June 13, 2023 • 28 mins
They call her the Business Hada Madrina, or “the Business Fairy Godmother.” Ashley Stoyanov is a business strategist, and author of the Eva Longoria endorsed book “Jefa in Training.” We sit down with Ashley who talks business. So, if you are looking to launch a project, grow a business, or thrive as a creative and entrepreneur we got you!! Learn how Ashley’s start in the music industry led her to where she is now, how she embraces her bicultural identity, and how she became a resource for a community of Latinas looking for their business Hada Madrina.
Jefa in Training is available here Follow Ashley on Instagram @ashleykstoyanovojeda and Check out her website https://ashleykstoyanovojeda.com/.
Naibe Reynoso is the Host and Executive Producer of Latinas Take the Lead.
Production Assistant is Anna Sophia Monzon
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Through that network, I was able to find so many
Latina entrepreneurs who were who were looking for an Ada Madrina,
you know, someone to help connect them to resources, someone
to help guide them along their entrepreneurial journey, especially during
a time where we were all like, ah, what do
we do.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
On today's episode of Latina's Take the Lead, we will
be talking about the word hifa In Spanish, Hifa basically
means boss or boss lady. It's a word that has
made a powerful comeback because being a hifa is empowering
the word exudes resilience, success, control of your own destiny.
Today's guest knows a lot about being a heifa. She
(00:49):
even wrote a book about it, titled Hifa in Training.
But before we dive into my interview with author and
business development coach Ashley's Janova Ora, I took to the
street to ask a few Latinas what being a heifa
means to them.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
For me, being a heifa means that you are someone
that's extremely hard working, very motivated, and you always put
one hundred percent into what you do. But not only that,
being a hefa is also empowering others to be a heifa.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
What does being a hefa mean to you.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
The meaning of hefa is to be able to own
your own destiny, so to be able to make your
own decisions on what is best for you, your company,
your brand, as a person, and the decisions that you
make for the next step in your life. That is
being a hefa. And to be able to guide other
(01:50):
people to grow in whatever they want to do, and
whether it's at work or personal life is just being
an example for someone else.
Speaker 5 (02:00):
What it means to me is learning all the time.
And one of the biggest lessons I've learned is being
quick as possible to identify when you can delegate, and
then after you find what you can delegate, then the
next challenge is learning to read people and finding good
people and then after that you need to learn how
to keep them so that you can prosper together.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
So now let's dive into my interview with the author
of Haifa in Training, Ashley, where we talk about a
lot of things, not just being a heifa. We talk
about our names, diversity within our community, and carving out
your own path, which is what being a heifa means
to me. Let's dive in. Well, Thank you so much, Ashley,
(02:52):
Oh he for being on Latinas take the lead.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
I'm so excited to be here. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Thank you, thank you. So we want to address straight
off out the bat your name, because when you know
you are such an advocate for Latinas and haifas and
then I'm sure sometimes people are like, wait, wait, wait,
where are you from? Like what's your name? Or you bicultural, etcetera.
So let's talk about that a little bit.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
I will tell you the name and how I look
definitely does not help the situation. Well, first of all,
Stoyanof is actually my husband's last name, So I took
my husband's last name and he's Bulgarian, so that definitely
throws people off that. And my name is Ashley, which
you know, it wasn't a traditional Latina name. My mom
(03:42):
actually wanted to name me Ja Lupe, but my dad
was like, my dad's American, and he was like, I
don't really know about that, And I always think about
what kind of a different life I would have had.
But you know, I I was on an their podcast
the other day with Bum with Bum and she was
(04:05):
asking me how I felt about being bicultural. And she
asked me how I felt about people saying that I
was half Latina, And the truth is that I've always
felt very icky answering that question when people are like,
what are you?
Speaker 2 (04:22):
And what?
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Bum said that one of her friends has multicultural kids,
and she gets really upset when someone says that they're
half Latino half American, because they're not half of a person.
They're one hundred percent of their culture and one hundred
percent of another culture. And so that's why she doesn't
(04:46):
say that their kids are half Latino half this they're multicultural.
And I found finally found a way to talk about
myself in a way that didn't make me feel icky
because I I've always felt incredibly close to my Latina. Then,
you know, my mom did a My mom is Mexicana,
(05:08):
and she did a really really good job of taking
me to Mexico every year or multiple years at a
time when it was possible. I grew up speaking Spanish.
It was actually my first language.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
You know.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
I there's so much of me that is not represented
through my name, and it's just been an incredible journey
of kind of finding ways to be in touch with
what I've felt for so long. And maybe that's why
(05:41):
I'm so passionate about doing this work.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
What they're saying now about Latinas and Latinos is that
we're two hundred percent ors were one hundred percent Latina
and one hundred percent American. And if you do your
DNA test, woof, because Latinos we are known for having
such a broad mix of ethnicities and races mixed within
our our DNA. So it's it's really interesting because this
(06:05):
is I think the conversation that's going to keep evolving
as we understand more about what does identity mean and
how do you identify yourself, et cetera, especially because Latinos
we're not considered a race. We're considered an ethnicity, and
we do come in all shapes and sizes. We're you know,
we're not a monolith. So yeah, so thank you for
(06:26):
addressing the ickiness of it, because it isn't kind of
like how do you You don't want to defend your
Latini that you don't want to like say yes, I'm
Latina and this is how I can prove it?
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Right, you just you are what you are, period, And
trust me, I've had to do it, but I've had
to do it a few times.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
You know, my husband's last name is Hodsden, so I'm
naive Hodsden. I know so, but I haven't really changed
my quote branding because I don't want to create more confusion.
My name Naive is actually a hybrid of Lebanese and Mexican,
so it's like, uh, Lebanese name with a German last
(07:03):
name and then a Mexican last name. It's just too much,
too much for people to handle. So I'm just naive,
so let's just make it a little less complicated. But
I totally understand you're, you know, that kind of battle
that you have to deal with, but you are helping
a lot of Latinas and I love that. The fact
(07:25):
that you call yourself the business a maderina, which when
you translated, it's the fairy godmother of business. Right, so
talk to us about why do you call yourself that
and what does that mean.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
So it was actually a client that called me that first,
and after she said it, it really resonated with me. She
said it on a call one day because she had
asked me how can I do this? And I like said, hey,
I don't really know how to help you, but here's
this resource. Here's this resource, here's this resource, and she
was like, wow, like you really are like my my
(07:58):
Anna Marina, like my fairy godmother. And I was just like, oh, interesting,
let me take that and run with it. I think
that's really what it is. It's right, it's being a
real resource for our community.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
And I think your trajectory is really interesting because you
have a music background, right and a nonprofit background, but
right now you're really more focused on helping latinas kickstart
their business and up their branding, et cetera. So how
did you get here? Did you study business or did
(08:34):
it happen by happenstance or talk to me about the
trajectory of how you got to where you are now
as the business Ada Madrina, the very godmother of business.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Great question. My journey has definitely been a little untraditional
and non linear at that. So I actually started out
in the music industry, as you said, I grew up
in New York City. I was active performing as a
singer songwriter. The moment you decide to become any kind
of artist, whether it be a musician, a photographer, or
(09:08):
an author, really you are starting your own business. You
have to learn how to pitch yourself. You have to
learn about budgeting, and you have to learn about networking
and partnerships and all of these different business tools that
a lot of people don't understand go into actually making
an artist's career. And I kind of use that as
(09:30):
an opportunity to learn skills that I thought would help
me in my music career. And so I went into
music pr and I interned at record labels and MTV
and worked in music venues. I knew I couldn't grow
anymore unless I did something differently. I actually thought, I
(09:50):
think I need to develop some more skills, and so
I started looking for jobs that could help me develop
these skills. So around that say time, I got a
job with Yelp, and it was my first time working
in corporate and I did community marketing with Yelp for
two years, and that taught me so much about everything,
because my role was not just community marketing, but it
(10:14):
was events, it was partnerships, it was sales, It was
so much. And a large part of my role was
working with small businesses and kind of helping them connect
with their community. And I really liked the idea of
doing that. People started coming to me and asking me
for help to launch their blogs and to launch their
podcasts and to launch their nonprofits. I was just like, man,
(10:37):
I really liked teaching people about how to launch businesses.
I think this is really cool and I think that
I'm good at it. Fast forward to twenty twenty. I
had just moved to Miami. I had just met Madivette,
the founder of the Muhidista, and she had a co
working space in Miami, and she had hired me to
help her run her co working space. Then COVID hit
(11:02):
and she asked me, what would you do if you
were in my situation? And I said, I don't know,
but I think that we should try to build an
online community for the WHITTI stow while this COVID thing
pans out.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Right, and I think it's also a time where we
are minds did start opening up to other possibilities. I
think that's one of the positive residuals of COVID, right.
It kind of kicked us out of our comfort zone
of like maybe having that corporate job or that nine
to five or that dead end career. It really allowed
(11:36):
us to just sit at home with our thoughts and
with the possibilities. We'll be right back now, back to
the show no doubt, a lot of women made HIFA
moves during and post pandemic, and they continued to do so.
In fact, according to USA Today, Latinas start business is
(12:00):
faster than any other group in the United States. We
are Avanthadas, which means we just get stuff done. We
love to just take risks and do the thing. So
let's listen to Lydia, a Latina who decided to pack
her bags and move across the world to become her
own heifa. Why did you make the decision to be
(12:24):
your own heifa and leave a nine to five job
and just do your own thing.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
I think a major reason is because I wanted flexibility.
I mean, if you're at a nine to five, you
have to be there nine to five Monday through Friday,
and for me, that's something that I didn't like. Like,
I wanted to have flexibility to choose my hours, to
be able to go somewhere, to be able to travel,
(12:51):
to be able to work and travel at the same time,
which is the major reason why I decided to do
my own thing.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Us, what are some Hifa moves you're making?
Speaker 3 (13:03):
Half I moves I made well, I moved across the world.
I moved to Barcelona, and I had no idea what
I was doing. And I also started to be do
freelance work, which is something that's unheard of for me.
I never really knew what that was, but I kind
(13:24):
of decided to just dive in, and so far, so good.
I'm doing my girl boss thing now, which I'm really
proud of myself for.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Now, back to our guest, Ashley, the author of If
I Am Training. Let's pretend this is kind of like
a speed mini course. Okay, Ashley, I'm a small business.
What do I need to do to grow my business?
What are like the first steps?
Speaker 1 (13:55):
I would say, make sure you know your audience. Make
sure you know the value you want to provide for
said audience, and then prepare yourself in every way to
be able to do that for said audience. Take care
(14:15):
of making sure you really really know who your customer is.
I actually think in Nathalie Monino's book Leapfrog, she says
like something like you have to like get into bed
with your customer or something like that, and I was
just like, yes, that's exactly it. Like you just really
(14:39):
really have to know who you're serving and be on
top of that be on top of that at all times,
because it is really hard to be able to say, like,
I'm going to run same my business the same way
for the next five years, because the needs of the
people that you're serving might completely change in the next
(15:01):
five years, like many peoples did during COVID, right, you know,
And sometimes that means that you have to pivot. And
I think that like people really need to be aware
of that. And I always like to stress the importance
of doing market research. I think that's a really important
step that a lot of small business owners don't take,
(15:24):
and not just when you're first launching your business, but
I think that you should always know what's going on
in your industry, a new competitor popping up, or maybe
someone that's planning to do something similar in the next year,
you know. I think it's always important to be aware
of industry trends and what's out there because we just
(15:47):
we have to know because if we need to pivot,
we need to pivot definitely.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
And you wrote a book called Hifa in Training, which
has been a top selling business book.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Kif On Training is a step by step guide and workbook,
so it really walks you through the foundation of building
a business, so from developing your mission and your vision,
it talks you through market research, It talks you through
identifying your target audience and your buyer personas it talks
(16:17):
you through building your brand and your community and developing
thought leadership and a sales funnel and PR and partnerships
and of course the not so fun parts of financials
and legal stuff. It has all of that in there.
And it's also a workbook, which a lot of people
(16:39):
really like because you're putting things into practice as you're
learning them. So every chapter has a worksheet at the end,
so you're essentially also building your business plan as you
go throughout reading the book.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
What advice would you give small businesses now that do
have virtual assistance or people that work remotely.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
There are many project management tools like Monday or Asana
or Trello or clickup that you can use and in
a not micromanagy way either, Like I think that there's definitely,
you know, ways to explain to your team, like hey,
as a founder, like it would be really helpful if
(17:19):
I can just have like a bird's eye view of
everything that's happening, so I don't have to ask you,
you know, what's the status on the marketing, what's the
status on PR, what's the status on you know, the
design of the homepage or or whatever it is? Right,
and also so that it also makes things more collaborative
for them, and having like weekly like all hands meetings
(17:40):
and having a Slack channel to to talk about anything
else that comes up throughout the week.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Right and if I in training? So is available where
on Amazon, on your website or on both all.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
All the places, all the places in Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes
and Nobles, Target, And it's also if you prefer audio books,
it's also on Audible.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Eva Longoria also endorsed your book.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Are you her friend?
Speaker 2 (18:07):
How did that happen? I mean, like, that's so cool.
She's like the Ada Madrina of Latina actresses.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
I know, I know. I was talking to many from
the Muharista and I was brainstorming with her like who
do we know who can we tap into? Who can
we send the book to?
Speaker 3 (18:22):
You know?
Speaker 1 (18:23):
And she was just like, Okay, this is crazy. But
Eva Longoria follows the Moharista on Instagram. What if we
just message her? And within like a few days we
had an endorsement. And I was just like, what just happened,
Like what just happened?
Speaker 2 (18:39):
That's a good lesson for all of us, Like let's
just go for it, Like, let's let's dm the people
that we think may support us, and if they don't,
they don't, and if they do, they do. I think
what makes this book different is because you tailor it
to latinas right, So how do you approach business from
the Latina perspective or from the Latina lens?
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Well, the one kind of logistical thing is that is
in Spanglish, so you wilso find some Spanglish in the book.
I wanted the book to be as informative and educational
but also inspirational, which is why you'll find some other
tips from Latina founders in the book, but also written
(19:21):
in a way that you were not feeling like you
were reading a textbook, but you know, like talking to
like your prima or your best friend about business.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
I want to ask you what does being a hefa
mean to you? Because I think that's a word that's resurfacing,
which I love because it's such a powerful word. But
what does it mean for you?
Speaker 1 (19:42):
For me, specifically, is being able to lead people so
that they can be leaders themselves. And also being able
to acknowledge that you don't know everything and it's okay
to ask for help.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Beautiful, What are some like really quick easy tips that
you can give our community that are maybe starting their
business or they're kind of in the middle of their launch.
What are some surefire ways to get your branding on point?
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Get in touch with your why. And I don't just
mean your your business mission and your vision, but knowing
your personal why is the most important thing that you
could do ever. And the reason is this right. You
might not be attached to a particular business forever. My
(20:41):
career path has been very nonlinear and yours might be also.
I have no idea where the world is going to
take me, but I do know that whatever I do
is going to come back to this why. And I
think the moment that you can figure that out for yourself,
everything else will just fall into place.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Basically, living in authenticity in all shapes and forms, right
within yourself, being authentic, waking up, really being in touch
with what your passions are, what your heart is, what
your needs are, and then when you extend that into
a business that it's aligned, because then there's going to
be some kind of like a disconnect there if you're
doing something that you're not really passionate about, right, And
(21:25):
I think that's one of the gifts of being an entrepreneur,
of being able to live your life fully authentically. You're
not just going and checking in to get a paycheck.
Your whole life is kind of this holistic bliss with
a lot of ups and downs and a lot of
barriers and a lot of challenges. But I think we
ride those waves a lot more easily when it's something
(21:48):
that we're passionate about. You're a business owner. I'm a
business owner, and these waves are fun in their challenging,
but it's like, Okay, how can I solve this problem?
What is something you are reading, listening to, or using
that you are completely obsessed with or love and you
want to recommend to others?
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Well, I actually just started reading Leapfrog, and I highly recommend.
I do believe it's the only other like real business
book out there that was written by a Latina. So
I highly recommend Leapfrog. Listening to I actually really enjoy
Eva Longoria's podcast like I Connections. Yeah, I love it.
(22:32):
I love it so much. I don't think I've ever
been so dedicated to a podcast before. But I love
Eva Longoria's podcast, and yeah, I would say those two
things are are what I'm really vibing with right now.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
Latinas are the group that are opening business at a
faster rate than any other segment of the population. Why
do you think that is.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
I think it's because we're finally starting to see what's possible.
And and I think the more of us who who
step up and say we're going to start our own businesses,
We're going to write books, we're going to start podcasts,
we're going to tell our stories and X Y Z ways, right,
the more of us that do that, the more the
(23:17):
easier it's going to be for the next generation of
Latinas to not feel like that imposter syndrome when they
have an idea, because I am not going to lie.
When I sat down to write this book, I think
Leapfrog was the only book that came up in like
direct competition with mine. There are no other real business
(23:37):
books out there by Latinas. And it's not because of
a lack of talent. There's a clear lack of opportunity.
And my publisher, I think they even were on the
fence about publishing Keifa because people still think that when
you target a Latino audience it's too niche and that
there won't be enough of a market. But I say, how,
how is that possible when exactly you just said, when
(24:01):
Latinas are starting businesses faster than any other demographic, Latinas
take up like to have made two trillion dollars in
consumer spending of the two point four trillion dollars of
all Latinos in the United States. Like, with that amount
of buying power, Like, how are people still doubting this community?
Speaker 2 (24:22):
The name of the show is Latina's take the Lead.
How are you taking the lead in your life?
Speaker 4 (24:27):
How?
Speaker 2 (24:28):
As a Latina right.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
Now, I am listening to what I need. I am
an experienced burnout survivor. I don't know if that's the
correct terminology, but I just I love to overwork myself,
and that is not a HIFA move. I'm telling everybody
(24:53):
who's listening right now, if you feel like you're burning out,
or you're already burnt out and you're still working through it,
if you can take a break, take one, take one,
because after you do, you will be able to serve
your community much better, much better. Your creativity will come back.
And I think that's something that I often have to
(25:14):
remind myself is that you don't have to do everything
all at once. You can take breaks. And that has
been very hard for me, but I am working on it.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
Thank you. Know that is very well said. It's part
of being a hifa is to also love yourself, give
yourself that rest because we're not machines, right, And that's
something that I've been actively practicing myself. And it's hard
sometimes because I feel sometimes when you're an overachiever, you
(25:51):
do want to just keep you know, producing, producing, producing.
I feel a little bit of like, but the world's
going to fall apart if I don't send this email
or if I don't finish this. When I feel that,
I go let it. If it's going to fall apart,
let it and I'll just deal with it in the morning.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
Yes, it's the next day's fine. No one is going
to get mad if you don't answer their email at
three am. And if they are going to get mad,
you probably shouldn't be working with them anyway.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
Exactly exactly, but yes, creating those boundaries, protecting our space,
giving ourselves rest, loving ourselves because I think that's part
of loving ourselves, like honoring our bodies and our minds
and giving ourselves those deserved breaks and rests are vital
to keep moving forward. We can't run ourselves to the ground.
(26:42):
If you want to get from point A to point
B and you never put gas in the car, it's
going to stop. If you're in a hurry to get
to point B. At some point, you might get to
some spots quicker, but at the end you're just going
to run out of gas, so you need to get
off the path, put some gas, rest, and then keep
(27:04):
going at your pace. We're reaching the end of the interview.
Where can they find you?
Speaker 1 (27:09):
But my website is ashleyksdoyanof dot com. There's also links
to everything in my instagram bio. My instagram is Ashley
ksanavoja and you can find everything there as well. Oh well,
thank you so much, Ashley, thank you for having me.
This was amazing, This was so much fun.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Thank you. I'm Naive Reinoso signing off. I hope you
enjoyed this episode and if you did, please like and subscribe,
follow us on Instagram at latinas, take the lead and remember,
don't be afraid to break barriers. It's about time Latinas
(27:48):
Take the Lead. Latinas Take the Lead is a production
of the Seneca Woman Podcast Network and iHeartRadio. For more
podcasts from iHeartRadio, check out the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Through that network, I was able to find so many
Latina entrepreneurs who were who were looking for an Ada Madrina,
you know, someone to help connect them to resources, someone
to help guide them along their entrepreneurial journey, especially during
a time where we were all like, ah, what do
we do.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
On today's episode of Latina's Take the Lead, we will
be talking about the word hifa In Spanish, Hifa basically
means boss or boss lady. It's a word that has
made a powerful comeback because being a hifa is empowering
the word exudes resilience, success, control of your own destiny.
Today's guest knows a lot about being a heifa. She
(00:49):
even wrote a book about it, titled Hifa in Training.
But before we dive into my interview with author and
business development coach Ashley's Janova Ora, I took to the
street to ask a few Latinas what being a heifa
means to them.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
For me, being a heifa means that you are someone
that's extremely hard working, very motivated, and you always put
one hundred percent into what you do. But not only that,
being a hefa is also empowering others to be a heifa.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
What does being a hefa mean to you.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
The meaning of hefa is to be able to own
your own destiny, so to be able to make your
own decisions on what is best for you, your company,
your brand, as a person, and the decisions that you
make for the next step in your life. That is
being a hefa. And to be able to guide other
(01:50):
people to grow in whatever they want to do, and
whether it's at work or personal life is just being
an example for someone else.
Speaker 5 (02:00):
What it means to me is learning all the time.
And one of the biggest lessons I've learned is being
quick as possible to identify when you can delegate, and
then after you find what you can delegate, then the
next challenge is learning to read people and finding good
people and then after that you need to learn how
to keep them so that you can prosper together.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
So now let's dive into my interview with the author
of Haifa in Training, Ashley, where we talk about a
lot of things, not just being a heifa. We talk
about our names, diversity within our community, and carving out
your own path, which is what being a heifa means
to me. Let's dive in. Well, Thank you so much, Ashley,
(02:52):
Oh he for being on Latinas take the lead.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
I'm so excited to be here. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Thank you, thank you. So we want to address straight
off out the bat your name, because when you know
you are such an advocate for Latinas and haifas and
then I'm sure sometimes people are like, wait, wait, wait,
where are you from? Like what's your name? Or you bicultural, etcetera.
So let's talk about that a little bit.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
I will tell you the name and how I look
definitely does not help the situation. Well, first of all,
Stoyanof is actually my husband's last name, So I took
my husband's last name and he's Bulgarian, so that definitely
throws people off that. And my name is Ashley, which
you know, it wasn't a traditional Latina name. My mom
(03:42):
actually wanted to name me Ja Lupe, but my dad
was like, my dad's American, and he was like, I
don't really know about that, And I always think about
what kind of a different life I would have had.
But you know, I I was on an their podcast
the other day with Bum with Bum and she was
(04:05):
asking me how I felt about being bicultural. And she
asked me how I felt about people saying that I
was half Latina, And the truth is that I've always
felt very icky answering that question when people are like,
what are you?
Speaker 2 (04:22):
And what?
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Bum said that one of her friends has multicultural kids,
and she gets really upset when someone says that they're
half Latino half American, because they're not half of a person.
They're one hundred percent of their culture and one hundred
percent of another culture. And so that's why she doesn't
(04:46):
say that their kids are half Latino half this they're multicultural.
And I found finally found a way to talk about
myself in a way that didn't make me feel icky
because I I've always felt incredibly close to my Latina. Then,
you know, my mom did a My mom is Mexicana,
(05:08):
and she did a really really good job of taking
me to Mexico every year or multiple years at a
time when it was possible. I grew up speaking Spanish.
It was actually my first language.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
You know.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
I there's so much of me that is not represented
through my name, and it's just been an incredible journey
of kind of finding ways to be in touch with
what I've felt for so long. And maybe that's why
(05:41):
I'm so passionate about doing this work.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
What they're saying now about Latinas and Latinos is that
we're two hundred percent ors were one hundred percent Latina
and one hundred percent American. And if you do your
DNA test, woof, because Latinos we are known for having
such a broad mix of ethnicities and races mixed within
our our DNA. So it's it's really interesting because this
(06:05):
is I think the conversation that's going to keep evolving
as we understand more about what does identity mean and
how do you identify yourself, et cetera, especially because Latinos
we're not considered a race. We're considered an ethnicity, and
we do come in all shapes and sizes. We're you know,
we're not a monolith. So yeah, so thank you for
(06:26):
addressing the ickiness of it, because it isn't kind of
like how do you You don't want to defend your
Latini that you don't want to like say yes, I'm
Latina and this is how I can prove it?
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Right, you just you are what you are, period, And
trust me, I've had to do it, but I've had
to do it a few times.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
You know, my husband's last name is Hodsden, so I'm
naive Hodsden. I know so, but I haven't really changed
my quote branding because I don't want to create more confusion.
My name Naive is actually a hybrid of Lebanese and Mexican,
so it's like, uh, Lebanese name with a German last
(07:03):
name and then a Mexican last name. It's just too much,
too much for people to handle. So I'm just naive,
so let's just make it a little less complicated. But
I totally understand you're, you know, that kind of battle
that you have to deal with, but you are helping
a lot of Latinas and I love that. The fact
(07:25):
that you call yourself the business a maderina, which when
you translated, it's the fairy godmother of business. Right, so
talk to us about why do you call yourself that
and what does that mean.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
So it was actually a client that called me that first,
and after she said it, it really resonated with me. She
said it on a call one day because she had
asked me how can I do this? And I like said, hey,
I don't really know how to help you, but here's
this resource. Here's this resource, here's this resource, and she
was like, wow, like you really are like my my
(07:58):
Anna Marina, like my fairy godmother. And I was just like, oh, interesting,
let me take that and run with it. I think
that's really what it is. It's right, it's being a
real resource for our community.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
And I think your trajectory is really interesting because you
have a music background, right and a nonprofit background, but
right now you're really more focused on helping latinas kickstart
their business and up their branding, et cetera. So how
did you get here? Did you study business or did
(08:34):
it happen by happenstance or talk to me about the
trajectory of how you got to where you are now
as the business Ada Madrina, the very godmother of business.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Great question. My journey has definitely been a little untraditional
and non linear at that. So I actually started out
in the music industry, as you said, I grew up
in New York City. I was active performing as a
singer songwriter. The moment you decide to become any kind
of artist, whether it be a musician, a photographer, or
(09:08):
an author, really you are starting your own business. You
have to learn how to pitch yourself. You have to
learn about budgeting, and you have to learn about networking
and partnerships and all of these different business tools that
a lot of people don't understand go into actually making
an artist's career. And I kind of use that as
(09:30):
an opportunity to learn skills that I thought would help
me in my music career. And so I went into
music pr and I interned at record labels and MTV
and worked in music venues. I knew I couldn't grow
anymore unless I did something differently. I actually thought, I
(09:50):
think I need to develop some more skills, and so
I started looking for jobs that could help me develop
these skills. So around that say time, I got a
job with Yelp, and it was my first time working
in corporate and I did community marketing with Yelp for
two years, and that taught me so much about everything,
because my role was not just community marketing, but it
(10:14):
was events, it was partnerships, it was sales, It was
so much. And a large part of my role was
working with small businesses and kind of helping them connect
with their community. And I really liked the idea of
doing that. People started coming to me and asking me
for help to launch their blogs and to launch their
podcasts and to launch their nonprofits. I was just like, man,
(10:37):
I really liked teaching people about how to launch businesses.
I think this is really cool and I think that
I'm good at it. Fast forward to twenty twenty. I
had just moved to Miami. I had just met Madivette,
the founder of the Muhidista, and she had a co
working space in Miami, and she had hired me to
help her run her co working space. Then COVID hit
(11:02):
and she asked me, what would you do if you
were in my situation? And I said, I don't know,
but I think that we should try to build an
online community for the WHITTI stow while this COVID thing
pans out.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Right, and I think it's also a time where we
are minds did start opening up to other possibilities. I
think that's one of the positive residuals of COVID, right.
It kind of kicked us out of our comfort zone
of like maybe having that corporate job or that nine
to five or that dead end career. It really allowed
(11:36):
us to just sit at home with our thoughts and
with the possibilities. We'll be right back now, back to
the show no doubt, a lot of women made HIFA
moves during and post pandemic, and they continued to do so.
In fact, according to USA Today, Latinas start business is
(12:00):
faster than any other group in the United States. We
are Avanthadas, which means we just get stuff done. We
love to just take risks and do the thing. So
let's listen to Lydia, a Latina who decided to pack
her bags and move across the world to become her
own heifa. Why did you make the decision to be
(12:24):
your own heifa and leave a nine to five job
and just do your own thing.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
I think a major reason is because I wanted flexibility.
I mean, if you're at a nine to five, you
have to be there nine to five Monday through Friday,
and for me, that's something that I didn't like. Like,
I wanted to have flexibility to choose my hours, to
be able to go somewhere, to be able to travel,
(12:51):
to be able to work and travel at the same time,
which is the major reason why I decided to do
my own thing.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Us, what are some Hifa moves you're making?
Speaker 3 (13:03):
Half I moves I made well, I moved across the world.
I moved to Barcelona, and I had no idea what
I was doing. And I also started to be do
freelance work, which is something that's unheard of for me.
I never really knew what that was, but I kind
(13:24):
of decided to just dive in, and so far, so good.
I'm doing my girl boss thing now, which I'm really
proud of myself for.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Now, back to our guest, Ashley, the author of If
I Am Training. Let's pretend this is kind of like
a speed mini course. Okay, Ashley, I'm a small business.
What do I need to do to grow my business?
What are like the first steps?
Speaker 1 (13:55):
I would say, make sure you know your audience. Make
sure you know the value you want to provide for
said audience, and then prepare yourself in every way to
be able to do that for said audience. Take care
(14:15):
of making sure you really really know who your customer is.
I actually think in Nathalie Monino's book Leapfrog, she says
like something like you have to like get into bed
with your customer or something like that, and I was
just like, yes, that's exactly it. Like you just really
(14:39):
really have to know who you're serving and be on
top of that be on top of that at all times,
because it is really hard to be able to say, like,
I'm going to run same my business the same way
for the next five years, because the needs of the
people that you're serving might completely change in the next
(15:01):
five years, like many peoples did during COVID, right, you know,
And sometimes that means that you have to pivot. And
I think that like people really need to be aware
of that. And I always like to stress the importance
of doing market research. I think that's a really important
step that a lot of small business owners don't take,
(15:24):
and not just when you're first launching your business, but
I think that you should always know what's going on
in your industry, a new competitor popping up, or maybe
someone that's planning to do something similar in the next year,
you know. I think it's always important to be aware
of industry trends and what's out there because we just
(15:47):
we have to know because if we need to pivot,
we need to pivot definitely.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
And you wrote a book called Hifa in Training, which
has been a top selling business book.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Kif On Training is a step by step guide and workbook,
so it really walks you through the foundation of building
a business, so from developing your mission and your vision,
it talks you through market research, It talks you through
identifying your target audience and your buyer personas it talks
(16:17):
you through building your brand and your community and developing
thought leadership and a sales funnel and PR and partnerships
and of course the not so fun parts of financials
and legal stuff. It has all of that in there.
And it's also a workbook, which a lot of people
(16:39):
really like because you're putting things into practice as you're
learning them. So every chapter has a worksheet at the end,
so you're essentially also building your business plan as you
go throughout reading the book.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
What advice would you give small businesses now that do
have virtual assistance or people that work remotely.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
There are many project management tools like Monday or Asana
or Trello or clickup that you can use and in
a not micromanagy way either, Like I think that there's definitely,
you know, ways to explain to your team, like hey,
as a founder, like it would be really helpful if
(17:19):
I can just have like a bird's eye view of
everything that's happening, so I don't have to ask you,
you know, what's the status on the marketing, what's the
status on PR, what's the status on you know, the
design of the homepage or or whatever it is? Right,
and also so that it also makes things more collaborative
for them, and having like weekly like all hands meetings
(17:40):
and having a Slack channel to to talk about anything
else that comes up throughout the week.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Right and if I in training? So is available where
on Amazon, on your website or on both all.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
All the places, all the places in Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes
and Nobles, Target, And it's also if you prefer audio books,
it's also on Audible.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Eva Longoria also endorsed your book.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Are you her friend?
Speaker 2 (18:07):
How did that happen? I mean, like, that's so cool.
She's like the Ada Madrina of Latina actresses.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
I know, I know. I was talking to many from
the Muharista and I was brainstorming with her like who
do we know who can we tap into? Who can
we send the book to?
Speaker 3 (18:22):
You know?
Speaker 1 (18:23):
And she was just like, Okay, this is crazy. But
Eva Longoria follows the Moharista on Instagram. What if we
just message her? And within like a few days we
had an endorsement. And I was just like, what just happened,
Like what just happened?
Speaker 2 (18:39):
That's a good lesson for all of us, Like let's
just go for it, Like, let's let's dm the people
that we think may support us, and if they don't,
they don't, and if they do, they do. I think
what makes this book different is because you tailor it
to latinas right, So how do you approach business from
the Latina perspective or from the Latina lens?
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Well, the one kind of logistical thing is that is
in Spanglish, so you wilso find some Spanglish in the book.
I wanted the book to be as informative and educational
but also inspirational, which is why you'll find some other
tips from Latina founders in the book, but also written
(19:21):
in a way that you were not feeling like you
were reading a textbook, but you know, like talking to
like your prima or your best friend about business.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
I want to ask you what does being a hefa
mean to you? Because I think that's a word that's resurfacing,
which I love because it's such a powerful word. But
what does it mean for you?
Speaker 1 (19:42):
For me, specifically, is being able to lead people so
that they can be leaders themselves. And also being able
to acknowledge that you don't know everything and it's okay
to ask for help.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Beautiful, What are some like really quick easy tips that
you can give our community that are maybe starting their
business or they're kind of in the middle of their launch.
What are some surefire ways to get your branding on point?
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Get in touch with your why. And I don't just
mean your your business mission and your vision, but knowing
your personal why is the most important thing that you
could do ever. And the reason is this right. You
might not be attached to a particular business forever. My
(20:41):
career path has been very nonlinear and yours might be also.
I have no idea where the world is going to
take me, but I do know that whatever I do
is going to come back to this why. And I
think the moment that you can figure that out for yourself,
everything else will just fall into place.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Basically, living in authenticity in all shapes and forms, right
within yourself, being authentic, waking up, really being in touch
with what your passions are, what your heart is, what
your needs are, and then when you extend that into
a business that it's aligned, because then there's going to
be some kind of like a disconnect there if you're
doing something that you're not really passionate about, right, And
(21:25):
I think that's one of the gifts of being an entrepreneur,
of being able to live your life fully authentically. You're
not just going and checking in to get a paycheck.
Your whole life is kind of this holistic bliss with
a lot of ups and downs and a lot of
barriers and a lot of challenges. But I think we
ride those waves a lot more easily when it's something
(21:48):
that we're passionate about. You're a business owner. I'm a
business owner, and these waves are fun in their challenging,
but it's like, Okay, how can I solve this problem?
What is something you are reading, listening to, or using
that you are completely obsessed with or love and you
want to recommend to others?
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Well, I actually just started reading Leapfrog, and I highly recommend.
I do believe it's the only other like real business
book out there that was written by a Latina. So
I highly recommend Leapfrog. Listening to I actually really enjoy
Eva Longoria's podcast like I Connections. Yeah, I love it.
(22:32):
I love it so much. I don't think I've ever
been so dedicated to a podcast before. But I love
Eva Longoria's podcast, and yeah, I would say those two
things are are what I'm really vibing with right now.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
Latinas are the group that are opening business at a
faster rate than any other segment of the population. Why
do you think that is.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
I think it's because we're finally starting to see what's possible.
And and I think the more of us who who
step up and say we're going to start our own businesses,
We're going to write books, we're going to start podcasts,
we're going to tell our stories and X Y Z ways, right,
the more of us that do that, the more the
(23:17):
easier it's going to be for the next generation of
Latinas to not feel like that imposter syndrome when they
have an idea, because I am not going to lie.
When I sat down to write this book, I think
Leapfrog was the only book that came up in like
direct competition with mine. There are no other real business
(23:37):
books out there by Latinas. And it's not because of
a lack of talent. There's a clear lack of opportunity.
And my publisher, I think they even were on the
fence about publishing Keifa because people still think that when
you target a Latino audience it's too niche and that
there won't be enough of a market. But I say, how,
how is that possible when exactly you just said, when
(24:01):
Latinas are starting businesses faster than any other demographic, Latinas
take up like to have made two trillion dollars in
consumer spending of the two point four trillion dollars of
all Latinos in the United States. Like, with that amount
of buying power, Like, how are people still doubting this community?
Speaker 2 (24:22):
The name of the show is Latina's take the Lead.
How are you taking the lead in your life?
Speaker 4 (24:27):
How?
Speaker 2 (24:28):
As a Latina right.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
Now, I am listening to what I need. I am
an experienced burnout survivor. I don't know if that's the
correct terminology, but I just I love to overwork myself,
and that is not a HIFA move. I'm telling everybody
(24:53):
who's listening right now, if you feel like you're burning out,
or you're already burnt out and you're still working through it,
if you can take a break, take one, take one,
because after you do, you will be able to serve
your community much better, much better. Your creativity will come back.
And I think that's something that I often have to
(25:14):
remind myself is that you don't have to do everything
all at once. You can take breaks. And that has
been very hard for me, but I am working on it.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
Thank you. Know that is very well said. It's part
of being a hifa is to also love yourself, give
yourself that rest because we're not machines, right, And that's
something that I've been actively practicing myself. And it's hard
sometimes because I feel sometimes when you're an overachiever, you
(25:51):
do want to just keep you know, producing, producing, producing.
I feel a little bit of like, but the world's
going to fall apart if I don't send this email
or if I don't finish this. When I feel that,
I go let it. If it's going to fall apart,
let it and I'll just deal with it in the morning.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
Yes, it's the next day's fine. No one is going
to get mad if you don't answer their email at
three am. And if they are going to get mad,
you probably shouldn't be working with them anyway.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
Exactly exactly, but yes, creating those boundaries, protecting our space,
giving ourselves rest, loving ourselves because I think that's part
of loving ourselves, like honoring our bodies and our minds
and giving ourselves those deserved breaks and rests are vital
to keep moving forward. We can't run ourselves to the ground.
(26:42):
If you want to get from point A to point
B and you never put gas in the car, it's
going to stop. If you're in a hurry to get
to point B. At some point, you might get to
some spots quicker, but at the end you're just going
to run out of gas, so you need to get
off the path, put some gas, rest, and then keep
(27:04):
going at your pace. We're reaching the end of the interview.
Where can they find you?
Speaker 1 (27:09):
But my website is ashleyksdoyanof dot com. There's also links
to everything in my instagram bio. My instagram is Ashley
ksanavoja and you can find everything there as well. Oh well,
thank you so much, Ashley, thank you for having me.
This was amazing, This was so much fun.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Thank you. I'm Naive Reinoso signing off. I hope you
enjoyed this episode and if you did, please like and subscribe,
follow us on Instagram at latinas, take the lead and remember,
don't be afraid to break barriers. It's about time Latinas
(27:48):
Take the Lead. Latinas Take the Lead is a production
of the Seneca Woman Podcast Network and iHeartRadio. For more
podcasts from iHeartRadio, check out the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
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