Meet Maria Alcantar | Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Maria Alcantar and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Maria, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
I’m a believer that without the risk, there is no reward. While I tend to be an over thinker, I weigh the pros and cons of every decision. I’ve learned to move forward even when there is a chance of failure. If there’s an opportunity to grow or do something greater, I’ll take the risk every time.
Risk taking has deeply shaped my life and career. It’s led to some incredible wins but also had moments where things didn’t go as planned. Still, I live by my motto “never a failure, always a lesson.” Every risk comes with a chance to grow and in my eyes, the only real failure is not learning from the experience.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
What sets me apart is my commitment to creating an inclusive platform where every business from small family-owned start-ups to larger companies, has a chance to shine. I built my business from the ground up, doing the hard work that people don’t always see, cold calling, walking into businesses to introduce myself and showing up to countless networking events just to make real connections.
One of my biggest challenges has been navigating the business world as a Latina woman in a male-dominant space. In the beginning, it was hard to be taken seriously, but I learned to stand my ground. When you genuinely believe in what you’re building, others start to believe in it too.
VC Expo is more than just a series of marketing events, it’s a space designed to help entrepreneurs grow, connect, and be seen. That mission is what drives everything I do.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We would do a lot of outdoor activities such as: Griffith Observatory, Chumash Trail overlooking PCH, We would check out some roof top restaurants like Perch in Los Angeles, nice dinner at Joey in Woodland Hills.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Absolutely! My story is dedicated to the ultimate BOSS LADY, and my personal hero, my mom Lola. Lola has been a business owner for over 20 years and has always been my biggest supporter. She has always believed in my dreams even when I didn’t fully believe in them myself. She is the one that motivates me and reminds me to keep pushing forward, no matter how scary the road gets.

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