Meet Vanesa Olvera | Business Owner & Digital Content Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Vanesa Olvera and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Vanesa, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I think I have always had the leadership mentality in me and it was just a matter of time for me to finally take the leap of faith and actually open a business. I have always wanted to be a business owner and I have thousands of business ideas in mind but honestly it was a scary process. Nobody in my family that I am close to or surrounded by owns a business so I had nobody to lean on for help. I had absolutely no idea how to even get started. Getting let go of my job in radio during covid really gave me time to be able to sit down and think of my future, that’s kind of where the idea grew even more.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
If I could use one word to describe myself it would be, resilient. As far as my career and business, I’m kind of a jack of all trades. I like to learn and like to be knowledgable in different areas, the more you know the more you’re worth I like to say. To make it simple though I graduated with my degree in Public Relations and Advertising. I wanted to pursue my career in Public Relations because of my love for music and I have always had this good calling for small artists, all it takes is listening to them or meeting them to be able to tell the potential and I’ve been pretty accurate so far. I’ve watched some artists take off to stardom and it’s a beautiful feeling. The advertising was just a plus because I know there’s so much money to be made in that industry. My college days were probably some of the hardest moments of my life, I was going through a break up that left me as a single mother of two and I had to start from zero while trying to pursue a career. I had to quit my full time job to fully commit to graduate because they couldn’t adjust to my crazy school schedule. I lived with my parents because at that point I had no income at all and no matter how many jobs I applied to none were willing to adjust to my schedule. It took me a few months to be able to find a part time job but I ended up getting one in motor banking that allowed flexible hours and time to work on homework. That still was barely getting me through though because daycare was crazy expensive. The holidays came around and a friend that worked at Sephora helped me get a seasonal job there. Next thing you know I’m working in the student media as Editor-in-chief and TV anchor as well. At that point I was working three part time jobs, a full time student and a single Mother. It was the most stressful time of my life I would say – I was losing all my hair because of how stressed out I was. Luckily I had the support of my parents and sister with my kids to help me get through. My love for the student media grew a lot while working there because like many other Latinas I grew up watching Univision so as a little girl that is what I always dreamed of honestly. Before I even graduated I was reached out to by a local Spanish radio station. I was honestly extremely surprised because it is the largest Hispanic radio station in all of East Texas and when I first moved here it was incredibly popular. The radio was and to some families still is the way many people get their information out to thousands of people in an instant. I declined the offer at first because I had not graduated yet and I promised myself I would.
A few months passed and as soon as I posted my graduation pictures on Facebook one of the radio personalities reached out to see if I was ready. I gave a lot of thought to it because obviously I was going to school to eventually become a publicist so this was just gearing me in a whole new direction. I also wanted to take a little break and just work at the motor bank to kind of catch a breather.
After discussing it with my family and friends they all had the same reaction, they were all very proud of me and kind of gave me the “why are you even thinking about it” look when I would tell them. It was honestly probably one of the best decisions I have ever made. I accepted the offer and began as Editor-in-chief for the leading magazine in East Texas and SW Louisiana. I loved what I did but I knew that everything was going digital and it was important to incorporate all of it as a whole to get the best coverage of the stories and for my clients who were in the magazine. That meant hopping on our stations Facebook lives and doing giveaways on air. Believe it or not at that time I was extremely shy so I would get one of my co workers, an on air personality, to help me. The reaction of the listeners was amazing, they loved it. We were like a dynamic duo – our personalities just jumped right out of the screen and we made it fun to where it became an every week thing.
Eventually I was offered my own show and I was helping produce commercials as well. Once again I was loading myself with work because I was still in charge of the magazine, accounts and my show but it definitley helped me grow out of my comfort zone so much. My socials began to grow and the support was just genuine and beautiful from the beginning.
I began my career in radio on July 2018 and in October 2018 I lost my Father in a tragic vehicle accident It was the most sudden, painful and unexpected loss for my family. I felt like I couldn’t catch a break. I knew his loss would be a difficult journey for my family and I but I didn’t think that even now as I’m typing this 3 years later it seems like just yesterday and the feelings come rushing right back.
I went back to work immediately after my Fathers death, I didn’t want to sit at home and cry all day because that is all I could think of. Everyone was surprised at how short my leave was but I wanted to honor my father in my next issue and tell our audience the amazing man he was. Once again the love and support was amazing from my community.
Fast forward to March of 2020 when the pandemic hits and the world stops. I was one of the many people who were let go due to COVID cuts from the company. I was once again bummed but I considered it a blessing in disguise, I had so much healing to do and that became my main focus. I began to work on myself physically and mentally. I was able to finally stop and breathe and enjoy time with my family. It was then that I started reading more and looking into passive income, business ownership and just many other things that I can see coming into fruition for me in the coming years.
The position I had in radio was completely taken out so returning was not really an option there but I also wanted to grow more. I looked at so many options and decided to apply for my childhood dream – television. I was offered the position and signed the contract around the same days I decided to launch my business. So here I am now – a business owner and Digital content producer for a leading Television network. My journey has not been an easy one at all but I want anyone to know that our minds are powerful and anything you set your mind to you can achieve. I want to proudly represent Latinas. I want for my brand to be known as one that stands for resilient Latin women. I want the younger and even older generation to feel inspired. I want little girls to know that everything they dream of is possible and women who feel stuck to know that there is nothing you can’t accomplish. The key to achieving your dreams is to change the way you think. I know there may be women out there who can identify and I think that if I can convince even just one woman that she can make it and she can be successful no matter the circumstance she may currently find herself in, than to me that is amazing. I think more than just my business I want my story to be one that will empower women and inspire them to believe in themselves.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Houston is my second home, I don’t live there but I live there if you know what I mean. God willing one day it’ll be my first home. My favorite place to eat is definitely Cuchara restaurant because of the culture vibe it has and the food is DELICIOUS.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Definitely my friends and family but I would say some of my biggest support has come from people I have met online, they know who they are. 😉

Website: www.modaimperial.com

Instagram: @vanesaolvera

Facebook: Moda Imperial