Did you know Latinos are the fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs in the United States? In Bísness School, NBC and Telemundo join forces to tell the stories of some of the most inspiring Latino founders. Hosted by journalist Fernando Hurtado, Bísness School highlights business owners across all industries, from entertainment to publishing and food. It sounds like business school, but it’s not. You can think of Bísness School as a lowercase MBA with uppercase guests. And while business school is expensive, Bísness School is free. Look out for new episodes every other Tuesday.
What do you do after you lose your job, you’re $110,000 in debt, are raising a daughter, and you need to make ends meet fast? For San Diego-native Sandra Velasquez, the answer was starting Nopalera, a luxury brand of bath and body products using the nopal cactus. Nopalera is sold at over 400 retailers, including Nordstrom and Free People. Sandra Velasquez joins Bísness School to tell us why she launched a soap company when she herself is not obsessed with soaps, how she managed to build her business off of credit cards and how rejecting offers on Shark Tank affected her business. Plus, she answers questions from small businesses around the country.
This episode was produced by Fernando Hurtado and Miguel Estrada and edited by James Jeffrey.
Follow Nopalera at @nopalera.co.
Follow Sandra Velasquez at @officialslv.
Follow Fernando Hurtado at @byfernandoh.
