Historically, home ownership is the number one key to building wealth in this country. As a Latina, home ownership stems deep in our culture, one that’s surrounded by religion and family. We want to root ourselves. The opportunity for wealth building isn’t why Latinos buy homes in America, it’s to find a place to put roots down and get a piece of America as their own.

My focus on Hispanic lending started in the early nineties when I realized that non-Latinos were not refinancing or buying homes, yet in the town next to me, a primarily Hispanic community, people were still buying homes and doing business. I looked at that community and I said, ‘I speak pretty good Spanish.’ (laughs). I started to go after the real estate community that spoke Spanish and that’s when my passion to serve this market started. There’s definitely a business case around it, but I do it because I love it. It’s an incredible feeling to deliver the keys to the family and see the joy on their faces.

Arvielo: I’ve been climbing this ladder of success since I was 16 years old and I have stumbled around. I didn’t wake up and was successful. I made a lot of mistakes, and I failed a lot. I lost all my money by the time I was 30, which was a good thing because early failure dictates longevity and success. It teaches you a lesson. After that, I realized that I never wanted to feel insecure about money again. I wanted to be financially secure for myself and my family.

By my late forties, I had enough money for the rest of my life. I had made it, right? So I decided I was going to work for the cherry on top of the sundae because I don’t have to build a sundae anymore. What excites me is serving the Latino community. That moment when I learned that my voice mattered and that I was important to Latinas was so special because there are not a lot of business role models in this country. I mean, we have phenomenal Latina role models, like JLo and Eva Longoria, but a small percentage of us get the opportunity to be them. Everyone can be me.

I started to tell my story and reach out to different organizations that had a large following of Latinas. I stumbled across a company called #WeAllGrow Latina in 2019 and I fell in love with the platform. I ended up buying it. At first, I was gonna acquire 100% of the company, but my entire mission is to serve the Latino community, not to take from them. So I bought 50% of the company and became a partner. I told Ana Flores (the company’s founder), ‘we can go grow this and make it even bigger because I want you to be wealthy. You are the founder, you’re the creator.’

I do. I didn’t go to college, but I sit on the board of Harvard because Latina voices are important and people want to have that around. Not having a college degree didn’t hold me back. Latinas have that hard work ethic but we lack mentorship. I advise Latinas to first seek mentorship. #WeAllGrow Latina is a great platform to follow and learn.

In my case, I emulated everybody, mostly men. I had to copy them and learn how they spoke.You also need to network and get to know people, you need to surround yourself with people that are in business. It doesn’t even need to be the same type of business, yet finding alignments in mentorship is so important.

That’s why I think it’s really great that you’re doing this story on me. I want other Latinas to know that I didn’t have a college degree and that I’m no different than any of them. I cleaned real estate offices when I was 12. My mom was a housekeeper my entire life. I have a very similar story, but I’m also a networker. I always go to a meeting with something to give.