with, his book, so inspirational.

And we're just honored to be able to give him this award.

Well, Julio's work with poder and some of the work that he did previous to WXXI, we're going to reference that coming up here, because this is a panel that really does know a lot of the great stories happening in this community, but also some of the the real challenges facing people in this community, whether you're a small business owner, whether you're looking to be first gen, going to college, first gen owning a business, we're going to talk about that coming up here.

Mercedes, ten years ago.

What did that award mean to you when you were the recipient?

It was quite, quite a milestone.

I entered into business.

Really not understanding what it took to to to have that, to actually create a business and sustain it.

I entered into a male dominated industry, which is boxing and, and mixed martial arts.

So to be honored by my peers, by my community, was quite an honor.

And I look forward to it.

Every year, every year we learn something new about what segments are out there, and it's important that we support our businesses.

Are you describing boxing, mixed martial arts, or were you talking about politics?

Oh, that's the same.

Oh, well, I think that some of my biggest battles have been in chamber.

It served you well, I think.

Absolutely.

Hey, listen, there's there's this key element is defend yourself at all times.

And that's certainly what, what I've, taken that same discipline into politics, but I've stayed true to who I am and to to the community that I serve.

And we're excited about Julio, of honoring Julio.

And I look forward to this, this, this event, by the way, when you mentioned that when you started off, there was still a lot that you didn't know, you kind of just.

Oh, sure.

What do you think it was?

What was the biggest lesson you had to learn early on?

Well, as a business owner, particularly a small business owner, you're responsible for everything accounts receivable, accounts payable, marketing.

You are it.

You're the one person that does it all.

Things have evolved.

Now there is a there's resources.

There is online, options that we can tackle tackle.

But back then everything was manual.

It was you.

And access to funding was a challenge.

Back then.

And I think some of the Latino businesses that I've spoken to still continue to have that as a, as a barrier.

So we have to work on accessibility of funding.

And how do we better support some of our smaller businesses?

Particularly, you know, what I see in the segment is Latinas stepping up and being, entrepreneurs and taking on that challenge.

You know, we account for over $120 billion in annual revenue.

So that's significant.

And we have to continue to focus on that.

And, and, and grow that segment.

I remember as a journalist in my early days in Rochester, I was interviewing a small business owner, and I, he introduced himself as, the janitor.

I said, I apologize.

I was told you're the owner of the company, so.

Oh, yes, that's right.

And he said, I'm also the chief financial officer.

You're everything.

I'm the cleaner.

We do it all here.

That, you know, that humorous moment stuck with me.

You obviously learn that, but.

Sure.

But you also, as you say, in a male dominated field, in a male role that added a different layer of of of complexities, if you will.

But I use that as an opportunity.

I mean, many people may think that I'm an aggressive person, but there's a reason why I've had to defend myself.

It's an interesting story, situations and environments.

But it's important that if you're going to enter into a business that you do your due diligence, understand what the marketplace is, can the market bear what your, your product or your service is going to render, and then you move forward, look to your resources.

And now we have such a great collection of folks that that are in our business, that are in our community, that have been successful.

So we can springboard off some of our experiences.

And I think this is what what this platform allows it to happen, that we're able to communicate.

There's a monthly business association meeting that that occurs, that it's important that we use our connections and our resources to be successful.

Well, Diana, you are a business consultant now, correct.

How did you work your way into becoming a business consultant?

Tell us a little bit about your story.

My story is very unconventional.

I actually came here from the Dominican Republic directly into New York City.

Didn't speak English at all.

So I started selling shoes when my dad, a 14 years old in street 14, and I pay my on my way through college myself.

No background on how those anyone goes to college.

I am the first one out of a family of 35 grandkids to graduate college.

And I to say that again one more time, I was the first one in my family, a family of 35 grandchildren, to graduate college.

Cell phone debt, no loans.

I couldn't qualify for them.

So I just needed to work two three jobs to sustain myself.

Long story short, I just finished my master's degree from Harvard in Industrial Organizational Psychology, and I have I hold three degrees now, and I am here to support the Rochester Hispanic community and to see that you can be the difference, that you can be a first generation anything.

And when you have leaders like Julio, like Orlando and Mercedes here supporting our community, we can support each other, we can open platforms for each other and guidance.

What brought you to Rochester specifically?

My husband.

We met.

We both were working in finance, HSBC Bank.

I was the VP of, the relationship manager, managing, middle market and business accounts.

And we met in the city.

He was from here.

I always invite him to just come to the New York City live.

He I was like, absolutely not.

I am I never leaving the Rochester community.

And we started our family here.

Now my daughter is 11 years old.

She owns her own business and she has represented Rochester, New York State, at Disney Hilton hotels.

What does she do?

She is a model.

She's a model.

At 11 I 11, I had to learn a lot about business and how to build partnerships.

And now both of my kids are nine and 11, and they are the nets.

Then a generation that is building different things that we could have access to, but that comes with learning.

It's actually what you are describing.

So your point, Holyoke, earlier, you have to showcase, you have to show others that this is possible.

So that was one of the things that you speak about within your book.

You know, showing the mirror I started myself, you know, struggling with many different aspects, but I understood, I learned finance, I learned how to build partnerships, I learned self.

Now my kids are building their own little enterprises.

So a little bit more of your story.

So the first of 35 grandkids to go to college.

Correct.

How many of those 35 have now gone to college anymore?

Yes.

A total of five.

I paid for my sister.

Wow.

So she was number two.

She went to school and now she is a linguistic professor.

So she speak English, French and Spanish.

And she also works for the government.

And then my the third one was my cousin.

She, she's an accounting.

So you are in some ways blazing a trail in your own family.

Is there an expectation for your children?

Do they understand what is expected of them now or the opportunity?

Maybe expectations, the wrong word?

What do they think about their own future and their opportunities?

As a first generation Latina?

In my household, every day is a lesson.

There's no way that I let anything slide because I tell them we don't waste food.

We consume everything that we have at home.

We don't do x, y because we didn't have those resources.

So every day they are reminded you are blessed.

You are lucky, you have so many opportunities.

And yes, I have to say, I'm very hard on them because I had to be.

So I do have the expectation that they are going to be better human beings and good citizens, whatever that means to them.

That's my goal for them to be involved in the community, involved with their own future.

Isn't that interesting?

Your own life had significant struggle in a lot of different ways as a kid.

As a young adult, and the goal that I think we all have is to be able to, if we want to raise kids, to raise kids with for them enough comfort that they have stable, strong lives, enough struggle that they don't get complacent.

Right.

So how do you balance giving them?

Because you benefited from struggle, but you don't want them to have exactly the struggle you had.

You would like them to have a more comfortable life, but you also want them to be tough and strong and learn all the lessons.

Are you feeling like you can balance those things?

I'm going to bring it back to the Rochester Hispanic Business Association, because this is what we are building together by creating the space and the room where business leaders or young professionals can come and share their story, we can see that I'm not the only one.

I can see my serving others and not just them, over the point of communicating that story of sharing among you show that I also had to endure that.

And then we ask questions, well, how did you do it?

Can you support me?

Can you make an introduction?

How can we help a youth?

Well, Orlando, I can see why you wanted Diane to be on the program today.

It's a pretty outstanding story, but there are more stories like this in our community here.

What do you.

What's the lesson you hear when you hear her story?

I know exactly what we're discussing.

It's just people are connecting with others.

Gives them a network so you can improve as an entrepreneur and as a person.

I've learned.

That over the years, you continue to grow.

You don't stay stagnant in the same practices.

So in order to do that, part of what the RBA provides is the ability to come together with business leaders.

We have a, luncheons that we host where we have individuals that are experts in a certain field, and then we have those individuals give a talk of sorts, and then afterwards, folks can ask questions and learn a little bit more.

So let's say we have, I heard tax.

Voice but we've got there we go.

So we may be in and out.

We may be dealing with tech issues.

It may be only in studio.

And everyone listening might be saying, Evan sounds crazy, everything sounds fine, I don't know, we're working on that.

We're going to proceed as normal here.

So I apologize.

I want to reset why we are here.

One of our colleagues who we have signed was recently awarded, the title of the Rochester Hispanic Business Association's Hispanic Business Person of the year for 2026.

Well earned Julio's the chief content officer for WXXI Public Media.

Of course, they're going to honor him at an upcoming event with a lot of community leaders.

And I want to ask Orlando and Julio and everyone here about, you know, how we frame a question that can have no, perhaps perfect answer, which is so, you know, so how's the Hispanic business community do?

There's a risk I think Orlando, when we when we frame it like that, to imply that the Hispanic business community is its own monolithic thing outside of and not integrated into our community as opposed to, there are Hispanic front businesses.

We've touched on this is, accessibility to to funding, you know, how are we able to fund this, you know, do they have the background on it and the business plan in place so that it makes it easier for them to be funded?

And all the individuals that I've spoken to, in the last several years, last two years, that's that's primarily the reason is, is having issues to funding and capital.

Once I think once we were able to address some of that hurdles, will see the growth that, that I think most, areas, as I mentioned, Los Angeles and some of the primary cities sees, sees the economic growth, Rochester has great, great, abilities to do this.

We have access to some resources, but we could be doing better.

We have a growing population is just now we need the business segment to match that.

Okay.

And so when it comes to small businesses, I do, I do kind of want to ask what the specific challenges here because, you know, Julio is, is a leader in public media that's different than, you know, running a store, a shop, a small business, something in the service industry.

So, Orlando in general, what's the challenge that the small business community is facing right now?

I think capital is a huge issue.

You have to be able to sustain your business.

And if you have to think about all the costs that you have, that overhead in the beginning, a lot of folks don't understand those things.

So to Mercedes point, we need education.

These folks need to go through some sort of certification process or some ongoing classwork to be able to, keep their business running.

But I think capital is probably the biggest because you need to have that ongoing.

You can't just sit and then spend money without, like, looking at what you have coming up bill wise.

So there's an initiative, one called Built to Scale.

Yes.

That kind of addresses some of this.

Tell me about what that is.

Yeah.

So built a scale is, a six month program.

It's a pilot program that the RBA has partnered with.

I Barrow, and also the Rochester Area Community Foundation.

And then we are the implementer.

We have someone, that we hired, Mario Rocha, who is, tremendous at what he does.

He is going to be overseeing this initiative as we roll it out September 23rd.

And I'll be talking a little bit about it at, the Hispanic business Person of the year event to introduce that.

But, again, it's a six month training program and it's designed to assist folks that are already established business owners, and they're on the cusp of growth, and they just need that little push, to be able to obtain, government contracts.

So we're talking about, minority women owned businesses in this program.

And we did surveys to find out, like what the needs were.

So from the folks that send out request for proposals, as well as those businesses themselves to find out what are the challenges and how can we help these folks.

So we've gone out and we've partnered with larger scale companies to be able to provide this education to, these these folks that want to participate in the program.

And part of that education is going to be insurance and bonding, operational costs, like how to complete RFP properly so that you, you understand, like how this all works, how to bid your work out, understanding that bidding process like all those different sorts of things.

And, I also want to mention because this is key, this pilot project is in the construction and trade field.

So we're rolling it out for those specific businesses.

And it'll be between 3 to 5 businesses that will participate in this.

Because again, it's a pilot project.

But the intent is to help them grow their revenue and their overall understanding of how to run their business.

To your point about sometimes a small business is on the cusp.

Yeah.

What is it that would prevent a small business that may have something that's really viable in the marketplace from making that jump and becoming either consistently profitable or able to grow in scale?

Yeah.

So I think it comes back to money and then word of mouth for some folks advertisement costs.

So that's where it goes back to the money.

But being able to spread the word of mouth, for someone that has like that particular product, for example, restaurants were mentioned.

So if you have really great food, word of mouth, it's going to spread because you have customers that are going to go out and say, hey, you know, I went out to such and such restaurant and it was fantastic.

I just want you to go try it out as well.

And that's an that's an easy touch point that way.

But for some businesses you need a little bit more where that advertising budget might come into play.

You know and just being able to have connections.

So again, the networking piece of that also comes into play.

So, so again, I just think that monetarily it's for most businesses that's their struggle.

Hopefully over the years in your time in media it's it is interesting.

There's other platforms besides Z, I'm told.

And you've been there.

You've told some of these stories.

What have you learned from the small business community, in particular in this community in Rochester specifically?

I think there's, a lot of, goodwill and, enthusiasm to start businesses.

But it's the lack of the technical skills, the lack of knowing how to do your bookkeeping, how to set aside enough for your sales taxes, cash flow as Orlando's talking about.

I think that's a killer for a lot of great businesses that I got to know over the years.

You know, hosting the, the, the business, the entrepreneurship show up for that.

And, and channel eight, we talked to hundreds of businesses and that those are the main challenges.

Another common challenge I we heard a lot about was, family owned businesses.

Anyone listening who's ever owned a business with your family, that can lead to a whole set of circumstances, and it's very common in the Latino community because we, you know, often we'll we'll stick together and hire the kids and put everybody to work, but that can bring its own set of problems.

The last thing I'd say also is sometimes you're just seen as a Latino business.

To your point earlier, it's not the separate thing, but sometimes people will see you as that.

Like when I ran connection, which was my own business, you know, a lot of people would, wouldn't want to advertise.

They're like, well, I don't have anyone that speaks Spanish.

Why would I try to reach that market?

And it's like, that's not how it works.

A lot of these folks, you know, speak English, obviously, or they know how to navigate that.

But, so I think sometimes the community as a whole is undervalued.

Well, I mean, and I do think with WXXI bringing in Jose Sandoval and that we've talked about on this program, intentional efforts to cover different communities doesn't mean that you're covering whether it's the black community, the ELT, the LGBTQ community, the Latino community, you were not covering them as if they exist outside of an integrated community.

It's understanding issues unique to certain populations while also seeing them as part of the whole.

Are we, as you think the media is getting better at that, or are things still kind of siloed?

I think just because of the numbers, I think you have enough folks that are exposed to Latin culture and get to know people.

And, you know, most, most Latinos now live outside of the city in, in Monroe County.

So you have folks that have grown up around people that are from different these different cultures or and so I think that creates a, comfort level that is getting better.

So I would say in the last 20 years or so since and since writing the book, I do think that things have gotten better.

There's more awareness and there's and that creates opportunity.

So, Mercedes, what is it that allows a business to scale and grow?

And what is it that prevents what should be a viable small business from having that lasting success?

So as a business owner, I make it.

I could speak to this.

We've expanded our business to several states.

Certainly it was circumstances that caused us to go to North Carolina and Florida.

But we have to be mindful of some of the laws that impact businesses.

In my case, being, boxing, state regulation imposed $1 million bond per fighter for promoters.

Well, that squeezed the smaller guys, right.

So now I have to sort of swivel and say, how do I continue my business?

And it, you know, forced me to go into the Carolinas and Florida.

But those are great growth opportunities.

Certainly I didn't scan it.

I didn't plan it in my five year, ten year, business model.

But we had to we had to navigate and and it had to react to the change in the infrastructure.

Now I want to talk a little bit about government's role.

Yeah.

In in our, in our segment, all levels of government offer some level of funding for small businesses.

But if small businesses don't know the exists then it's sort of kind of mute.

I'm fortunate to represent the largest Latino population, which is the 22nd district.

And I love this point that we are growing and we're expanding.

We're outside of the city limits.

But today as it exists, the northeast quadrant, which is district 22, is the largest Latino population.

The city, the county, the state offer grant grants for small businesses.

Unfortunately, they don't they don't apply for it because these documents, these forms, these applications are cumbersome.

Now, when you're the CFO, the CEO, there's every possible C-level to see a document that that cumbersome.

You're just like, so we have to make it accessible and also easy for them to, to, to, to complete.

So I make it my, my, my my job is to have conversations with individuals.

This is what the county is able to offer you know, as a small business, here's what the city has to offer.

And then here are some resources that can get you there.

So if you need bookkeeping, I mean, that's the biggest one, is making sure that your books are up to date, making sure that if you're, if you require licensing, that your license is up to date.

So those are some of the things as a small business, we get caught up in a day to day, but we have to take a minute to make sure that the business is there is a strong and it has a strong foundation so that we can scale that business.

So before I turn to Diana, let me just follow up that last point there in you working in government.

Now you have to try to find again.

We've talked a lot about balance here.

The balance between saying, hey, these regulations and requirements are logical and needed versus this is where it gets cumbersome.

And this is where people feel like this is government holding me back.

How good is government finding the right balance in regulation and requirement and licensing?

Yeah, that that allows for people to who have talent to be in certain fields.

Sure.

It's a great conversation.

Often when I see something coming down, I have conversations with small businesses to say, this is coming down.

Tell me how you think it impacts you.

Yeah, I can't decide that because I don't know the ins and outs of businesses, but you know, about $1 million bond for a boxer.

That's right.

I know about that.

And you have my bottom line and I know I can I'm a small business owner.

We were under $100,000, at per show.

So I'm a small business when we're not top rank.

So how do I scale this?

And I knew immediately that this is going to directly impact it.

So I had to swivel and say, if I want to continue my business, how how am I going to survive?

Small businesses have that on a day to day basis rather is cost of food but and regulations.

What what does a tariff mean for you.

So we have to have those conversations with small businesses.

And they have they have to make that decision.

Can we continue on.

Because within a year you'll know if you're going to make it or not.

I've been in business over 20 years, and I attribute that by my ability to to change with the changing times.

Boxing is my thing.

I can do it all day and all day night.

But I realize that the culture also changed.

The younger generation likes the mix.

Mixed martial arts.

Yeah.

So I had to get into that industry in order to stay in, in the field.

Adaptability.

Right.

Adapted because 20 years ago how much MMA was I mean I'm sure it was on the scene but it was on the scene.

It was a I mean yeah.

Right.

Right right.

So so much about the mainstream much more mainstream now.

And your government experience so far has been at the county level.

That's right.

So what if you could magic wand anything for the small business community at any level of government, at any level of government?

Is there something that you say, boy, I can't believe this is still in place or this is not helping.

This is a problem.

Is it the paperwork, isn't it?

It's always going to be the paperwork, unfortunately.

And with a small business person, time is of the essence.

You have to react.

And if you want to stay in business, you don't have a, you don't have finite time.

You have a fixed amount of time before you're either going to cancel yourself out because you didn't make the necessary changes.

So small businesses have to look not only on their duty operation, but how are we going to sustain this business?

And if it means changing your business model, then you have to do that in order to sustain.

Diana, let's let's get your perspective on this, because you're someone who's not only now worked in the business field, you're a consultant.

You got kids who are small business owners here.

And they're on their way.

But how much do you think, small businesses are held back by some small element of what they're doing that prevents them from going here to here, from making a big jump?

I would love to take it one step back and just let's discuss a little bit the aspect of starting a business, because that is all so draining to a lot of individuals.

I have actually written to my county executives and assemblymen as to why do we require someone that is forming a business to print on the newspaper?

So there's a fee.

There has to be pay.

If you are starting a business, you have to be published for four weeks, I believe I forget, but it's an additional fee that you have to pay for, different businesses out there to be printed in the newspaper that no one is reading.

Lesbianism.

We can transfer that into the digital platforms.

So I have written I have gotten several responses.

Just trying to change the model.

What does it look like from running a business to just even starting a business?

Because there's a lot of people that have great ideas.

They sometimes they might have the capital to sustain the business, but just starting it's very cumbersome as well.

So from when you start to running the business, there's definitely the legwork of my my opinion is not just capital or the advertise mean some time is collaboration.

We I'm an outsider.

I was not born in Rochester.

I come from a different angle and a different perspective that I have seeing other cities and collaboration helps other businesses thrive here.

We can do better.

I see a lot of chambers, a lot of associations, and I don't see them coming together.

And I do wish that that could be change.

Why is everyone working in silos as opposed to, say, let's put our heads together on this initiative and see how we can get more funding, more grants from the state level?

How can we work together?

That's my vision.

That's my goal, and that's why I'm a fierce advocate for small businesses working with foundations, representing equity, rallies, asking for equal, paid for women.

I'm very passionate about supporting the small businesses as a whole.

I think it sounds like Orlando is trying to get more heads together and get those silos broken down.

Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely.

To her point, you know, we don't we look for collaborations.

We've been in talks with so many different folks to try and make things happen.

We also have another initiative that we've been working on.

It's our new business sectors where we target a particular profession.

So we started with the legal community, and we're working that angle because folks need lawyers, especially in the Hispanic community.

You want an attorney that can communicate with you in your language if you don't have the ability to understand every detail, because the legalese is very difficult to understand for someone that's native to English.

So it's important to have those pieces to be able to offer those to, to our members and to our membership.

And, we think we're just going to we're going to start it and then just build on that.

We've been approached by, educational, programs that want to partner with us, about mentoring young folks.

And we're having talks about discussions about that because it's something to be able to offer our members, again, if they have if they want to give back to their community, that's something else that we can offer.

I just think that, you know, we're not having enough discussions about how we can improve things.

We need to let egos aside and work together because some of the, some of my most important, moments has been when I've received information from a mentor or in the business community or someone that just reached out and gave me the information or really didn't even realize that were giving me that knowledge.

But they gave it to me nonetheless.

And it was selfless.

And I think if we have those discussions with one another, we can greatly improve where we are to everyone's point, you know, and, that's here today.

In a moment, I got to let Mercedes go and we'll take our only break.

So I'll close with Mercedes.

Part of the conversation with this year as a legislator, people reach out to you because they need help.

As you've said, they may need help with paperwork or not understanding the law or just asking about, you know, if there are grants or funding available in different ways, are there times where you go?

How come I didn't know about this small business?

All right.

This is amazing that this exists.

How did I know?

Well, many of these programs now didn't exist when I started my business.

Let's be clear.

Yeah, yeah, I had to.

It was trial and error.

But it was also reaching out to mentors, reaching out to individuals that were in my industry to say, how did you make this work?

And I think that needs to happen.

Sometimes we just think we're the only ones going through this.

And once you start having conversations, they've gone through this passing path and they can lead you in the right direction.

So I think it's important this community and I, and I want to thank Orlando for continuing this conversation and allowing, even if you're thinking about starting, let's have that conversation now, and let's introduce you to a collection of individuals who've gone through that path.

That's going to be key to our success.

Mercedes, thank you for making time.

I know you got to scoot now here.

We're going to let you go here.

We'll take this only break here.

That's Mercedes Vazquez Simmons, who's a Monroe County legislator.

Of course, the Rochester Hispanic Business Association's 2016, his, Hispanic Business Person of the year.

The 2026 winner is Julio Sáenz, the chief content officer for WXXI Public Media, who is with us here in studio Orlando Rivera, chair of the Rochester Hispanic Business Association board, along with Diana Kleps, who is the business consultant and telling her story this hour, let's take this only break.

We'll come right back to put a bow on this conversation.

Coming up in our second hour, this music that you hear every day on Connections.

That's Ra Ra Riot, a band with Finger Lakes roots that were kind enough to allow us to use the music for the show.

When I started here in 2014, and for a long time, I wanted to get them on Connections, to thank them and talk about their work and their art.

And we're bringing back the conversation.

When we finally were able to do that with West Miles of Ra Ra Riot next, our.

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Proud supporter of Connections with Evan Dawson, believing an informed and engaged community is a connected one.

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This is Connections.

I'm Evan Dawson, so who knows.

Signs a lot of talk about mentorship.

You're now the 2026 Business Person of the year in the Hispanic community.

How important is mentorship and is that is there a role for the the 2026, Business Person of the year there?

You got free time?

Sure.

Yeah, yeah, I actually just signed up to mentor some students at our at.

Oh, awesome.

So I believe tremendously in that because I wouldn't have been able to launch my first business connection if it hadn't been for the mentorship of people like Al Burgos, who's a local Latino, business owner of his own tax.

Offices.

I used to just sit there and pick his brain for weeks and months before I launched, Connections.

Same thing.

There was a, a bakery, college, as our which was our bakery where I. Same thing.

You should just sit there and ask all these kind of questions that unfortunately, a lot of people don't have someone that they can ask those things.

Which is why I'm such a big believer in the HBA that they try to fill that role and, and mentor folks, you know, when when people have been on the show recently, we've had a lot of really, interesting ideas for small businesses, young people, fashion designers, people who are clearly more fashion forward than I am, who have all these kind of great ideas.

A lot of people with great food ideas, and the idea itself looks awesome to me.

Then the question becomes a scalable business, a business that can sustain.

And those are two different things.

There are plenty of people who probably, all across the business world who have had ideas that the idea itself would have had a market, if not for some of the barriers that we have been talking about.

And so let's start to wrap the conversation with this here.

Are you feeling at least like from what you've seen, some of those barriers are starting to come down?

I mean, a lot of the talk about small businesses and a lot of limitations on them.

Sure.

I do think some of the barriers have come down just because information is so much easier to to gather now.

And there's more programs, I think, to find mentors.

I will say one thing that that I've seen a number of times with folks I've tried to mentor is sometimes folks get caught up in the trappings and the glamor of being an entrepreneur and not the actual grunt work.

Because although it's funny, over the last five, 15 to 20 years, entrepreneurs have become like our new folk heroes, all the tech bros and Steve Jobs and Steve Jobs and all those folks.

And so it's become cool.

And I see a lot of people get really hyped and put all their energy into the launch party.

And then that's also the end party right there as well.

That's an interesting point because, I had got a really interesting email recently from, on a different conversation, but related to this, someone saying he was describing 30 years of work where he said, 30 years ago, I got into the career he was in and I was able to do the work so much more.

And over time, all these other things get layered on you that aren't related to your core passions.

So whether it's food or fashion design or something, you're never going to do 100% of what you love the most all the time.

There's always going to be some paperwork, some grunt work.

The question is, can you do that?

Can you get all the necessary stuff done and still do what you love and do at a high level?

And I don't I mean, that's not always an easy formula for people, but I think people get frustrated when they feel like I'm spending.

It's like a doctor who never sees a patient.

I'm doing paperwork all day long here.

We shouldn't have to do paperwork all day long.

There should be some kind of a balance we shouldn't have to have, like an albatross in our life for every step of it.

Let's just get rid of my little rant.

There.

That's it.

Thank you for coming.

My Ted talk earlier.

But you've talked to these small business folks for years and the shows that you've hosted, I mean, yeah, clearly there has to be a lot of frustration at times.

It is.

There's there is, but that that unsinkable enthusiasm and optimism is the number one thing you need to be an entrepreneur.

And I still believe that.

I still think I see I see opportunities and I think I can do that.

And that's still the key.

That's the number one step.

It's just also then understanding, all the work that's coming up after that, or at least have a plan.

If you really dislike doing the numbers, then you know you're going to have to set aside money for an accountant.

But, I think being realistic, the enthusiasm has to be tempered with realism.

Well, and that is I think we're great mentorship comes in Orlando.

Anything you want to add on the idea of valuable mentors and what can be given to this community?

Yeah, I think we we need more, we need more folks to step up.

And al, again, is a great example of someone who does that.

John Rodriguez is always also someone who has given me some great advice.

And it wasn't just about business.

We need people that are willing to give advice about everything in life, because we all have that situation where we doubt ourselves and we might need just that little piece, that little word that will help push us forward.

And it's always a calming, soothing thing when you're able to have someone identify with the issues that you're facing and they can do it with.

With such a calm Diana, who's a mentor that stands out in your life, I will have to say someone that I used to work with in the past.

He was a manager.

He will be the first one in the office and said, you know, a lot of expectations early on.

But I will also like to add a compounding of I'm someone that is an ambassador.

So a mentorship comes down to people telling you about their story and how you can do it better.

But ambassador speaks about you in those rooms that you are not in.

So I do want to, you know, opened the that door as well.

Yes.

It's great to be a mentor, but if you are also an ambassador for a business, making those introductions for that particular business owner, hey, let me introduce you to this person that might benefit from what you have to offer.

You are not guaranteed the service, but you are opening that door that is very different from mentorship.

So I believe that there has to be compounding of both offered the advice, but sometimes you might not have an advice for an individual because you are not walking on their path.

You talking about rooms and not everyone can get in it, sadly.

And so you're going to open that door and let someone in that room exactly.

Make an introduction.

Mention that business name.

And that's what I believe that the are has like Hispanic business Association has the capability of doing this well mentorship.

But also speaking about those businesses being in the room and highlighting the potential that we have to collaborate to work together and expanding its skill.

One week from tonight, let's let's, close the program with this.

We talked about the annual lunch and the one week from today, September 15th, the Reba Annual luncheon is happening.

Set the stage.

I mean, we know Julio is going to be there.

He better be there.

Yeah.

What else is going on?

So it's actually the kickoff to Hispanic Heritage Month.

So we're honored to be able to celebrate that as the, the initial event on September 15th.

It goes from September 15th to October 15th.

And the City of Rochester's Hispanic Heritage Committee was kind enough to put together a list of events.

So that list of events will be available in the program.

So folks will be able to kind of take in everything that will be going on throughout that month.

So it'll be a moment where, you know, business leaders, civic leaders will come together, talk, laugh, joke, obviously you will see some of those who seek advice and advice will be given.

People will be celebrated.

You may even shed a tear or two.

We had that happen last year.

So it's just it's an emotional event for everyone, especially those folks that come, that are so well connected to the, individual that's winning.

The award happens to be Julio this year.

It's the last year.

So a different a different who's but, yeah, we we, we anticipate that it is going to be an exciting moment for everyone.

And we would love for folks to come down and be a part of that.

Celebration starts when it starts at 11 a.m., 11 a.m.

next Tuesday, one week from today.

Happening where?

At the Rochester Riverside Convention Center, at the convention center.

And how do people sign up to go?

So visit Rochester hpa.org for more information.

You can purchase a ticket.

And hopefully join us there.

Rochester harbor.org final word from you just on an unrelated.

This is not planned at all.

This the keynote for the event is our CEO Chris Hastings.

And like I said that he was invited months before I was even, on the list of potential people to win the award.

So just coincidence, but it'll be a great time to come in.

No one's accusing you of anything.

You found.

No, that's a, a great coincidence there.

So the CEO of Public Media, Chris Hastings, will be there, and hopefully many folks from the community will be there.

We know that that is the case next Tuesday, Rochester harbor.org and Orlando Rivera, chair of the Rochester Harbor Board.

Thank you for being here as always.

Nice to see you.

Thank you for having me.

Thank you to, Mercedes Vazquez Simmons, who had to step out earlier this hour.

Diana Kleps a business consultant.

Great meeting you.

Thank you for telling your story this hour.

Here.

And once again, congratulations to our colleague, Folio Sáenz, the Rochester Hispanic business person of the year.

Very well-deserved, my friend.

Thank you for being here.

We got more connect.

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