ACCION USA borrower becomes “Small Business of the Year”
Ever since my first day at ACCION USA, I have been dying to get the chance to get in the field to meet some of our clients in person. After all, our borrowers are the reason and inspiration for everything I do daily at ACCION USA. Finally, I was got the chance to go visit our client Carmen Ledesma, and I was more than thrilled.
I headed to Queens to visit her at her salon and esthetician school, and when I arrived she was busy running around helping students and greeting customers. She told me not to worry, she was used to it and was always busy. Lately, Carmen had been working harder than ever, but her efforts were paying off—she had just learned that she was going to receive “The Small Business of the Year Award” from New York City’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg at Gracie Mansion.
When things calmed down for Carmen, we sat down to chat about her and her business. Before 2003, Carmen was running a successful salon when she recognized a new business opportunity. Frequently, aestheticians and hairdressers with licenses from their home countries would visit her salon inquiring about how to obtain a license in New York. Originally from Paraguay, Carmen was compelled to help women new to the U.S. find work. So, she decided to start her own aesthetician school, focusing on the Latin community and holding classes in Spanish.
Carmen says most of her business was built thanks to her loans with ACCION USA (we know her hard work had a lot to do with it), she recalls that before her first loan she only had two hair dressers on staff, and now she has nine. She also employs two doctors, one aesthetician and four class instructors.
Still, achieving this success does not mean that Carmen is ready to take a vacation! Instead, she is ready to continue growing her business by opening a second school in Astoria, Queens.
And about her well-deserved award: she says that it was completely unexpected, but she does admit this makes her really happy and she dedicates it completely to her whole staff and everyone who was so perseverant about succeeding in this wonderful project—including ACCION USA!
Tags: LinkedIn, michael bloomberg, microloans, small business
July 23rd, 2010 at 11:51 am
Every year, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority business Development Agency (MBDA) hosts its annual Minority Business Development Week Conference in Washington, D.C. This event provides an opportunity for business-to-business matchmaking opportunities, private and public sector networking, and informative educational workshops. This year, the event will take place in the Omni Shoreham Hotel, in Washington D.C. from August 25- 27.
MEDWeek is a national event that allows companies and organizations to reach hundreds of business owners to procure opportunities and services that help expand their businesses. For all those who are interested in attending the event, more information can be found at http://www.medweek.gov.