We were lucky to catch up with Monserrat Macias recently and have shared our conversation below.

Monserrat, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One of the most important things small businesses can do, in our view, is to serve underserved communities that are ignored by giant corporations who often are just creating mass-market, one-size-fits-all solutions. Talk to us about how you serve an underserved community.

I am extremely passionate about serving and advocating for the underserved latino community. I am a first-generation immigrant from Mexico who grew up in Colorado. I experienced first-hand the lack of resources in Spanish / for the Latino community. Being a first generation immigrant yourself, or kids of a first-generation immigrant, you grow up being the family advocate / translator / pioneer in a lot of things at a young age. You try to translate important documents at 10 years old, not fully grasping the language, yourself. You grow up making phone calls for your parents / grandparents / family friends. Phone calls to the utilities company, doctor’s office, or anything else that might need some interpretation.

Colorado’s Latino population is growing extremely fast. Growing up, we didn’t see too many latinos around, with the population boom, we are starting to see latinos from all places, and it’s great to see! With this population growth, we have also come across and even bigger need for support for the community. Not only at the Translation / Interpretation level, but in so many more areas. That is why I am so passionate to do what I do. I am not a miracle worker, so I cannot fix all the problems. However, it makes me proud to know that I contribute to the community in my own, humble way. I like to call myself a consultant for the community. I help people fill out forms, translate documents, interpret meetings, write letters, make phone calls, register their business and manage it correctly. If I cannot help, or am not confident in being the best person to help in certain situations, I will help them find the correct person who will help in their language. The joy that comes from relieving these people from some of the stress that they go through daily is so rewarding. I see my parents / uncles in every one of my clients, and I treat them just as if!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I worked in banking for a few years. After a while, clients started coming in for me even if it didn’t have to do with banking, they had questions, needed letters, guidance, or simply the help of someone who understood both languages. I saw this as a huge opportunity and decided to open Consulta. My very first clients, and now friends, were actually clients from the bank. They asked for my help transferring their food truck into an actual physical restaurant location. This gave me the confidence I needed to believe in myself. At Consulta, we are a resource for the Latino Community. We help people start their businesses, help with logos, business cards, and even basic web design. We notarize and translate documents, go to peoples appointments as interpreters, make phone calls, write letters, and help with any other issue that may arise due to the language barrier. This sets us apart, because there really isn’t anyone else focused on doing only these things. Some of our competitors, if you would call them that, also offer tax services; which we do not. I like to focus on my clients at all times, people who offer taxes on top of these services tend to ignore anything that’s not tax related during tax season. For me, my customer service is of top priority.

I am most proud of the fact that we started in February of 2020, Pre-COVID, and that did not stop us from staying in business. We are almost at our third year of business and I am so thankful for all of the support we have received throughout the years.

I would like my potential clients/followers/fans to know that I am extremely passionate about helping. Although the latino community is my propriety, we do help a handful of non-spanish speakers with heir marketing material, as well as having a Spanish-Speaker ready whenever their business might need it.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

Funding my business wasn’t so straight-forward. I didn’t really have money or a plan when I started. I had been let go of my banking job and I was job searching. One day, I had the realization, that I could just start my own business instead. I spoke to my husband, got his support. At first, I just used some of the savings that I had accumulated. Obviously it wasn’t enough, I decided to get a part-time job waiting tables at a Sushi restaurant. This allowed me to save up enough to rent an office space for my business. I did not get any loans, other than the computer equipment bought on credit. Everything else was slowly but surely coming in. It was a slow process, but oh so worth it!

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

One lesson that I have had to unlearn is the fact that life is really full of ups and downs. This is not just related to life, but also in business. I have always been a positive, look at the bright side of everything, type of gal. This is all fun and games until there really isn’t a bright side to it. I always tried to make sense of it, I wanted perfection, and if I didn’t have it, I felt defeated. Before owning my own business, I would quit projects or things before getting anywhere because things would get tough. I wasn’t very resilient to adversity. After having my own business, I realized that no matter what happens, life really does go on, and clients still expect their things, bills are still due, and you gave your word on certain things, so you need to make them happen. I used to get sad or want to give up any time something didn’t go my way. I have learned that no matter what, you learn something. It’s not a failure, it’s a lesson. I also learned that there will be many lessons in my life, and I just need to take them and keep going. Sitting around being upset, or giving up will not get me anywhere. So now, I just coast through, take the lesson, and keep it going.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.consultanow.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/monse.consulta/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/consultanow/
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/monseconsulta

Image Credits
Headshot: Tica Photography