Naibe Reynoso, Co-Founder of LatinaFest, joins ChedHER to discuss what to expect from this years upcoming LatinaFest, and how this community is bridging the gap for Latina business owners.

chedHER

How LatinaFest is Empowering Latina Business Owners

and joining us now Naib Reinoso, co founder of Latina Fast, thank you so much for joining us, especially for this month. What is the mission of latino fest? Well, our mission is to create a community and a space to empower and embrace all Latinas from all walks of life from all ages, all generations, all interests. But we particularly like to support small Latina owned business owners because our demographic tends to open businesses faster than any other. Their group in fact were twice as likely to open a business, but we do face sometimes insurmountable barriers and hurdles. So our tent pole event is this festival, this yearly amazing celebration of all things Latina that takes place in downtown Los Angeles where we invite over 100 latino on businesses so they can show case their services and products so they can connect with their customers who are looking and thirsty for authentic, culturally relevant products so they can connect with each other and share resources and feel seen and supported. But we also invite the general public so they can also discover these brands and so they can just have a big party, a big celebration of all things Latina, this is amazing. And how did the idea for a latino fest come about and what exactly did it take for you to make this a reality? So Latina fest was founded by me and Bell Hernandez and we are both media professionals but we are also small business owners. So her and I have been involved in various tv projects where we've interviewed different women and a lot of latino owned business owners and we found out and figured out that these Latina business owners really lacked resources and support. They lived in silos and they operated much times without resources that they needed. So her and I put our heads together and said, why don't we create an event where all of these latino owned business owners can come together where we can invite other media so they can get exposure and then they could be seen and heard by other outlets other than us that we know that they have amazing stories but they lack the platform sometimes. So that's how her and I decided to put this interview them there so we can also invite the general public and how we got it off the ground, a lot of hustle a lot of work, but we also enlisted those same business owners to help us, some of them owned, you know, event planning companies, they helped us put the stage together, some of them own balloon decorating businesses. They helped us create these beautiful arches at the, you know walkway, right when you enter Latina fest, some of them own different food, you know, brand. So we invited them to be part so it really took a community and a village to pull this off and this is our fourth year, it started in 2018 and we're going strong, wow, congratulations, I love hearing your story too because you used your resources and your platform to leverage that and create something better for the community and you spoke a little bit about the support that you got from some of the different business owners and entrepreneurs who are represented there? What was their feedback? Why did they really want this resource and Latino fast to become a reality? Because as I mentioned, a lot of these latino owned businesses, they are operating in silos. There's not really a lot of platforms out there that are supporting our specific community, right? So they just love to connect with other Latinos and because Bell and I both have vast connections and experience in media, we enlist our friends and the different connections that we've made through the years to come and and highlight these businesses and a lot of them have received, you know, exposure uh in media, thanks to our connections. Their stories need to be heard. They also need to be amplified and seen and you know, also the sisterhood that's created a lot of these women owned businesses become friends and they share resources and you know, they hire each other because some of them produce, you know, products that the other one needs. So it's just a really great opportunity and event to make those connections that will last a lifetime and we know Hispanic heritage month has just kicked off here. Your goal is to empower fellow Latinas. I'm wondering what you want, audiences to know about what this community needs in terms of support, but also for those who are watching that maybe want to get involved in this community. Do you have any advice? Right, so Latina fest, you can get involved in our event in so many different ways you can volunteer, you can attend. Trust me, you'll have a great time, You can be a sponsor. We have received the support of so many amazing sponsors like Sephora, like cheese for business. Um, we have received the support of local DJs that are just raving about us on the airwaves. So the way you can support us is also support our businesses at Latina fest dot net, we do have a director. We have a lot of the vendors and exhibitors that are participating this year and from past events. So, you know, scroll through our vendors and trust me, you will find amazing products that are very niche, very culturally authentic. So at latino fest dot net you can find different types of jewelry or purses or even dolls, books, etcetera. So that's a really, really big way that you can support latino fest in our community? Yeah, it sounds like a perfect pre holiday shopping opportunity as well. Before we let you go, you mentioned latino fast dot net and also is there a certain date on the calendar. People should be circling right now for these events. Oh yes, october 22nd. Uh, so we expect to see you at latino fest in downtown Los Angeles in the Beautiful, we're gonna have a fashion show, we're gonna have food, we're gonna have these vendors, we're gonna have yoga from the Tree Yoga Cooperative, which is a Latina and black owned yoga studio in South Los Angeles. So there's a little bit for everybody. We really want you to come out and enjoy a good time. A celebration of all things Latina, but everyone is welcome. Amazing, congratulations again on this next festival. That's naive radio. So co founder of Latina Fest.