We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lorinda Gonzalez-Santana. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lorinda below.

Lorinda , appreciate you joining us today. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

Yes! I’ve been there, and not too long ago.  Truth is, I am happy as a business owner, and entrepreneur, living a life that I’ve worked very hard to attain. During a recent transition as Director of a previous company so starting my own consulting firm, I did go through a stage considering what it would be like to have a regular job. My last “regular job” was in college, where I worked Monday through Friday 8 to 5 for the Director of human resources. At first thought, the idea of a regular job seemed viable, so much so that I applied for a few. I had just gotten married, wanted to have more of a work/life balance, and no longer felt the need to grow a business. I applied for a few jobs and got amazing offers with salary and benefit packages considerable enough to take seriously. However what they did not offer me was the flexibility and the space to create that the entrepreneurship world affords. I realized that even though from the outside a “regular job” seems great, the reality for me is being an entrepreneur, a business owner, and living the flexible lifestyle that I do is much more important and in alignment with my true self. Controlling my own time, prioritizing my family without asking for permission, creating innovative solutions for clients and playing in a world where literally the sky’s the limit is where I’m most comfortable, successful and happy. The entrepreneurship life is for me and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Lorinda , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m a Grant Writer & Funding Consultant living in beautiful Miami for the past ten years. I have a Masters Degree in Communication and Marketing, a double Bachelors Degree in English and Business Management, and I’m also an AGWA Certified (C) Grant Writer. I was the director of Grants Ink for over ten years and have helped clients gain access to $25MM to date. Now, I recently launched my own firm, Remy’s Consulting, which is focused on supporting nonprofits and social entrepreneurs in their goals of acquiring sustainable funding for their projects. I do this by working collaboratively with nonprofits and social entrepreneurs who are ready to receive grant funding. With an understanding of how the funding landscape works (mixed in with an insatiable appetite for learning as much as possible about grant funds and social entrepreneurship), I help nonprofits and social entrepreneurs reach their funding goals by being a guiding light full of information, resources, and a solution-oriented mindset. Let’s get that money together!

Aside from being a nerd in the funding field, I’m a painter. My medium of choice are acrylic paints and charcoal. When we get to meet online one day, you’ll probably notice my latest piece in the background. Art has become a passion of mine that allows me a space to create and express my perspective of the world around me. I look forward to combining my professional experience in funding acquisition with the arts, to combine both worlds and expand access to funding for art projects. Aside from painting, I enjoy meditating, yoga, and travel. An interesting fact – I’m bilingual and prefer to read fiction in Spanish, and non-fiction in English. I recently married a wonderful man who, like me, is an entrepreneur. We live together in our apartment in Brickell and enjoy growing our businesses together while at the same time maintaining a work-life balance.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

In college, my side hustle was editing papers for fellow students, primarily those whose second language was English. The same side hustle was what my mom had done when she was in college, as a way to get access to extra cash for meals and transportation. Overtime, more and more students began to recommend my services, which converted into my first editorial business. Thereafter, I expanded my personal knowledge to understand the field of grant funding, which was a way to combine my writing and editorial skills with a higher purpose of supporting the community. I had originally become a self-taught grant writer, checking out every book I could get my hands on from the library, speed reading through the materials, and posting ads online for a “grant writer for hire”. My first gig was working with an artist whose nonprofit traveled throughout the east coast of the US sharing artistic classes with students. Our first grant application was awarded $200,000, which hooked me in this career moving forward. Through professional development, tons of reading, attendance of classes, even studying in Washington DC, my skills as a grant writer increased overtime which led me to be the Director of a company that brought in $25 million in funding to nonprofits. Thereafter, when the company had closed, I used my life experience to open my own firm, Remy’s Consulting, which brings grant funding to a new level, using systems and processes I’ve created over the years to help nonprofits get and keep funding for their programs.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

My reputation in the grant acquisition field has been built from my personal passion to share knowledge and insider information that I’ve acquired through self study and work with clients. I have a very open and direct approach to sharing information, and never sugarcoat the reality. Instead of seeing the difficulty in funding acquisition as a “problem” I offer solutions that actually work, to help people feel motivated, supported, and help to demystify the process. Funding acquisition is difficult, stressful, and can become overwhelming. There’s a ton of misinformation and negative feedback regarding grants and similar funding, but in my perspective all challenges have a solution. I’ve always been open to sharing my expertise with others, and I’m an active volunteer in the small business and nonprofit proper sector, which helps to build my reputation as someone who knows the field well. Also, I dedicate myself to learning about new trends, funding opportunities, and exploring even the most difficult processes to find a way to understand it myself and in turn share the information with clients. There’s no gatekeeping here, just sheer honesty, optimism and support. This straightforward and open persona has built my professional reputation into what it is today.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.remysconsulting.com
• Instagram: IG: @remysconsulting
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorinda-gonzalez-49a02149/