I spent most of my childhood in the Lower West Side of Chicago, Pilsen, where I was surrounded by cultura or culture. I say cultura because Pilsen is a place where you will find gorgeous murals all over the neighborhood, mosaics, aunthentic Mexican dishes, Mexican snacks like raspados, churros, homemade ice-cream,corn on the cob and the list goes on. You will see a lot of activities happening whether its people playing soccer, baseball, or basketball. If no one is out and about, later in the afternoon you will see families sitting in front of their homes talking and keeping an eye on the kids as they play in the streets.

One of my early childhood memories was when I was five years old.   I remember following my mom all day as she sold gold door-to-door while carrying a small red notebook in hand. I was always curious as to why she would carry that notebook, I realized that it was where she kept the tabs of her customers and wrote down small notes and numbers. So one day I asked her if she could buy me a small notebook like hers.  Soon enough I was writing numbers on my notebook too, just like my mom would.  She taught me how to count and write the numbers before I started school.  By following her as she conducted her business little did she know that she was exposing me to the world of business.  As my mom managed to save enough money to open her own clothing shop on 18th st in Chicago; the shop became my second home.  I would help my mom organize the merchandise, and observed how she developed relationships with her customers.  Later as we moved out of state to Minnesota, she opened another shop.  This time we were not surrounded by a community of predominantly Mexicans but a diverse group of people such as Africans, Ecuadorians, Blacks, Whites and those who practiced Islam.  As early as the age of 9 or 10 I was translating for mom and her new clientele.  I remember that I wouldn’t know how to translate certain words in Spanish or English so I would look it up in a Spanish-to-English dictionary.  Slowly but surely I expanded my vocabulary in both languages.  At the age of 10 I started learning how give great customer service and speak to customers from diverse backgrounds.  As the years passed, my mom’s shop became focused on the Quinceanera business. All through high school, my mom’s shop continued being my second home.

 

During high school I met the most inspiring and amazing people.   One of those inspiring individuals was Ms. McCann. It was towards the end of my junior year in Cristo Rey that I was talking to my religion teacher, Ms. McCann, who I asked, “Do you really think I can go to college?” and she responded, “Absolutely! Are you kidding me Kiara? You have the potential to attend any school you want.  As a Georgetown and Harvard alumni I know you have what it takes to be sitting in those classrooms.” As she was talking, I was in disbelief that a person who knew me less than a year was telling me all this.  I was skeptical at first of her answer, but I soon became convinced that I could actually attend a four year university.

 

Someone who is also very dear to me is Noi, who was my supervisor at Medtronic, Inc. for two years.  I started working for Noi during my summer in junior year of high school, where I grew to be her right-hand.  I helped her with the logistics of career fairs.  Entering the office, fairly timid, Noi met me at a very important phase in my life. I was at the point where I had to see what colleges I wanted to apply to.  As I developed a friendship with her, I started seeing her not only as my supervisor but also as mentor and a big sister.  She was one of the people who pushed me apply to out-state-universities, she slowly but surely convinced me to apply outside of the Midwest.  She saw me as her little sister and wanted nothing but the best for me.  She saw I had potential to grow as an individual being away from home.  When the time came I started applying to schools all over the U.S.  and through the process of elimination I chose Santa Clara University.  I was in torn between two schools, St. Mary’s in Notre Dame and SCU.  I kept looking and looking at each of their mission statements and all I remember was thinking, well SCU really emphasizes in educating the whole person and giving back.   This was the deal breaker because it was people like Ms. McCann and Noi who gave so much to her students and expected nothing in return.  Noi took the time to train me to survive in a professional environment and went out of her way to mentor me and take me under her wing when she didn’t even have to do any of that.  It is people like them that have inspired to give back to communities whether it is local or international.

 

With that in mind, I entered college and in my sophomore year I applied to be a Global Fellow. I was accepted and had the opportunity to work in India for the business arm of Destiny Foundation/Reflection. Myself and another peer were assigned to implement two products and channel them to the U.S. markets. After being there for six weeks, I confirmed my passion I had for women empowerment as well as helping others with their businesses. The knowledge and experienced I had gained while working in various internships came in handy when I was giving advice on how to better a small business. Most importantly I learned how much of difference someone could make in small non-profit business. I had an amazing time working with the women who created these beautiful saree tote bags, who at the end of the six weeks became my sisters.

That is why when I came across the Global Social Benefit Fellowship, I knew I had to apply because it involved serving and helping others become sustainable through a social enterprise.