Episode 170: Ana Flores

On creating strong communities, pivoting out of productivity and shifting toward ease.

• 3:00 – Las Founders, founded in 2022, is a Los Angeles held event for entrepreneurs focused on hearing from Latina Entrepreneurs. Meeting the expectations for attendees while sustaining event and production costs.
• 6:10 – Women with an entrepreneurial spirit. Disentangling the growth and rebalancing of growth through the pandemic through focused objectives and offerings.
• 8:10 – 2-Day event in October 2023; serving the different identities within the community. 3 Pillars – Heal, Commune, Grow. Addressing ancestral and systematic wounds through healing in community, and growing from that space.
• 10:25 – 'Heal' Track and Wellness Day; Keynote this year from Yung Pueblo. Day 1 – Thrive With Ease; Day 2 – "Connect With Your Innermost Self."
• 12:55 – Transitioning from massive elaborate summits to something smaller, and more true. Prioritizing ease, and creating time and space rather than being controlled by the time and space. What comes in naturally?
• 14:55 – We find validation when we can 'do it all,' but find a tipping point when our priorities begin to need filling and we have to manage what cups get filled. How can I position myself in creation and attraction mode?
• 17:10 – Exploring ways to edit and make things half as long, and simpler. What does prayer mean to you? Connection. Humility to ask for help.
• 19:55 – Break The Cycle: A Guide to Healing Intergenerational Trauma by Dr Mariel Buqué; Breaking the cycle of abandonment – The ultimate support is the support we get from within ourselves.
• 21:55 – It is ok to take it slow, say no, create loving boundaries, find soft spaces. How do we slow things down? Proactively incorporating a meditation practice.
• 24:00 – Making weekends/time off sacred for the team collectively. Respecting your rest, space and time.

Ana Flores is Houston-born, El Salvador-raised. She's worked in television production for Univision, MTV Latin America and other Spanish-language networks for 15 years before becoming a stay-at-home mom.

When her husband was out of work and the cost of childcare became too expensive in 2009, she and a friend launched SpanglishBaby, a blog for parents raising bilingual and bicultural kids. Within a year, Flores was able to monetize blog posts for about $40 and found herself building "a small community" with fellow ambitious Latina bloggers. Soon she was actively pitching ideas to brands, connecting them with the 25-30 Latina bloggers and influencers from her online community.

"And that's what became Latina Bloggers Connect in 2010, with no money, with no resources," Flores told TODAY. "I saw a path — a support system of people that were willing to open doors for each other."

Six years later, Flores rebranded Latina Blogger Connect as #WeAllGrow Latina, a Latina-owned, self-funded website that elevates the voices of Latinas and provides them with the resources — and inspiration — they need to succeed.

"We really make it a point to hire within our community, because that is how we build socio and economic power," Vanessa Santos — who joined #WeAllGrow as a partner and co-CEO in December 2021 — told TODAY. Flores and Santos believe that to see one woman grow doesn't mean that it's going to take away an opportunity for another. Championing "amigahood," or sisterhood, their website has exceeded 20,000 subscribers, or "amiga members." The free online community is available for English or Spanish-speaking Latinas and offers original content, mentorship, wellness sessions, resources, connections, access to virtual and in-person events like the annual #WeAllGrow Summit, plus exclusive perks created to support entrepreneurs, creatives and professionals. Through their digital platform and in-person events, #WeAllGrow is helping Latinas turn their ideas into realities.

Las Founders was founded in 2022 is the Los Angeles-held event for entrepreneurs sold out and had over 400 attendees taking in panels and conversations with Latina entrepreneurs about how they got their start.

In September 2022, the organization hosted the sixth annual #WeAllGrow Summit. The first summit was held in 2015 and focused on content creation and networking. As the years went by, it's become bigger and more interactive, with Forbes including it as one of 19 Conferences Every Creative Should Attend in 2018 and 2019. This year's sold-out event, held in Palm Desert, California, welcomed over 600 attendees ready to "heal, commune and grow" — which also happen to be the organization's three pillars.

In 2023, Las Founders will be a two-day event in October.