The Nopalera Podcast Sandra Velasquez

Ep. 43 Solo Episode- Gratitude For The Journey And Why It Gets Harder
As the year comes to a close, Sandra speaks on her practice of gratitude and opens up about her entrepreneurial venture, sharing the genesis of her business and emphasizes the importance of gratitude for the journey, a mindset that has become a cornerstone of her success.  Sandra provides a raw and honest account of the difficulties that tested her resilience and how she’s maintained a positive outlook, drawing strength from the very challenges that could have easily derailed her.  This transparency is her promise to you the listener and her hope is to leave you with actionable tips for incorporating gratitude into your own entrepreneurial journey. The path of entrepreneurship is not always easy, but a grateful mindset can be a powerful compass guiding individuals through the toughest terrains on a path to success.
Recorded November 22nd, 2023
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Venture capital can be elusive and seemingly untouchable so Sandra sits down with Shalene Guiriba this week to give you a down to earth perspective on what it is, how it works and where to begin.  Sharlene is a Chicago native and Filipina immigrant passionate about creating pipelines and mitigating equity gaps for under-resourced communities through investments in innovation. She focuses on early-stage VC especially across edtech, fintech, web3, climate, and AI/ML-driven deals. Before becoming a VC she started out as a CPA at Deloitte and worked as an operator at fintech startup NextCapital (acquired by Goldman Sachs).
More about Sharlene:
Sharlene Guiriba is an Associate at Lerer Hippeau, an early-stage venture capital firm founded and operated in New York City. Sharlene began her career as a Deloitte tax consultant advising major corporations and ex-pats on international assignments. She then built out a software operations department at NextCapital(acq’d by Goldman Sachs), a late-stage fintech startup democratizing quality retirement advice. Sharlene completed the joint MBA and MPP program at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business and Harris School of Public Policy. She also has her CPA and graduated with Double Majors in Accountancy and Chinese from the University of Notre Dame.
Recorded April 3rd, 2023
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Sandra kicks off October addressing the deeper messaging and storytelling you must convey in building a successful business or brand. Today’s guest is her gifted amiga Beth Carr.  For the last 18 years, Beth has been building brand systems at well-known companies such as Nestlè, LA Fitness and various biotechs and Bay Area start-ups. Applying her design, messaging strategies, and marketing expertise, she has helped her clients engage their customers and grow millions in revenue, investments, and VC backing. Fortified Branding, her brand, messaging, and marketing strategy agency, empower founders, executives, and scaling companies to break out of the mold, stand in their power, and amplify their brands through visual and verbal stories that connect with their audiences magnetically. Beth is a natural storyteller, Latina, is obsessed with the beauty of packaging, and is a Certified StoryBrand Guide.
Recorded April 17th, 2023
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Airing in the middle of Hispanic Heritage Month, today’s episode features a woman that makes up the heart of the beauty industry, Margarita Arriagada.  A veteran of the fashion, home interiors, beauty industries and champion of women entrepreneurs.  She and Sandra journey into not only the education and business background but the importance of one’s upbringing, role models and mentors along the way to finding your OWN path of success and fulfillment.  This emotional and inspirational discussion will surely fuel you in ways you may not have seen coming. Enjoy!
Recorded September 8th, 2023
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In today’s short solo episode, Sandra documents the journey of deciding to open a brick and mortar store in Los Angeles in support of Nopalera’s Dulce De Cuerpo product launch. This launch signifies a new chapter of Nopalera moving into liquids and custom, clean fragrances. A trend they expect to continue as the brand evolves. The store is located in Silver Lake, Los Angeles at 3118 Sunset Blvd and will be open from September 20th until December 5th 2023.  Please stop by if you’re in the neighborhood!
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Hispanic Heritage Month has arrived and what better way to rise up and celebrate than with Yessy Downs, a guru of defining, uplifting and empowering Latino entrepreneurs through today’s inequitable landscape.
Yessy Downs is the creative director of the Oxford Comma Collective–a Latinx-owned copywriting studio that is reshaping and decolonizing the way brands communicate and show up in the world. With a personal client roster that includes Uber, Dunkin’, Burger King and Samsung, Yessy’s passion is to uplift marginalized communities and inspire them to build authentic, for-the-culture brands.
Created on a foundation of community and inclusivity, our goal is to uplift and support members of our BIPOC, Queer, women and disabled communities with the power of words. We believe that a person who doesn’t get you, has no business writing for you, so we pair our clients with writers who share their views and experiences, in order to create copy and Brand Voices that are authentic and true to who they are. Simply put: we get you, so we gotchu. 
Recorded May 25, 2023

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