SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – The Sioux Falls community is surrounded by growing businesses and companies, but some of those businesses provide experiences to customers that are unlike any others.
On Monday afternoon, three female entrepreneurs in the Sioux Falls area gathered with the Sioux Falls Rotary to discuss their journeys, successes and challenges.
The three women include SD Hispanic Chamber of Commerce CEO Selene Zamorano, El Effecto owner and CEO Vania Lopez, and SDCEO program coordinator Angie Iverson. They gathered to discuss one similarity between them all: they all happen to be first-generation American business owners and they all shared their thankfulness for their opportunities.
“I think it’s a blessing too. You know, when we were talking about being first-generation business owners, it is a tremendous blessing when you get the chance and the opportunity to show your work, to show the people and especially the communities that are a part of these minorities that it is possible to make your goals and your dreams come true through discipline and hard work. I think it is a blessing,” said Lopez.
They also discussed why these companies are so important to the community.
“A lot of clients right now are reproducing businesses that you can see. There’s many different coffee shops, many different accountants, but being able to add in somebody who’s from a different culture, they can serve clients with their unique needs. They have a mutual understanding, a mutual comradery,” said Iverson.
Not only do these business owners get to celebrate their success, they get to watch their clients do the same.
“We get to see and experience their faces light up, their smiles, and then they come back and they tell us how they went, how things are going now and it’s very, very rewarding,” said Zamorano.
The women expressed their challenges and hopes for the future as well. Overall, the event provided a wonderful opportunity for the community to get a better understanding of what it’s like to run a business while also celebrating the diversity that enhances Sioux Falls.
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