Today we’d like to introduce you to Meliza Veloz. They and their team shared their story with us below:
Meliza Veloz as simply a business advisor or serial entrepreneur would be an insult to her varied and impressive background. As a first-generation Latina, becoming an executive on Wall Street didn’t come easy. Neither did running the largest sprout farm in New York City. There’s so much more to her story, but let’s start at the beginning.
Meliza has always been independently driven, even since she was young. At age 13, Meliza secured her first job filing documents at an insurance company. She continued working there throughout her teen years, eventually earning her insurance license. By the time she was 21, she had landed an executive position with one of Wall Street’s top insurance firms. However, as a young Latina woman, Veloz felt she had to work twice as hard to prove herself to her colleagues and higher-ups who were mostly double her age. Meliza spent a successful decade on Wall Street, but the emotional cost was high — to fit in, she felt pressure to abandon her Latin roots, cut her hair, and conform to the firm’s traditional corporate culture.
During this time, Meliza also helped her husband run their large sprout farm in New York City. As entrepreneurs, they learned a great deal about logistics and shipping. This sparked the idea to create Shipcause, a full-service shipping concierge. After spending more than ten years in New York, Meliza and her husband moved to the up-and-coming city of Tampa, Florida to expand their growing logistics business. Meliza enjoys the sunshine, but finds time to revisit her New York roots.
Meliza’s passion for the finer things lends a helping hand to her role as the CEO of Hemincuff, a sustainable vegan handbag company. Each bag is crafted with care, a tradition started by a craftsman immigrant from the Dominican Republic, being carried on one generation later. Unique handbags are often created for celebrities. Hemincuff uses recycled materials and plants a tree for every bag sold, demonstrating the company’s commitment to slow and sustainable fashion.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
There have been all types of challenges in my journey. Early on in my career, I had to overcome sexism, racism, and ageism on wall street in 2006. I was asked to change the spelling of my name as it was too ethnic for the affluent customers to pronounce from Meliza to Melissa as it would be received better. I was young and hungry to succeed so I went along with it. Now I stand in my place completely proud of the Latina businesswoman I have become.
Through the years, I faced adversities I had to bootstrap most of my companies as I didn’t have the perfect requirements banks were looking for to fund my credit was below perfect, didn’t have a master’s degree, and didn’t have the experience in the industry I was funding as I was so adventurous and unbiased to the businesses I have built amongst the years. Honestly, the best thing that happens to me as now I feel I can build any business in any industry.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Meliza’s passion for the finer things lends a helping hand to her role as the CEO of Hemincuff, a sustainable vegan handbag company. Each bag is crafted with care, a tradition started by a craftsman immigrant from the Dominican Republic, being carried on one generation later. Unique handbags are often created for celebrities. Hemincuff uses recycled materials and plants a tree for every bag sold, demonstrating the company’s commitment to slow and sustainable fashion.
In more recent news, Meliza has united her long-time passions for fashion and travel with her luxury concierge service, PackSetFly. This bespoke travel agency will help you find the perfect destination, experiences, restaurants, and looks. You’ll even get a unique packing list and clothing selection specific to you and your destination.
As a serial entrepreneur, Meliza is ready to give back to the business community. Her advisory services will kick off in 2023, with the launch of Meliza Veloz Consulting. Meliza’s experience and inspiring demeanor have already helped numerous entrepreneurs find motivation and strategic success. Meliza knows the pressure and stress that most entrepreneurs feel and she wants to alleviate that. Her process involves identifying the pain points and opportunities of a business and putting together a sound strategy on paper. This includes setting tangible goals and clear solutions such as incorporating new practices.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts, or blogs that help you do your best?
I love using the asana app. Having so many different companies at the same time can be difficult to manage. By using the asana app I can run all the tasks and see what everyone is working on in different companies at the same time.
Tim Ferriss 4 hours work week really inspired me to focus on efficiency and an automated workflow to make businesses excel on their own.
Pricing:
- Coaching 2 Hours Monthly $1000
- Coaching 4 Hours Monthly $2000
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instsagram.com/meliza.veloz?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2y=
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melizaveloz1/
