How Latina Entrepreneurs Are Launching Businesses With Cultural Intent

Latina entrepreneurs are finding courage in building their businesses while integrating their cultural identity throughout.

From Melissa Gallardo to Stephanie Vasquez, these women have found ways to not only celebrate and cater to their heritage, but also share their culture with the world through their products and services. Through seasonal offerings, these entrepreneurs have tapped into holidays slightly pivoting their businesses to give consumers a taste of their heritage’s holiday staples.

Here are 3 Latina entrepreneurs to support this fall season.

Melissa Gallardo is the founder of Bonita Fierce Candles, a brand whose scents are inspired by Gallardo’s Latin heritage. As a non-Spanish-speaking Latin, Melissa established Bonita Fierce Candles to create scents that are unique and nuanced to the Latin Heritage.

Growing up as a Latin American, Melissa faced struggles such as navigating language and her culture, often times feeling disconnected. The CEO faced a deep insecurity as she looked to find a community where she felt accepted. It wasn’t until she found solace in an online group of Latinas with similar stories as hers, that she truly felt at home. She finally had the courage to build her business. It was during the 2020 pandemic that Melissa turned her hobby and poured her first candle. That’s when her business began. Melissa felt as though Latinas didn’t have scents that were familiar or represented them in the home fragrance industry. Bonita Fierce Candles include niche fragrances such as Elote, Agua Fresca, and Mucho Amor. Melissa’s candles also make perfect additions to a fall ready home and thoughtful gifts for the holidays with cozy scents that are unique to the Latin heritage such as Coquito, Horchata, and Abuela’s Bakery.

“Bonito Fierce Candles is a gateway to celebrate and elevate the cultural crossroards of being Latina and American year-round,” Melissa told People Latina.

The CEO continues to proudly represent her roots and leveraged her business, which became the first Latina-owned candle company to debut at Nordstrom.

Yamira Vanegas is the brainchild behind vegan and cruelty-free bath and body brand Loquita Bath and Body. The brand that went viral for having the first-ever concha bath bomb. Yamira started her company because she wanted self-care items that spoke to her and other Chicanx and Latina people. Loquita Bath and Body set the internet ablaze due to the brand’s delicious looking products that featured popular Latin treats. She incorporated nods to her Mexican-Gautemalan heritage and 90s pop culture to offer up a myriad of products from flan and churro whipped soaps to elote bath bombs.

“Loquita was created with the purpose of representation, with the hopes to create products that as a LatinX we would feel more related to,” Yamira told HuffPost. “To hopefully encourage us to practice self-care more often, since [women of color], we tend to put it on the back burner.”

According to Yamira, at the heart of the brand will always be self-care, and that is something that has always been a staple in the Latin community.

Stephanie Vasquez created Fair Trade Cafe, downtown Phoenix’s longest-standing coffee house, in 2007. Beginning her career as a Seventh Grade teacher in 2004, she took a tour of a Costa Rican coffee farm that forever altered the trajectory of her career and her life.

The entrepreneur got an up close and personal look on how much her daily coffee purchase impacted the people on the farm and their families. It was then that she embarked on a nearly 20-year journey and opened up her own independent coffee house. Now seen as a successful business owner, Stephanie has gained recognition for her contributions. She was also featured in the Phoenix New Times top 40 under 40. Fair trade Cafe is deeply rooted in the business owner’s roots featuring special holiday drinks and pastries that are cherished in the Latin community.

Stephanie describes her cafe as “a community hub that serves serves sustainable specialty coffee that is fair trade certified, house-made pastries, and delicious food, served in a culture-rich ambiance.”