Inspirational Woman February 2015: Ana Flores
In December of 2010, Ana Flores appeared on the cover of Hispanic Business Magazine as “The New Face of Social Media,” just one month after launching Latina Bloggers Connect, Inc, a digital influencer marketing agency specialized in creating strategic content marketing campaigns connecting brands and social causes with Latina influencers and bloggers. She began LBC as a one-woman show, launching the site, developing content and making connections with bloggers and marketers of prestigious Fortune 500 companies. Today, Latina Bloggers Connect is consolidated as the largest network of digital Latina influencers in all verticals with over 1500 opt-in influencers with a collective unique readership of 26 million.
Ana has over 15 years of experience as a content creator and television producer, with a specialty in the U.S. Hispanic industry. After becoming a mom, she co-founded SpanglishBaby, the award-winning, go-to online community and resource for parents raising bilingual and bi-cultural kids.
Ana coauthored the book “Bilingual is Better: Two Latina Moms on How the Bilingual Parenting Revolution is Changing the Face of America” and can also be found on her personal lifestyle blog MadreVida.com. Her parenting articles have been featured on Babble, Huffington Post, Lean In, latinamom.me , and as a contributor and advocate of the Moms Clean Air Force and a United Nations Foundation Social Fellow. She’s also had the honor of presenting at conferences such as BlogHer, The Adelante Movement, LATISM, New Generation Latino Consortium, Mom 2.0 Summit, Type-A Mom, Blissdom, Hispanicize, Blogalicious, Digital Hollywood and BlogWorld Expo, and of partnering with LATISM to spearhead the Top Latina Bloguera Retreat in Washington D.C., where 70 bloggers were invited to receive a briefing at the White House.
A tireless creator, her newest venture is #WeAllGrow Summit, the go-to professional conference for Latina digital content creators and influencers across all categories.
1) You are the founder and CEO of LatinaBloggersConnect. Why was it important to create a space for the Latina voice?
When I founded LBC in 2010, my main drive was to make sure our, back then small, community of Latina bloggers where getting the same opportunities and compensation as the general market. I knew that the online communities we were creating were making a difference by bringing our cultural experience online and allowing us to find each other and celebrate our unique culture and language through our shared experience. My first blog, SpanglishBaby, was already well-known and starting to thrive at that time, but I knew that if we had been capable of creating content that other Latinas immediately identified with, that there had to be more and that content needed to be nurtured and shared. And personally, Latina is who I am, I would find it hard to thrive in any other space.
2) We see that you work with corporate brands. Was it easy for you to convince them of the power of the Latina consumer?
I was at the right place, at the right time and with the right concept. 2010 is when the latest U.S. Census was revealed and it demonstrated the real purchasing power of the Latino household. At the same time, the blogosphere was booming as the new media to invest in, but it was still new for marketers and brands. More than convincing, we had to guide them to understand how to work with bloggers and influencers and prove them the return on investment. My very first client the month I launched was Sprint, followed by Clorox, McDonald’s, Neutrogena and many more Fortune 500 companies.
3) When you started Latina Bloggers Connect you were a one woman show. How did you manage your time?
Those were very difficult times. My family was still recovering from the recession with a 3-year old girl. Since it’s only my husband and I in Los Angeles, we have no family to help with our daughter and at that time we didn’t have the income to have a nanny. I also had SpanglishBaby.com and that was starting to do so well, I decided not to take any full-time jobs when they finally starting coming back around and just freelance until I could get both SpanglishBaby and LBC off the ground. For the first 10 months I worked completely alone building the LBC website, launching the network, recruiting bloggers, contacting brands, closing campaigns and executing them. A year later I had two people working with me part-time, but I was still managing both online businesses, plus writing a book, contributing to a few parenting sites and doing brand ambassador and spokesperson work. So how did I manage my time? I still have no idea.
A year ago we put the SpanglishBaby blog on hiatus because I had to make the decision to focus just on LBC. That led to my team growing to 10 people, doubling revenues and launching a conference.
4) How did you manage your challenges?
I see every challenge as an opportunity for growth. I just keep going, face them upfront and know that there’s no way to actually fail if you learn and get back up.
5) Social media is the next chapter of empowering consumers. How have you used it to gain your audience?
I don’t believe it’s the next chapter, I believe we’re writing it already. My whole business, since SpanglishBaby, has been built 100% through social media. I started in the middle of a recession that had hit my family hard. I started LBC with less than $100 to invest. I made use of every single free online tool I had at my disposal and social media was my vehicle to promote and connect, it still is.
6) You are also an author of Bilingual is Better. In one statement, why is it better?
Bilingual is better because we are born with the innate capacity to learn as many languages as we’re exposed to in a consistent basis. Knowing more than one language expands our brains, our opportunities and our cultural understanding.
7) You have taken great steps towards innovation for the Latina community. Do you see yourself as a visionary?
Only in the sense that I trust my own personal vision and passion and I will never compromise that.
8) What misconceptions would you like to challenge about Latinas?
I know there are many stereotypes and misconceptions, but I don’t live in them and I don’t acknowledge them either. How I challenge anything is by being and leading by example,.
9) What drives your passion?
My daughter and the legacy I want to leave her with.
10) What is the best advice you would give to an entrepreneur afraid of failure?
Failure only exists as a perception. Everything is a lesson. What may seem as failure now, can seem as a blessing with hindsight. Confront the fear of failure head on and what results is a renewed self of confidence.
11) What is the best advice would you give to women who are afraid of success?
I used to be terrified of success, but because I had no idea what that really meant or I placed it to up high. Success, just like failure, is a perception. Celebrate your small successes every single day because that’s what pushes you to the next one. Bathe yourself in success all the time and know that you created it , you envisioned it and you deserve it. And be clear what success really means to you. To me? Feeling that what I do makes a difference in someone’s life.
12) Finally, you have a conference coming up. How can we attend?
The conference is #WeAllGrow Summit at the LINE Hotel in Los Angeles from February 26 to 28, 2015. It’s a very hands-on, experiential conference for digital influencers who are passionate about growing their personal brands and business. We’re about to sell out, but registration information can be found at http://www.weallgrowsummit.com
