Meet Alejandra Magana Gamero | PhD Candidate and Co-Founder of Latinas Talk Dinero

We had the good fortune of connecting with Alejandra Magana Gamero and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alejandra, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
To be honest this first started as a hobby where we thought it would be beneficial to share what we were learning about personal finance through social media. However, we quickly came to realize that as first generation Latinas, first generation college students and first generation professionals both us and most of our family and friends had never been exposed to financial literacy education growing up, nor as adults. It was then that “myfinancejourney” became “latinastalkdinero,” a business that seeks to support the well being and growth of first generation professionals and BIPOC communities through our commitment to culturally relevant financial literacy education.

Being the first in our families to do something like this, the thought process behind calling ourselves a business was quite challenging at first. Inevitability the impostor syndrome would kick in, or the limiting beliefs that this could never gro “that big.” But over time we took a hold of the entrepreneur identity and knew that if we wanted to be successful in making a difference in peoples lives, we first had to believe in our mission and vision.

Ultimately, we knew we couldn’t give up on this dream of creating a business who’s main goal is access to culturally relevant personal finance education because we know how necessary this information is and how instrumental it is in everyones lives. Lastly, although there are a wide range of personal finance entrepreneurs, we recognized that everyones approach is different and no one can approach things like Alejandra and Raylene, or Latinas Talk Dinero.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Again, Latinas Talk Dinero is a business whose goal is to expand access to financial literacy, which is the ability to understand and effectively use various financial skills such as budgeting, saving, investing, estate planning, and more! It equips us with the knowledge and skills we need to manage money effectively. Latinas Talk Dinero is different than most because we approach financial literacy from a culturally relevant, bilingual, community based lens. Through this approach we seek to develop networks of information, resources, and opportunities for first-generation professionals and BIPOC communities. Our three guiding pillars are financial literacy, community and accessibility, and everything we has these three pillars at the forefront.

To get to where we are today we both have faced a diverse range of challenges and it was definitely not easy. However, with the support of mentors, friends, family and community we have been able to excel and make a difference via our business.

One of the main lessons we have learned along the way is that failure is inevitable and that we must see failures and rejection as redirection. As first generation entrepreneurs we must be okay with having to figure things out as we go, and its also important that we turn around and lend a helping hand to those coming after us. Ultimately, we want the world to know that we are two first generation latinas who approach this work with the utmost care, love, and intention.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
While Alejandra lives in Santa Monica, CA (southern CA), Raylene Hernandez lives in San Francisco, CA (Bay Area). Therefore we created a general list of the things we like to do.

– Beach

– Hiking

– Wine/Beer Tasting

– Park

– Food Tasting

– Board Games at the house

– Swimming

In general we enjoy doing things that require us being active!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
One of the three core pillar of Latinas Talk Dinero is community, which recognizes that our journeys and accomplishments are not ours alone but rather a result of collective of knowledge and experiences passed down from our parents, community, friends, mentors, role models and ancestors. With that said, we want to give a shout out to all the individuals who have played a positive role in our lives, you know who you are!

Website: https://latinastalkdinero.wixsite.com/latinastalkdinero

Instagram: latinastalkdinero

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/69633474/admin/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LatinasTalkDinero

Image Credits
Gamer Raylene Hernandez