Meet Kristina Gonzalez Sander: Founder of in bold company

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kristina Gonzalez Sander and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kristina, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I started in bold company because I started getting curious about how I interact with my cultural identity. I didn’t really have anyone to talk to about it or know where to go to talk about. I couldn’t talk to anyone about being the only Asian in my friend group, or how I wished I could speak the language. I just wanted to feel more connected to my heritage! So I thought in bold company could be that place where WoC could embrace all parts of their identities, where they have a safe space to talk about their cultural identity and how they move through the world.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I’m so excited to see what will happen with in bold company this year. In 2021, we’re launching a community component, restructuring how we can support the business and therefore support more WoC through our work! I’m grateful that people resonate with our work and want to support what we do. It’s so funny how you can look back at your life and see all of the dots connecting. I’ve had so many jobs– from teaching, being a hostess, working in sales at a tech start-up, and helping run a small business. For example, when I worked in tech sales, I went through really intense sales training that taught me how to listen better over the phone. I can hear the sighs, the pauses, and interpret what those non-verbal cues mean, which is something I have to do when I interview for the podcast. Or how helping run a small event business has taught me to host events of my own! All of those different experiences have come together to help shape and support exactly what I’m doing today. The journey here was filled with so many feelings– confusion, frustration, determination, and hard work. The biggest barrier has always been me. It was so hard for me to put my idea into the world because I was scared of what people would think. I was scared no one would resonate or care. But it’s not true, it’s just what I told myself to feel better about not starting. If you have an idea, do it! Do what you need to do to work through those feelings of self-doubt. You’re only doing yourself a disservice not to create because you never know what might happen.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
In Austin!? We’d always start the morning with a coffee shop, my favorite one is Greater Goods. It’s co-owned by an incredible WoC, Khanh. Then we’d probably head to either Barton Springs to swim. For lunch, I love Veracruz Tacos, so we’d swing by there and grab something to eat. If we didn’t do head to the Lady Bird Lake to either paddle board or grab some bikes and hit the trails. For dinner, I love Loro and everyone always wants to eat BBQ when they come to Texas, so that’d be my go to sine they have a really awesome outdoor space. In a normal world, I’m sure we’d find some events to go to– art showcases, pop ups, concert, or something like that.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I really want to thank all of the WoC I interviewed for Season One of the podcast. I had no idea what I was doing, I just knew you all inspire me daily and you were vulnerable with not just me, but so many others who get to listen to your stories and words.

Website: inboldcompany.com
Instagram: @inboldcompany and @kristinaperdida
Linkedin: linkedin.com/kristinasgonzalez
Twitter: kristinaperdida
Facebook: facebook.com/inboldcompany
Other: https://open.spotify.com/show/0T2BOvEKilemjwrvjZNmJp

Image Credits
Riley Blanks Reed @RileyblanksReed on IG Gaby Deimke @Gdeimz on IG