by Marcela Davison Aviles
“Starting a business is kind of like starting a family, it’s never a perfect time and there is always an excuse to wait. But if you just do it…wow!”
No, CEO/community and Latina activist Tina Aldatz is not a paid endorser for Nike. But like many of the super-star athletes who are, Tina has achieved a pinnacle of success in business by enduring hardship and physical pain to build endurance, talent and a deep intelligence for enterprise as well as the search for common ground. She has not walked on water to accomplish her vision of self-sufficiency. She walked on fire. Literally.
Act I of our story begins in Orange County, California, where Tina grew up. As a child, Tina would visit the beach and on one fateful trip, she burned the soles of her feet when she accidentally walked on coals that were buried in the sand. She suffered third degree burns and endured months of painful therapy and recovery. That summer, Tina was in and out of the hospital, and confined to a wheel-chair. She started fourth grade on crutches, and her feet have remained sensitive and prone to blisters ever since.
Act II cuts to the bright lights of the Big Apple – New York City. Having emancipated herself at age 16, earning her GED and working her way up the ladder in consumer retail with Victoria’s Secret, Tina landed a leadership position as the Special Events and Merchandising Director for BCBG Max Azria. While pounding the pavement of New York City streets, Tina’s feet took a beating. With every step she took, and each little pang of pain her feet endured, the spark of an idea germinated in her head. In 2001 the opportunity to join an internet start-up in California beckoned, but fizzled after six months. That’s when Tina took the leap, and in 2001 launched her first start-up, “Foot Petals.” Giving herself six months to make it, she leveraged her personal experience and researched production and design for a foot cushion that would make women’s dress shoes as comfortable as they are fashionable. Building the company with her business partner, Margarita Flores took ten years years and many teachable moments chronicled in her new memoir, “From Stilettos to the Stock Exchange.” By 2011, she sold the business for $14 million in cash.
Act III dissolves to the launch of her new business with Margarita, “Savvy Travelers.” Savvy Travelers offers a line of eco-friendly and convenient products that make travel easy and healthy. The on-the-go travel wellness line includes sanitizing hand and body wipes, “No Sweat” antiperspirant wipes, surface wipes, “In the Klear” lens and screen wipes, foot safety shields, “Speak Eazy” mouth refresher wipes and luxe facial cleansing towelettes. The company has already attracted outside investors and is now offered by high end retailers such as Nordstroms. Tina is also expanding her business activities into the entertainment industry – a logical extension given the celebrity backing to Savvy Travelers. She is a credited producer for the 2014 film drama, La Frontera, starring Eva Longoria, Michael Peña, Ed Harris and Amy Madigan. La Frontera tells the story of Mexican migrants and American ranchers finding common ground at the border through love lost and re-claimed.
Act IV finds Tina and Margarita in San Jose, California where she was honored by ModernLatina.com for her achievements in business and leadership as a mentor, philanthropist and Latina activist. With her second company taking off, a major motion picture under her belt and growing national recognition for her new memoir, Tina’s journey from pain to profit might just be coming to a theatre near you. Stay tuned ….
Tips from Tina
In 2008 Tina was profiled by Los Angeles freelance writer Sarah Tomlinson for the entrepreneur blog for women, “Ladies Who Launch.” Tina offered advice then for business owners that remains salient, no matter your gender. Here are three “tips from Tina” excerpted from this 2008 profile, with attribution to Sarah Tomlinson:
Let the experts do their jobs.
“I think entrepreneurs, at times, try to do everything themselves. You just can’t be successful unless you know what your strengths are and you get the right people in the right places.”
It Takes Two to Merchandise
“In January of 2001, I got my first partner, and that was Armando Dupont. And he’s still my partner. And Margie, who is my vice president and business partner, came on board in February of 2001. Margie had worked in the fashion industry for many years and before we launched I said, ‘If I can make this thing, do you think that you could sell it?’ She shopped it around to buyers, and she called me back and said, ‘Absolutely, let’s go for it.’ We took the product to our first trade show in June of 2001, and we shipped our first order in August.”
Teaching Shoe Dogs New Tricks
“We had fashion experience, but the shoe world is run by these old men, and they’re referred to as ‘shoe dogs.’ So when we walked into these meetings, they were like, ‘Why in the heck would we sell something that we give away every day?’ And our response was, ‘Why would you give something away that you could sell?’”
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Marcela Davison Aviles is an author, lawyer and founder of Chapultepec Group, a leading cultural insights agency serving the arts and entertainment industry and Managing Director of El Camino Project, a new arts social venture initiative.