By Debbie Adams
Two years ago, during the pandemic, businesswoman Kat Pascal, noticed an alarming trend. While many businesses were struggling or outright failing, a disproportionate percentage of them were owned by Latina women. She watched in dismay as women dropped out of the workforce and Latina-owned businesses closed down.
Those statistics led Pascal to co-found the Latinas Network in November 2020 to create a support system for local Latina businesswomen and entrepreneurs—to empower them in professional development, business development, and representation.
In an interview with reporter Gene Marrano of WFIR radio, Pascal said that her mission is to take potential entrepreneurs and even people who have been in business for themselves for a while and help them find resources to elevate their businesses to the next level.
In an interview with WDBJ-TV, Pascal said that the Latinas Network focuses on helping Latino-owned businesses, mentoring youth, and building their representation on boards and in government. The organization aims to create a bridge between resources and the Latina community and overcome the “lack of generational wealth, credit knowledge, and language barriers which create setbacks.”
The Latinas Network has grown since then from three members to hundreds of members. They hold professional training and organization-building meetings, monthly luncheons, and encourage those with a business dream to join the Gauntlet Business Program and Competition.
The Gauntlet was founded by Annette Patterson of The Advancement Foundation (TAF); it is Virginia’s largest program of its kind and each year offers a ten-week session of business classes, concluding with the awarding of tens of thousands of dollars in cash and in-kind prizes.
Kat Pascal was born in the Roanoke area to second generation Columbian immigrants, grew up in Vinton, attended William Byrd, and started off her career in the banking industry.
In 2011, Pascal and partner Jimmy Delgado decided to open a commercial cleaning business, Spotless America, which they intended to maintain as their “bread and butter” business. He left a job at Wells Fargo in 2015 to run the cleaning business full time; she joined him in 2016 because business was booming, and he needed her help.
Pascal signed up for the Gauntlet to make connections for building relationships and attracting investors for Spotless America; she wanted to use the Gauntlet resources to build her expertise in franchising and licensing.
Their success with Spotless America gave them the opportunity to fulfill their dream of opening the first Farmburguesa restaurant in Vinton in 2018, and then a second location in Grandin Village.
Pascal found the Gauntlet’s precepts so valuable that she referred countless other Latina entrepreneurs to the program–not only referred them but worked with them in-person as a group and individually through the Gauntlet classes. They sat at a table together during Tuesday night classes and worked through the business development lessons.
That lead to a continuing informal partnership between the Latinas Network and the Gauntlet with the goal of strengthening female business leaders in the local Latin American community.
Latinas Network organizers say that the Gauntlet program has “been the cheerleader of our dreams and inspires us to lead our future.” Pascal has been a cheerleader and recruiter for the Gauntlet as well.
Gauntlet classes were originally held at the Vinton War Memorial until COVID-19 forced them to go virtual—but that ended up being beneficial as the Gauntlet program was able to spread exponentially to over 50 communities across the state.
This year Pascal and the Latina entrepreneurs in the Gauntlet are meeting at The Greater Williamson Road Area Business Association (GWRABA) offices to watch the online classes together and apply the concepts to their individual existing or potential businesses. They work on writing business plans, planning budgets, doing market analyses, becoming familiar with digital tools, understanding legalities, finding resources, establishing relationships with mentors, determining locations for their businesses, and more.
One of the entrepreneurs this year is Veronica Buendia, owner of DeModa Nails, specializing in natural nail manicures, gel manicures, and acrylic nails. She and her children came to Roanoke from California in 2011 to escape a domestic violence situation. In the long and winding road to a new life, she lived for a time at the Rescue Mission.
She has worked as a Nail Technician at Indulgence Salon & Spa and at Fresh Studio in Salem. She was formerly employed as a Certified Nursing Assistant at Springtree Health and Rehabilitation Center and as a Bilingual Family Support Counselor for TAP. She was introduced to the great variety of programs available through TAP as well—education, training, family services, financial services, and housing.
Buendia became determined to qualify for a Habitat for Humanity home and began saving to make that a reality. In 2014, WSLS-TV partnered with Habitat for Humanity of the Roanoke Valley, community volunteers, and Buendia to build that new home. It took 140 volunteers working 2500 hours to build the house in 12 days. She is eternally grateful.
Buendia enjoys “the art of doing nails,” and finds it relaxing, plus it gives her the opportunity to serve others and helps boost her clients’ self-esteem. Her marketing is mainly through photos of gorgeous fingernails and appointment-making on Facebook and by “word of mouth.”
She met Pascal about three years ago online while working with TAP when Kat was thinking about establishing the Latinas Network, and got involved with the Gauntlet through her influence.
Buendia’s reason for joining the Gauntlet is not so much to grow her existing business, but to develop another business idea which will allow her to potentially move into storefront space and help other beauty professionals do the same by renting space from her. She believes the Gauntlet will help her network, make connections, and find resources for opening the new business.
“I had a business idea for a couple of years, but didn’t know how to start a business,” Buendia says. “Cosmetology school doesn’t teach you basic business planning. The Gauntlet program is more in-depth.”
One challenge she says she faces is finding the perfect space for a professional beauty suite. It needs to have room for several professionals and must be well-ventilated because of the odor of acrylics and the products other beauty professionals will use.
She is surveying both clients and potential professionals to assess their needs and desires—to better fit her plans to her clientele and fellow entrepreneurs.
“I have a passion for helping people and helping them grow,” Buendia says. “I would like to be a mentor, renting space to others, preparing them to open their own businesses.”
Ivana Savany, of Savany Financial Services, a Gauntlet graduate and member of the Latinas Network says the biggest advantage of the network is “We believe in each other as women and business owners alike and it’s that support that helps us to realize and achieve our goals.”
For more information on DeModa Nails by Veronica visit her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/demodanailsroanoke/.
