Today we’d like to introduce you to Brenda Mejias.
Hi Brenda, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s that life can change our plans in an instant. But sometimes, those unexpected turns lead us exactly where we’re meant to be.
I’m originally from Venezuela, where I trained as a lawyer. In 2014, I made one of the most difficult decisions of my life: leaving my home country and starting over somewhere new.
My first destination was Panama. I arrived with dreams, uncertainty, and a determination to build a better future, but also with the reality of having to reinvent myself both personally and professionally. Leaving behind a career, a life I had built, and everything familiar was far from easy. And while moving to another country might look like an exciting adventure from the outside, those of us who have experienced it know that starting over takes much more than courage.
During my first years in Panama, I tried launching several businesses. Some didn’t work out, others brought significant financial losses, and every single one taught me something. There were moments of frustration, fear, and self-doubt. I remember reaching a point when I seriously considered giving up on entrepreneurship altogether.
But it was precisely during one of those difficult moments that something unexpected began to take shape.
At the time, I was a mother to a little girl who was just two and a half years old. Like any mom, I wanted to find places where we could spend quality time together, family-friendly activities, restaurants, and experiences that would help us discover our new home.
But I noticed something was missing. Information about what to do and where to go in Panama was scattered everywhere, and I couldn’t find a single, accessible platform that brought all those recommendations together in a practical, relatable way.
So I asked myself a simple question: Why not create the resource I was looking for?
And that’s how AdondeirPTY was born.
Without imagining how far it could go, I started sharing places, recommendations, events, and experiences I discovered along the way. I approached everything from a very personal perspective: as a mom, as an immigrant, and as someone learning to fall in love with a new country.
Over the years, what started as a personal need grew into a trusted resource for Panamanians, expats, and families looking for things to do, places to eat, and destinations worth exploring.
But what touched me most was realizing that I wasn’t simply recommending places. I was helping people create memories, discover their surroundings, and feel connected to their communities.
AdondeirPTY also opened unexpected doors in my personal life. Through the connections that came from this project, I met the man who is now my husband. After a long-distance relationship and a vacation that unexpectedly changed the course of my life, a new chapter began: moving to the United States.
And once again, I found myself starting from scratch.
By then, alongside building my own business, I had also developed a corporate career, working as a Commercial and Marketing Manager for a company in the food industry. That experience helped me grow professionally, develop a more strategic understanding of business, and appreciate the importance of creating meaningful connections between brands and people.
But moving to the United States meant facing the challenge of reinventing myself all over again, adapting to a new culture, and finding my place in a different environment.
This time, however, I had something I didn’t have when I first arrived in Panama: the experience of building a community from the ground up and the belief that Adondeir could grow beyond borders.
Three years ago, I decided to launch AdondeirUSA, a natural extension of the project that began in Panama, but with a new perspective: helping the Hispanic community discover incredible places throughout Florida and across the United States.
My philosophy has always been simple: You don’t have to spend a fortune to have extraordinary experiences.
I love discovering charming small towns, restaurants with unique stories, local events, lesser-known destinations, and those hidden gems that often go unnoticed.
I enjoy experiencing every destination as fully as possible: walking its streets, tasting its food, connecting with locals, and sharing recommendations based on my own experiences. I also love offering practical money-saving tips and encouraging people to explore in a more thoughtful and responsible way.
Today, I live in Lakeland, a beautiful city in Central Florida surrounded by lakes, nature, and a welcoming community. I love its peaceful atmosphere, its people, and the special charm that doesn’t always make it into major travel guides.
Living here has reinforced something I deeply believe: you don’t have to travel far to discover extraordinary places.
Although Lakeland is my home, my curiosity has taken me much further. I’ve had the opportunity to explore and create travel content about destinations such as Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Seattle, and different parts of Washington State, California, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Ohio, and many other places across the country.
And my dream continues to grow.
Today, I’m working to take Adondeir beyond social media and develop it into a broader travel and lifestyle brand.
I’m creating digital travel guides, practical recommendations, and travel-inspired products, including apparel and keepsakes through our online shop. My vision is to build something that goes beyond a single content creator: a brand that can continue inspiring people to explore, discover, and experience the world in their own way.
It’s an exciting new chapter, but it also comes with challenges. Because entrepreneurship doesn’t always bring immediate results. Sometimes it means investing countless hours into an idea without knowing when it will pay off, learning entirely new skills, making mistakes, and finding the courage to keep going.
I still have so much I want to accomplish.
I dream of introducing Adondeir to more people, helping travelers plan unforgettable experiences through our guides, and creating products that become part of their own adventures.
I also hope to build a financially sustainable business that allows me to continue doing what I love, create new opportunities, and enjoy greater freedom to spend meaningful time with my family.
When I look back, I see that Venezuelan lawyer who left her country in 2014 without knowing what the future would bring. I see the businesses that didn’t work out, the moments when I questioned myself, the countries that became home, and the wonderful people I’ve met along the way.
And although I haven’t reached every goal I’ve set for myself, I can say that each experience, even the most difficult ones, has helped shape the person I am today.
Because if immigration, entrepreneurship, and travel have taught me anything, it’s that there’s always an opportunity to discover a new path.
And perhaps that’s the true essence of Adondeir:
A reminder that there’s always a new place to discover, an experience waiting to happen, and another opportunity to begin again.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Has it been a smooth road? Definitely not. If there’s one thing entrepreneurship has taught me, it’s that building something of your own requires far more perseverance, patience, and sacrifice than you could ever imagine.
Immigrating twice taught me that starting over means much more than moving to a new country. It means rebuilding your network, proving yourself all over again, adapting to a different culture, and finding opportunities in an environment where practically no one knows you.
When I decided to expand Adondeir into the United States, I thought having already built a platform in Panama would make the journey a little easier. But I quickly realized I was entering a completely different market, one that was much larger and far more competitive.
One of my biggest challenges has been building new professional connections and getting hotels, restaurants, tourism destinations, and brands to recognize the value of AdondeirUSA as a platform that connects with the Hispanic community.
Living in Lakeland, a relatively small city in Central Florida, adds another layer to that challenge. Although I absolutely love the peaceful atmosphere of my city, opportunities to connect directly with major brands and tourism companies are more limited than in larger markets like Miami, Orlando, or Tampa.
This means I often have to step outside my immediate surroundings, travel, attend events, research opportunities, and invest significant time in building professional relationships from the ground up.
And one thing I’ve learned is that getting people to discover your work requires a real investment, not only financially, but also in time, energy, and consistency. Connections don’t happen overnight, and neither does earning a brand’s trust.
Behind every social media post, there’s so much more work than people realize. Researching destinations, traveling to locations, experiencing them firsthand, filming, taking photographs, editing videos, writing recommendations, and maintaining an engaged community all require creativity, expertise, planning, and ongoing investment.
Yet many opportunities in the content creation industry are still offered exclusively in exchange for complimentary products or experiences. While I’m grateful for the collaborations that have allowed me to discover wonderful places and establish meaningful relationships, one of my biggest challenges is turning those opportunities into sustainable business partnerships where creative work is also fairly compensated.
In a market as large as the United States, follower counts are often one of the first things brands look at. And although our community continues to grow, it can sometimes be difficult to compete with creators who have significantly larger audiences.
Another challenge is creating content primarily in Spanish.
My goal is to connect with the Hispanic community, a diverse audience looking for information, recommendations, and experiences that reflect their language and cultural identity. However, I still encounter brands that don’t fully recognize the potential of reaching this audience or that prioritize English-language campaigns.
At the same time, I’m working to build something that goes beyond brand collaborations. I’m developing digital travel guides, travel-inspired apparel and products, and our online shop, exploring new ways to turn content and creativity into additional sources of income.
And I have to admit, that hasn’t been easy either. Learning about e-commerce, developing products, positioning them in the market, and generating sales presents an entirely different set of challenges from creating social media content.
There are days when it’s exhausting to dedicate so many hours to projects that haven’t yet produced the financial results I hope for. Because when you’re an entrepreneur, especially one building a brand almost from scratch, there’s an enormous amount of work that nobody sees, and much of it doesn’t bring an immediate reward.
But the failures of my first business ventures in Panama taught me a lesson I deeply value today: a difficult outcome doesn’t necessarily mean an idea has no future. Sometimes we simply need to adjust our approach, learn, and try again.
Today, I continue working to demonstrate that a Spanish-language platform built on authenticity and personal experience can bring real value to the tourism industry in the United States.
My biggest challenge isn’t simply gaining more followers. It’s getting people and brands to discover our work, trust what we do, and turn that recognition into opportunities and professional partnerships that allow us to build a sustainable business.
It’s a daily commitment that requires discipline, continuous learning, and consistency. Some days are incredibly rewarding, while others make you feel as though you’ve barely moved forward.
But after having to start over more than once, I’ve learned that dreams don’t always come true on the timeline we imagine.
And although I’m still far from achieving everything I’ve set out to accomplish, I continue to believe in this project and work every day toward what I know it has the potential to become.
Because building a dream doesn’t always mean moving fast. Sometimes it simply means having the courage to keep going, even when the results aren’t visible yet.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Adondeir Agency is the parent company of a growing ecosystem of brands I’ve built around my passion for discovering destinations, telling stories, and connecting people with memorable experiences.
Under Adondeir Agency, we have developed three brands with distinct identities but a shared mission: to inspire people to explore more, travel smarter, and discover extraordinary places.
AdondeirPTY is our editorial content and travel recommendation platform in Panama, where this entire journey began. We share destinations, restaurants, activities, events, and experiences that help both residents and visitors discover the country.
AdondeirUSA represents our expansion into the United States, with a special focus on the Hispanic community. Through personal experiences, restaurant recommendations, hotels, charming small towns, and hidden gems, we aim to show that traveling and discovering new places doesn’t have to mean spending a fortune.
Adondeir Store is our online shop, where we’re developing travel-inspired apparel, souvenirs, and products inspired by the destinations we explore. We’re also creating digital travel guides featuring itineraries, helpful tips, and practical resources to make trip planning easier.
What sets us apart is our combination of editorial storytelling, authentic experiences, creativity, and business vision.
We don’t want to simply share beautiful photographs or popular destinations. I love personally exploring places, discovering their food, learning their stories, and finding those special details that often go unnoticed. That personal connection is essential to building trust with our community.
Through Adondeir Agency, we also offer collaboration opportunities for hotels, restaurants, tourism destinations, and brands through video production, photography, storytelling, editorial features, and promotional campaigns, particularly those looking to connect with Hispanic audiences.
My professional background in commercial management and marketing allows me to combine creativity with a strategic business perspective, developing opportunities that bring value to both brands and our audience.
One of my proudest accomplishments is transforming a personal need into a company that now connects people and destinations across two countries. What began as a platform to discover Panama continues to evolve into new opportunities and areas of business.
My vision is for Adondeir Agency to grow beyond my personal presence by bringing other creators into our ecosystem, developing new products, and building partnerships with companies that share our passion for tourism and authentic experiences.
We also want to encourage a more thoughtful and accessible approach to travel, highlighting local businesses and communities with incredible stories to tell.
I would love VoyageMIA readers to know that Adondeir is much more than an Instagram account. It’s a business ecosystem I’m building with dedication, creativity, and a long-term vision.
My dream is to see our brands continue growing and become a meaningful connection between travelers, destinations, and businesses, inspiring more people to discover the world through an authentic, approachable, and accessible perspective.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
If I could give one piece of advice to someone just starting their entrepreneurial journey, it would be this: don’t wait until you have everything figured out to take the first step.
So often, we believe we need the perfect moment, enough money, all the knowledge, or the certainty that our idea will succeed. But the truth is, many of the most valuable lessons can only be learned once we find the courage to begin.
I would also tell them not to be afraid of making mistakes. I’ve started businesses that didn’t work out, and for a long time, I saw those experiences as failures. Today, I understand that each one taught me something I needed to learn to build what I have now.
Something I wish I had known from the beginning is that entrepreneurship isn’t just about having a great idea or working incredibly hard. You also need to learn how to sell, build relationships, understand your audience, manage your resources, and most importantly, recognize the value of your time and your work.
Another important lesson is to stop constantly comparing yourself to others. Especially in the age of social media, where we see extraordinary results without knowing the years of hard work, sacrifices, and struggles behind them.
I believe it’s essential to celebrate small victories, surround yourself with people who inspire and support you, learn to ask for help, and stay curious enough to keep growing.
And one more thing: never let your age, moving to a new country, or having to start over make you believe it’s too late to pursue your dreams.
I’ve had to reinvent myself more than once, and I’m still learning every day. I don’t have all the answers, and I haven’t achieved every goal I’ve set for myself, but I’ve discovered that consistency and determination can take us much further than we ever imagined.
If there’s one message I would love to share, it’s this: don’t be afraid to start small, change direction, or try again.
Because sometimes, an idea born from a simple personal need can grow into something far greater than you ever imagined.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adondeirusa/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/A-donde-ir-USA
- Threads: https://www.threads.com/@adondeirusa
