 Welcome back to our show. Hola y hola, everyone, and feliz año nuevo. Feliz año nuevo, happy new year. I'm your host, Barbara DeLuca, President and Co-Founder of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. And I am Marisol Ruiz. I am the Vice President and Co-Founder of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce here in Hawaii. So we had a great year. We're going to recap 2023 and talk about our initiatives for 2024. We just had a productive meeting in December to talk about what we're going to have in store for you for 2024. So we're so excited. And we want to start off with some of our progress that we made last year. It was a great, exciting year, right, Marisol? Oh, yeah. Exciting is an understatement. There was a lot of work. But this is what we love. We're trying to bring our Latino community together. So it was rough. But you're going to keep on going. And it's only getting better. So I'm really excited for this recap. And just to highlight what we've been doing this last year and what we're going to do moving forward. Right? So in 2022, we had our meeting in January. And we decided, OK, in 2023, we would love a podcast. And we even had a name for it. And it was Ola Iloha. And here it is. It came to fruition. We reached out to Think Tech Hawaii. Thank you, Think Tech, for giving us this platform. And we're going to start off with some of our shows. So if you go to our website, we're looking at one of our shows that we had with Tito Buenthe Jr. He was here for Hispanic Heritage Month in October. That was a great discussion, right? Oh, my god, he's so dynamic. Like, 30 minutes wasn't enough. I want to just sit there and find out everything about his life and his passion. And it was really exciting. And he didn't even, when he performed at the festival, he was even more dynamic, which was wonderful. So it was an honor to share space with him. Oh, he's so personable, too. He recognized each one of us from our talk show. So as soon as he saw us, everybody was trying to get a picture with them. But he's like, come on, Marisol, come on, Barbara. Let's get a picture. Yeah, do you remember that? I know. I was like, ooh. We were like groupies waiting. And he just called us out. It was awesome. Yeah, it was really good. It was great. Especially since I just got back from Florida, the conversation flowed. I was able to talk to him about Miami and our visit there. And unfortunately, he wasn't there for this event that I was at, who's in Puerto Rico. And let's look down. Let's go down to some of our other guests. I see Mercado de la Rasta. That was great. Oh, that's awesome. And they actually also, yeah, they're wonderful. And we talked a little bit about what they do in the community because they're really community-centric and really trying to bring people together and businesses actually really trying to expand and grow. And so they do a lot of charity work as well. But they were, we'll talk about this event, but they were panelists at one of our largest event we've had in 2023. So we'll get into that. But they were wonderful to share space with as well. Yeah, Alex Villarino and Megan Chun. Shout out. Hi, how? They're stores. The only Latino grocery store on the island, in case you didn't know, they're looking at a baritania right across the street from Safeway. And they carry all Latino products. And if they don't carry it, just let them know. And they'll, you know, they'll, I'm sure they'll do their best to get it in there. And you know, one thing that I've heard from people too, it's not just like when people think like Hispanic or Latino, most of them will think like Mexican, right? Or kind of Central American. They have products from Argentina, Brazil, other islands. Oh, yeah. They really, really are diverse. So it's a great, it's definitely a vibe in there. And while you're in there, you're probably going to find out one of their pop-ups. You'll get introduced to another locally owned business that they're supporting there, right? And their Merchant initiative there. Exactly, their Merchant Latino. They have that on Saturdays. And they bring in local vendors. And some of them are members of our chamber. And growing as well. So we like what they're doing in the community. Just like RIP Fitness, I'm looking at our other video here. They, Marisol, why don't you talk to us about RIP Fitness? Because you were at one of their masterminds recently. Oh, man, RIP Fitness, that's a whole other vibe too. It's so wonderful. If you want to work out in salsa and bachata, in between sets, that's the place to do it. And it's safe. And everyone is so wonderful and welcoming. And same idea that we all have is just uplift and inspire one another, support one another. There's enough room for everybody. So always fun to go in there. And then aside from just really owning their gym, they do sipping shops. So again, supporting one another in our businesses. So they'll bring out vendors. The one we went to last time, how many were there? I mean, at least 12, right? Vendors that they had out there. And you go out there and everyone's listening to music. You can lift weights if you want and support these other businesses. And then you remember how we started, right? It was just a kind of a passion project where he would get him and friends. And they'd go out and work out on Saturdays at the park just to get people together. And they're actually doing that. If I'm not mistaken, I want to say, let me look at the date. I want to say it's January 13th. They're kind of going back again to remember that Saturday event that we had gone to, they're going to do it again. Again, going back to kind of their initial roots, right? And how they started and getting the community involved again. But they recently, I went to a mastermind. Again, not just the gym. Their idea is to really uplift people. It was wonderful. I was there for a few hours at this mastermind. And it was just members of the community and talking about 2023 goals, finances. What are we projecting? Talking about even faith and different aspects of how can we grow and be better as individuals in our own homes and in our communities, in our places of work, our places of worship. We talked about mental health. I mean, it was wonderful. And this is something that they're planning on doing later in the year as well to kind of hold people accountable. Because we get excited, right? We'll do something, but it's like, how do you maintain and continue to support? So they're not just a gym. I mean, it's pretty awesome. So that was my experience just a few weeks ago. And they even have merch. They sell their own merchandise. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, I mean it's great. And they participate in all the, I mean, I go in there and it's amazing to see these transformations. Like, you think it can't really happen until you see it. You'll see somebody and then how dedicated they are when they're training them to do these competitions, you know? It's a thing. And you know what? When they go out to these competitions because it's such a community. They rolled so deep in such a community, like they're doing dancing and, you know, chime. And so they really bring that Latin flavor and that family culture to competitions, which there's no other group like that. So it's pretty awesome that, you know, they're part of the chamber and they're here to support us. And again, they also were, you know, active participants in our Latino Business Expo, which we'll talk about. So it was great to support another. Yes, they were. And they're located in Maipahu in case you haven't been to the gym. So look them up. RIP Fitness fell with a one, R1P Fitness, right? Oh, and I still would love to post this video on there, but one of our last guests that joined us in November was Ana Valdez and she's the president, CEO of Latino Business Collaborative. So they've been doing this report the last seven years. And it's basically on the Latino GDP and what would contribute to the economy and how we affect the voting block, real estate, entertainment, just all different facets, every industry, it's so interesting this conversation that I have with her. So I'm gonna post that on our website to share. And I'm just, you know, so happy that she took time to join us. She was in New York at the time. Right, and this is a guest that we should probably bring back on again because everything is data, right? I mean, and if there's data there to be had and we can talk all we want about, you know, how we're growing and who we are, you know, whether it be in Hawaii or nationwide, but the numbers speak for themselves, right? And so we can back up our passions and what we're seeing and trends with the data. So I think we need to bring her back. What do you think? Yes, definitely, especially as we, you know, make those relationships and connections with corporate members and, you know, the data is very important and how we do contribute 3.2 trillion to the GDP and all of those great numbers and how, you know, we're one in five Americans is Latino and how we're, you know, the youngest Americans, you know, about 20 years and younger is our average age. We have lots of opportunity in years to grow, you know, continue to grow the economy and buy homes and graduate higher levels and get those CEO positions. So it was a great conversation. Yes, we definitely have to bring her back. Good. 2024. 2024. So, oh, Marisol, do you want to talk about our Latino business expo since that's next on our website here? And, you know, it was great. Yeah, it was, you know, this was our first Latino business expo since we are a business chamber, right? But that being said, we're also, you know, extremely fun and passionate and, you know, we love the dance and the food. So we were thinking of how can we incorporate? How can we support our Latino businesses? Keep it still professional, right? Support one another and still, you know, have fun and really let who we are as the people shine. So we've been talking about this Latino business expo. Our vision is much larger, but hey, this was the first time, right? But it was incredibly successful. We had how many vendors did we have? 35 vendors and not all of them sold food. I would say half of them, 15 or the 18 were vendors. I'm talking Puerto Rican, Venezuelan, Peruvian, Mexican, all different. Brazilian, Cuban. And then the other half were business owners like myself and Marisol. We had a booth there as well for real estate and lending. Right, right. That's right. I'm a mortgage broker. I'm a mortgage broker. We were out there promoting our business along with RIP Fitness and Mercado de la Raza. Oh, and we also had a great conversation on stage. And you want to talk about that. Who was our guest on there? The four different Latino business owners in our community. Yeah, we had the Mercado de la Raza. We had RIP Fitness. We also had H&L to LAX, the Barber Shop, right? And then we had the one and only Chero. And the one and only. Hector Garcia Gomez from Arranchero, so. Yeah, fantastic. Yeah, and again, because we are a business chamber, right? Like, yes, are we going to have fun in the fiestas and the food? Yes, we're going to do all of those things. But at the end of the day, we are entrepreneurs. We hustle. We want to start businesses, whether it's a side business, a real business, a corporation, or some of us, you know, maybe don't work for ourselves and but we hold, you know, positions in other companies. The goal is to promote one another. So it was really awesome to have a panelist because people have ideas. Like, I want to start my business, but they might be afraid or they don't know how or they might not even know somebody in their own sphere that has actually done it. So we really provided that platform for people to talk about their experience because each experience is unique. So I thought it was exciting. I mean, that thing could have gone for hours. So we, you know, tried to keep it kind of concise and, you know, it was hard to also choose who we wanted as panelists, right? Because everyone has a story and I want to hear everyone's story. So maybe that's something that we can work on for 2024 as well as how can we and we do that when we do our talk shows, right? We highlight our Latino and businesses and how they got there. Where did the idea come from? So it was really fun to do that. But it was our first time, right? And it was, how many? 1200, over 1200. And we got a low hat tower marketplace. So it was a beautiful venue by the water and we had a VIP networking event. So that was sponsored by Taramana Tequila and we sold tickets for that event and the money went to our fundraiser which we can talk about next. And at the event, at the, sorry, at the VIP networking event, we were able to network with some of the business owners and the money went to a good cause and it was sponsored by Taramana. So you can't go wrong. And we also had a low riders. Duke's car was there, that was fun. So we represented all facets of our culture. Oh yeah, also the ballet folklorico, we can't get those amazing young people. Yes, we're gonna invite them back out. I had lunch with one of the girls who was here during the holidays to visit family. Yeah, no, they were wonderful. It's too bad we don't have yet, maybe, right? That's something that maybe in the future will, you know, as the Latino community grows, right? We don't, we have to kind of bring people in from the mainland, you know? But I mean, they're wonderful. It was a beautiful site, actually. Latina was there, they had a booth and actually the competition is coming up in January. I have to, we'll post details, maybe we'll bring them on to talk or, you know, we'll figure that out. Wait, which competition? The Miss Latina pageant is coming up in January. We've got it called Nancy Ortiz, she's the organizer and if we can have the girls talk about their platforms or, you know, yeah, we can at least talk about the Miss Latina pageant. It's a great way to bring the girls in and get them involved and not only that, this year one of our initiatives is to start a young people network. Yes, that's gonna be spearheaded by one of our members who actually, she was asking the questions on the panel as to the discussion. So she was a moderator, that's the word I'm thinking of, the moderator. Moderator. Yeah, Maria Arieta. So we'll have more news to share as that grows and develops her and Rolando Santiago, they're gonna spearhead that. So Marisol and I are gonna meet with them this month and talk about how we're gonna grow our young people network. So that's how we're gonna continue to grow the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. That's right. I mean, there's so many, I mean, and as we're growing, right, we're learning there's growing pains with everything, but I mean, wouldn't you say, Barbara, the response that we're getting, I mean, even just the Latino Business Expo, this was our first time, we really didn't know how successful it would be. We know in our minds, right, what we thought, I think it went better than we planned. And I mean, we had people that wanted to participate. Do you remember they were coming after the event? Like, who can we talk to? We wanna participate. What can we do for next year? And we're like, we had to, you know, it was limited. So we didn't even think that the support would be that as much as it was and we couldn't satisfy everyone, so to speak. So think about how big 2024 is going to be for everybody. Yeah, it's gonna be exciting and we might need a bigger venue. Let's see what happens. All of the food vendors sold out. So that was a good, you know, indicator. Yeah, no, it was great. So, yeah, we're looking forward to 2024. And so, and anybody that wants to, you know, join the Chamber, it's for Latinos and those who love us who have, you know, who are good in certain areas, maybe, you know, fundraising or marketing or they just wanna be a part of something, you know, you're more than welcome to come and join and be a part of our committees. Right, thank you. You're absolutely right. Everybody's welcome, Latinos and those who love us. Come out to some of our networking events. So we're going over last year, but what we did last year, we're gonna continue to implement this year. So our signature events such as the Latino Business Expo and we have another great event that we're planning at the end of the year for Dia de los Muertos. So that one's gonna be our Gala fundraiser. So we'll have more information to share with you guys as the year progresses. We're gonna start working on that early. And some of the networking events are on our signature events page on our website. So if you just wanna go check it out. Yep, there you go. We had a great turnout. Every other month we would have a breakfast networking. It was called Buenos Dias Breakfast Networking and we had six of them. So they were every other month at El Ranchero and Capolei. And we talked about, let's see, what do we have here? Ricky Niguez was going over some financial things and AI, how to build a website. If you scroll on there, we had a great time. Yeah. Yeah. I'm looking, I'm like, we've missed a couple on our website, but that's okay. I mean, yeah, we just, we did a lot this year, last, we're in 2020 already. You would think at eight in the morning, 8.30 in the morning, it's one of those things where like, well, let's see what happens. So it was out in Capolei and it's kind of hard to say who's gonna come out that far, but we had about 35 to 40 people at each of our breakfast meetings. This year what we wanna do is continue to have them, but plan them at different locations closer to town and see if we can capture some of the attendees that might have missed our breakfast networking just because of the location, but that was it, that's definitely a great location. We wanna keep them there. And if you go all the way to the bottom, we kicked off our year, the last two years with Beads for Leeds Business Networking, and this is at the Boiling Crab in Cacaaco. It's also Latino owned and for those who love us, anybody, everybody's welcome. So this is our first signature event that we want to, well, that we're gonna be planning for February. It's on Fat Tuesday and you bring your beads and get some leads and it's always a great night, right? This will be our third year, so that's exciting. And I did say that we were gonna talk about the Maui fundraiser. So if you go to our homepage, we were honored to be able to, the fact that we're a 501C3, we were able to raise $5,000 for our Latino business owners in Maui and we awarded three recipients. So we'll be sending that information out in our newsletter. We have a newsletter that we send out, I would say every other week. It's also called Hola Y Aloha. But we're able to share updates on our breakfast networking events and signature events. Right, yeah, the newsletter is great because it does, it recaps and then it highlights events that are coming up for sure. And then you know who else we miss on one of our networking events when we were at Locahi Brewing Company, right? That's right. But yeah, that was an awesome event. That was, he's over there on King Street, I believe, right? Locahi at the brewery and serves good food, has a food truck. So we should do plan one there again. Well, we actually did talk about it. So that would be a nighttime one. Yeah, no, that one's great. Right, so maybe if not a Buenos Diaz breakfast, so you know, Buenas tardes. Yeah, thank you. That's our version of Calhona, Buenas tardes. Right, yeah. And then 2023 was three this year, we're going to implement joining our chamber because we do have a lot of value to offer. And last year we were able to grow. You know, let's go to the first page if we scroll down. I can name a few and Marisol can name a few, but we have Barrio Cafe, Dash of Sastón, Alejandro's. What else do we have here? I got to put my glasses on. And then the salsa. Oh, yeah. Awesome. We got a hat. Raisa, tortillas, poquitos, the sifu cartel, taqueria, ranchero, boiling crab. Oh, yeah. Yeah, so those are some of our restaurant vendors and if you scroll up, Marisol, you want to read off some more business members. Let me see, hold on, I'm trying to. I know, go to my fast. I'll start with the designs, there we go. Graphic designs. What are we? Sorry. Okay, Marisol Cochin, the Latino Healing Institute, World Fast Notaries, another notary, HNLAX, the Barbershop, Arietta, soldier to soldier, RIP Fitness, Arthur Murray. Yeah, that's what they have. Politics, via business consultants, M&M consultants, insurance advisors, and we even have a cell phone company here, personalized white tours. Oh, wow. Yeah, so, and we need to update the website. Since our Latino Business Expo, we did have quite a few more people that joined us and companies and that's just people that own businesses. I'm spot on joined us, you know, they do people restaurants. So that's exciting, just collaborating with some of our corporate members. But like I said, you don't have to own a company like Marisol said, it's also for individuals that just want to network and might work for another company. We all work somewhere, right? Well, yeah, and I think a lot of the feedback that we get too, yeah, and I'm glad that you reiterated that again is you don't have to own a business. But at the end of the day, I think people are looking for a space or somewhere to connect with others or, you know, we get calls, right? Like, oh, do you know an immigration lawyer? Yes, we do actually, you know, or do you have an accountant or a tax preparer that speaks Spanish? Yes, we do, right? So it's like, they might not own a business but they're looking for certain resources and we're here to provide resources, you know, a hub for everybody to tap into when something is needed but you do not have to own a business. Correct. And one of the things that we are working on for this year, like, you know, we did discuss where we can improve and that's our website. So we do want to create a directory so we can connect with each other on the website. Right. That's been requested and definitely necessary. And Barbara, do we have planned like a members meeting to get everyone together? And is that something that we're looking at for our next quarter maybe? What do you think? Definitely, yeah. That's something that we discussed. So the best way to connect with us is to sign up, go to our website and sign up for the newsletter because we send that out every other week just discussing any upcoming events like our members meeting. Right. That's something we are working on. And you'll be probably getting a personal phone call from one of us, someone on our board saying, hey, make sure you come to our meeting when we have that. So look out for the newsletter and then it's off. We do have people that do want to, you know, volunteer for our membership committee. So some of our new members are volunteering for the membership committee. Right. One of them is her name's Chris Calderon and she owns a security franchise. Oh, that's awesome. Ignore security, I believe. Don't quote me, let me look it up. I'm sorry, Chris, but I think that's it. She's great. I went to lunch with her too. She lives in Millani, so we were able to meet up. So yeah, if you're interested in helping out or volunteering, please connect with us. Our contact information is on our website. Sorry, I was trying to read the chat, but I don't have my basketball. Oh, let me see. Do we have a chat? Two, with a two minute countdown. All right. Why are you just ignoring the countdown? Countdown, happy new year. Woo, I hope you guys all had a happy new year. I know we did and we're blessed to live here in the beautiful islands of Hawaii and just growing the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and partnering with Marisol. And, you know, we talked about this Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and growing it and bounding it back in 2019. And here we are at 2024, Marisol. I know. Is that crazy? No. I feel like blood, sweat and tears, but here we are. I'm like recharged again. It just takes a little conversation and it's like, OK, why are we doing this again? It's wonderful. There's so much potential. And we'll be reaching out to a lot more of our corporate members of the community for support because we have a lot to do and a lot to say and pretty exciting. But we do need some support. So if anybody's interested in participating and putting in some work, we're here. We're taking you with open arms. Remember Latinos and those who love us. But thank you for joining us, you guys. And we look forward to another year of think tech support. And thank you for giving us this platform and joining us on Ola y Aloha. And like I said, this is Barbara DeLuca, your host signing off with Marisol Ruiz, our vice president and co-founder. Thank you for joining us and happy new year. Thank you. Happy new year. Feliz año nuevo. We'll see you soon.