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Ola.

Welcome to Salud.

Celebrating South Texas Latino leaders.

I'm your host, Melanie Mendez Gonzalez, on this episode.

It's beauty, fraud and business.

Latinas are representing in each of these categories gorgeous, powerful and smart.

Salud.

Starts now.

San Antonio sisters Toni and Mahlon Jimenez are making waves in the competitive world of beauty products.

Their brand, Chica Beauty, was created with the authentic beauty of all women in mind.

As these two gorgeous Latinas like to say, get it, chica?

My name is Melanie Menez and my name is Toni Leekie Menez and we are you a beauty and we love saying where our producers wear, cosmetic lifestyle brand.

So we're inspired by Latinas on the go.

So when you put on our makeup, you feel confident, you feel beautiful, and you're ready to conquer the day.

And we love to say, get it, chica.

We love color.

We're obviously wearing bright pink.

I have our pink lipstick.

I we have red lipstick on.

We're representing our brand.

this is, you know, the vibrant colors of our culture and even the products that we develop.

We have fun names.

We have churro, sangria.

you know, these are inspiration that we're pulling from our culture, from our heritage, and we absolutely want to integrate it into our products.

We still give nods to our culture and staying true to who we are because yes, we're Latina, but we're also that busy mom.

You know, we're we're we're running a business.

We're growing our business.

We're constantly traveling.

And that's a big thing for us.

We went to school a incarnate word.

that's our high school.

And then Saint John's was our middle school.

I graduated from UC San Diego.

it's a very prestigious college down there, but I graduated with a bachelor in science in biology.

I graduated from Loyola marymount University in Los Angeles.

I got a business degree of management emphasis entrepreneurship.

This is going and launching in the largest beauty subscription box in the world.

It's a highly competitive space.

And yeah, there are other Latina beauty brands, but we are underrepresented as founders and owners.

Latinas have the highest purchasing power and beauty and cosmetics.

So, you know, when you look at it in that context, there aren't very many.

So oftentimes we go to meetings, we go to trade shows.

And, you know, more often than not, we are the only Latinas in the room.

And, you know, we actually it makes us proud and it makes us stand up a little bit taller.

So what I've learned about leading, actually stems from my corporate background.

So I was in the corporate world over 15 years.

I worked for large companies that were publicly traded.

I worked for small, privately held businesses and a few startups.

And, you know, one of my mentors was just really would challenge me, to become a better leader and to embrace your teams.

And, you know, because you're all in this together and, you know, one of the big advice he gave us was about, you know, celebrating success.

Because in business, there's always something that comes up.

There's a huge project, there's a milestone, so leading the way, it's just also about, you know, celebrating that success with your team.

So we launched in November 2018.

So again, a beauty brand right before the pandemic, people weren't wearing a lot of makeup.

People were at home, they were wearing masks.

You know, makeup was not a top priority.

But what taught, you know, me, Milan, is that it's about resilience and making quick business decisions.

So we had to pivot our business.

We envisioned ourself in retail stores, Macy's, JCPenney, target, even being on QVC, HSN and so our strategy was to build in a strong infrastructure to get all the suppliers to develop and create high quality products We were took risk because we believe in what we're doing.

we wanted to provide all these amazing, high quality products and, you know, we want to be the next Latina L'Oreal, and we know we'll get there.

but some of the risks that we took, you know, finding suppliers that have never even heard of us, you know, we needed to try to figure out how we were going to develop these products.

So we had to invest, you know, all of our time, our energy, our funding, our money went into trying to source, suppliers to get these products.

And it paid off in the long run.

We did have a lot of no's in the beginning.

you know, stores were shutting.

We were just too small as a small business trying to get into, you know, this big saturated market.

And so to carve our way and to get there, we were able to, you know, our we took a chance.

I flew to Hong Kong, met with suppliers out there, and I came back with, you know, suppliers that were able to launch our first two products.

So that was in November of 2019.

I mean, I can think of a contract, an appeal that we worked nonstop on.

We didn't sleep over it.

We were giving it our everything.

We did all our research.

We went through the testing of it.

We went through, you know, all the panels that we needed to.

And at that last minute we got a note and we really had to step back for a second because again, it's it's very I mean, let's be real.

It's very hard when you are giving your everything and you feel like you failed.

And we picked ourselves back up and we, you know, went out and for that next risk.

And we came out successful that next year that we got.

You know, I learned that I it is hard to balance your family life and your business life.

I mean, there's a lot of things that I've learned, and I think it is making me better.

And I think, you know, you hear that saying all the time that, you know, the older you get, the wiser you get.

And I think it's true.

I mean, I, you know, at the age that I'm at now, I just like look back and I, I really am more of a sponge now and I and no matter what stage you are in your business, you can be the top CEO of any company.

You need to still be learning things.

You need to still be asking questions.

And I think that's just really important.

And I think the one thing that I would tell anybody who's watching today, who is nervous or hesitant to go out there, you know, you've been thinking about that dream, even thinking about starting that business.

I mean, my advice for you is and is what I got when I my first entrepreneurial venture was do it, go for it.

Like if you done your research, you feel passionate about it.

You're ready to be that risk taker.

You believe in yourself.

You're surrounding yourself with people that believe in your mission, your vision.

I mean, do it.

Go for it.

We speak to professionals, women professionals who are age older and they want to still keep learning too and hear the advice and, you know, get inspired by, you know, our excitement.

We get really enthusiastic.

You know, we're passionate about what we're doing.

And I think we're just so fortunate that when people hear our story, they resonate with us and they resonate with our products.

And I think sky's the limit.

I feel like it's very promising.

You know, melanin are giving it our all.

We're trying to make a difference out there.

and we we just, you know, we're going to keep continuing what we're doing because we believe we're making a positive difference in our community, and we're just excited to keep going and to keep sharing.

We are here to support each other, to lift each other up.

And, you know, that's something that has stayed true from the beginning until now and in the future.

So, you know, Latinas, you know, here we are sticking together and yeah, everywhere we go, we're getting, yeah, we're getting inspired and we want to move forward.

When we were on the Jennifer Hudson Show, a father reached out to us and shared that not only did he buy our products to support, you know, our, you know, what we were doing, but that he wanted his daughters to grow up with role models like us.

So it's like when you hear things, messages like that and like, we know we're making a difference and it's become bigger than just the makeup line.

We want this cycle to continue and we want to keep this, you know, momentum going.

We want Latinas supporting Latinas.

We want women supporting women.

We're here to inspire the next generation of Latinas to be entrepreneurs, to follow their dreams, to conquer their dreams and to get it.

Chicka chicka.

Beauty can really pack a punch.

That's especially true for Rianna Rios, currently the bantamweight world boxing international champion, ranked number one in the US and number eight in the world, this strong Latina is proof that fighting the good fight pays off.

This is the WBA World Boxing Association international and here I.

Go on this back in June I 48 rounds bout against Maria Romero from Spain and you see on the right side.

Okay.

We went eight rounds.

I won by unanimous decision.

my first of many highlights is a great night.

My name is Rianna Rios.

I'm a professional boxer, currently eight and zero in the WBA international boxing champion.

I started boxing at the age of ten.

my father boxed, so I grew up in a gym.

I was about 2 or 3 hitting, the speed bag and the punching bag.

Just watching.

Fell in love with the sport.

But he didn't want me to box because of everything that comes with boxing.

But I nagged him until he finally gave in and allowed me to get in the ring and try it for the first time.

And I sparred once.

I'm in love with is in boxing since.

I love it, I enjoy it.

Most people think it's brutal.

I mean, you getting punched in the face for a living, but it's more of a sport.

Like it's more of a sweet science to me than a sport and everything that comes with boxing.

So the things you inherit from competing and training and things like that is such as discipline, determination, like you build all these qualities within yourself and it kind of helps outside of the ring as well.

So it kind of shapes me into the person I am today.

I've had, shoulder surgery, herniated discs in my back, up with torn tendons in my elbows, dislocated shoulder, all types of things.

it's a brutal sport.

Not just because you're being punched, but because of all the training you have to do.

So I train twice a day, Monday through Friday, once on Saturday, once on Sunday for eight weeks straight.

So it's brutal on the body.

a lot of physical, mental things you go through as a boxer.

People don't see all that, though.

They only see what you do inside the ring.

Boxing actually got me into the military, so my military career started because of boxing.

I was able to join the Army's World class as a program, as a boxer straight out of high school.

So my senior year of high school, I went to the USA National Championships.

While being there, competing, my father met the Army head coach and he basically recruited me there.

The pathway to being an Olympic was set for me.

All I had to do was enlist active duty, go to basic training, advanced individual training.

And then I was shipped to Colorado Springs for, my time in service.

So for, 2013 up until 2017, I believe I was training for the Olympics.

That's what I did.

Sleep, eat, drink, boxing.

I qualified for the 2016 Olympic Trials.

Competed.

Unfortunately, I fell short into fortunately shot for the 2020 Olympics.

I was ranked number one in the country.

I was on team USA.

I competed at the World Championships for team USA.

I was set to be the Olympian, but right before the Olympic trials I decided I was done boxing.

I wanted to focus on my family and school and hang up the gloves.

So I made a quick decision to stop boxing for and only lasted a couple of months.

Really.

I missed the sport so much.

That's all I was thinking about was boxing, but I didn't want to do the amateur thing anymore, so I decided to turn professional.

2019 I made my pro pro debut and been doing it since the oh, it's not that unusual for women to be boxing.

I feel a lot of women have picked it up now.

I would say then probably ten, 20 years ago when I first started, you know, but, it's growing.

I've learned a lot.

You you learn that everyone watches everyone, not just the little girls, but the little boys too.

And growing up in the sport, becoming the leader I am today in this gym, especially, the younger ones watch everything I do, from what I'm drinking and eating to how hard I'm working in here, what I'm doing outside, you know?

So I try to do my best to set the example in here.

if I'm not in the gym, I'm studying for school or, doing things for the community and things like that.

So I'm trying to set a good example, not just in here on the physical aspect of boxing, but on that outside as well, and and becoming a good person for the community.

I'm taking a lot of risks growing up, a lot of sacrifices.

You know, there was things I couldn't do as a kid because I was so focused and discipline and dedicated to the sport itself, you know?

So I, I miss my high school prom.

I missed all the, the parties and the get togethers with my friends and things like that.

But those sacrifices were what needed to become the person and put me in a position on me today.

So taking risks was everything.

Not very many, Latino parents want to see their kids in the military.

You know, they want to see us go to school and do different things.

Or as a woman, they want to see you have a family and take care of the house and do all those things that a a woman should do.

Right?

But, my parents, I was blessed with parents that wanted me to follow my dreams.

There's nothing we can't do as women.

Nothing there.

There may be some barriers, some bumps in the road you hit, you know?

but following your dreams, doing what you what you set your mind to won't be easy.

Nothing in life that's that's worth it will be easy.

Keep pushing, keep driving.

Said your goals.

Follow through with it.

It's.

It makes all the difference in the world.

Don't believe the naysayers.

If you want to do something, do it.

And I always say it.

It.

It's not just the good role models and the good leaders that you can learn things from.

You can also learn things from those bad leaders, right?

Things have not to do.

Figure out ways of how you can influence someone in a positive way by doing something different than the leader you thought wasn't a good leader, by taking those negative things and turning them into positive things.

So learning not just from the good ones, but from the bad ones as well, and taking all those things in and developing your own leadership skills.

For young Latinas, the advice I would give them is follow your dreams.

I know in our culture and in our family, we have stigmas of staying home, taking care of the family, doing all all the things a woman right is supposed to do.

But following your dreams, making a career for yourself, doing all the things you want to do to them, you can do that and still have a family.

You can do that and still take care of the house.

There's so many things you can do as a woman and in today's day and age, and I feel you can do both and still be happy.

So now I'm looking at the WBA world championship.

So that's the next title above.

if that one isn't next, then the WBA, WBC and IBF titles.

So there's three other titles I'm looking at.

Hopefully in the next year or two I'll have all four.

that's the plan and that's the goal.

And I always tell my family, I'm not going to retire until I at least get four when I'm in here training in competing and things like that.

That's what I remember, the little girl in the mirror who was shadowboxing the front and flex and hold up fake belts.

And that's what I remember.

we used to have the, the ORS and WWE, the wrestling belts, the big plastic ones, and we used to pretend they were these boxing runs.

And my brothers and I, we would, pretend to box each other and one would get knocked out and let me win, and I'd hold it up and up for this moment.

That's that's what we we dreamt of.

Starting a business.

Is it easy?

But if you're in south central Texas, you're in one of the best places in the country to do just that.

Carmen Lara, chief administrative officer with Greater San, talks with Jesse Diego about starting that business and entrepreneurship.

I'm joined by Carmen Lara, the chief administrative officer of greater SRT.

It's a regional economic partnership.

Briefly tell us, what is greater SRT acts and why is it a regional partnership?

Thank you Jesse.

We are the economic development organization for the San Antonio community.

What we do is we promote the area to recruit jobs in companies, to come to San Antonio, to produce more opportunity for the local economy and bridge economic mobility.

Given the big picture, what kind of opportunities are there for women wanting to start their own businesses in something such as this?

So there's plenty of opportunities.

in San Antonio, we target certain industries which we know are higher paying jobs or fit our area in our culture.

One of our top industries is advanced manufacturing, but we also target financial institutions.

cyber it also life sciences, bio sciences.

We learned that 80% of jobs within the community are bred by the local businesses that exist here.

So there's opportunity for women entrepreneurs to start their businesses and connect with other, other support and resources to grow, but then also find opportunities as we bring new companies.

But to clarify, is there room we should be and obviously is room for small businesses because often women may wonder, what do I have to start?

Big, right?

There is opportunity for small business.

We do partner with local resources City of San Antonio, Bexar County as well.

They have extended networks that support small business and we promote that.

What kind of help can there be out there for them?

Because this may be something when you're starting a business, you have a bright idea, but you're not really sure how to proceed.

So what advice can you give these women who have it in their heart?

But have it in their mind, but haven't made it a reality yet?

My first, piece of advice and it's not only just starting a business, but just starting your career.

Reach out to networks, build your own network, find your support system.

But I think most importantly, female specifically, you take, it takes a village.

And so you need those opportunities that you make through just network connections.

But what kind of challenges are there?

Because obviously nothing ever goes quite smoothly.

And so what kind of challenges and also should they be prepared to take a risk because that's a big one.

Yes, absolutely.

There's plenty of challenges out there.

a lot of it is financial, right.

The barriers to taking that leap of faith and taking that risk is not having the financial support or not knowing where to go to for small business loans, for example.

And there's plenty of opportunities out there.

So opening those doors by making those connections, but then taking the risk, not being afraid.

I think back to early on in my career that I was faced with a challenge.

I was in a comfortable position and in an organization, and I had the opportunity to venture out, go somewhere that I did not know, did not know the, the landscape.

And I was faced with making that decision, the fork in the road.

And somebody recommended one of my mentors recommended.

Take that leap of faith.

Mentioned the magic word mentors.

Who was your mentor?

But also, is it important that women have mentors when they when they move ahead?

Absolutely.

I learned early on that I can't do it all myself.

I was a single mom at one point in my life, and, relied on the village.

And even with a partner, it still takes a village.

So I had that network of family, friends, coworkers that soon became also career, mentors.

I had coworkers that I worked very closely with that became informal mentors to me.

And as I moved up in, my career ladder, I made those, relationships more formal, where we engaged for actual conversations.

And I just ask questions as a single mom.

what's the secret to having a work life balance?

Or how do I survive doing this alone?

And fast forward to today.

I know now there's no magic sauce for work life balance, and there really isn't a work life balance, but it's learning how to juggle priorities and just tapping into those mentors.

But then also connectors.

They connect you to opportunities, connect you to other people, other, resources and networks.

It's it's a circle of a network.

And it's not just a mentor, but you have different individuals that you can tap into for different reasons along the way.

From your perspective, what are some of the biggest mistake or perhaps the biggest mistake that women make and often don't think of when they're starting a business?

So what is it that they don't think of until it's too late?

I would venture to say it's not having a solid plan, not necessarily a strategic business plan, because that is different for a business that's needed, but a solid plan for how to get from one point to another and thinking through the, the alternatives along the way.

You're going to hit roadblocks.

What do you need to do differently?

What you might need to pivot, and be adaptable with?

I've learned in my career, leadership isn't linear, and it's not, just handed to you on a silver platter.

You have to learn how to pivot and adjust.

And I think that is the the plan.

You know, going into there's going to be roadblocks.

And how do I pivot and adjust along the way to still be successful.

But it might not get me there 3 to 6 months.

It might be a year from now.

So knowing what to do differently along the way and be okay with that, and perhaps a a word of encouragement again, as women venture forth into the unknown, for many of them, what kind of encouragement can you give them?

I think it's really been okay with taking that risk.

As we talked about earlier, a lot of females are, hesitant.

And in my early career I did it feel I was ready or I had the level of experience, the skill set.

Fast forward a few years.

I realized my male counterparts did not hesitate.

They might have applied for opportunities.

They didn't have any level of experience, but I waited to meet certain levels of experience before I moved forward.

So I think it boils down to taking that risk.

Don't hesitate.

Don't doubt yourself.

Say yes to opportunities and be open.

Carmen Lara, thank you for sharing your voice of experience.

Thank you for joining us.

Thank you, Jesse, for the opportunity.

Some great information.

Thanks, Jesse.

From beauty to brand to business.

I hope you enjoyed this episode of salon.

We'll see you again next week for another look at San Antonio's Latina leaders on salon.

Now slam us.