Bísness School

When you go to an urgent care or emergency room, chances are you’ll have to wait an hour or so to be seen. Then you get screened by a general practitioner who has to know a little bit of everything, only to find out you have a broken hand. The doctor gives you an ice pack, anti-inflammatory meds and refers you to an orthopedist for specialized care who you have to wait a few days to see. Oh, and y...

When Miguel Leal was in college, he had the chance to live with his grandma, and it was precisely at her kitchen where he learned how to make Mexican recipes. But as he grew older, he realized that a lot of people who loved Mexican food, especially in the U.S, didn't have an abuela that could teach them how to make these recipes. Miguel wanted to change that. He wanted to show Americans that Mexic...

When Pedro A. Guerrero entered corporate America, there was one national magazine covering Latinos in business, Hispanic Business. Yet at the time, 1 in 10 people in the U.S. was Hispanic, and the number was growing rapidly. Pedro Guerrero, once a frustrated art school graduate, wanted to make sure there was more than just one magazine for the community. He wanted to create a magazine that would h...

What do you do after you lose your job, you’re $110,000 in debt, are raising a daughter, and you need to make ends meet fast? For San Diego-native Sandra Velasquez, the answer was starting Nopalera, a luxury brand of bath and body products using the nopal cactus. Nopalera is sold at over 400 retailers, including Nordstrom and Free People. Sandra Velasquez joins Bísness School to tell us why she la...

Growing up in Monterrey, Mexico, Ricardo Cervantes and Alfredo Livas were used to the smell of pan dulce, or sweet bread, enveloping block after block. When Ricardo and Alfredo moved to the California for graduate school, they realized Mexican panaderías weren't as uniquitous as they were in Mexico. That wasn't necessarily surprising, but what was surprising was the difference in taste. Armed with...

Many know Pepe Aguilar as the Grammy-winning artist whose last name is almost synonymous with Mexican music. What many don't know is that more than 20 years ago, Aguilar launched his own record label, Equinoccio Records, followed years later by Machín Records. Aguilar joins Bísness School to explain why he broke off from the big music labels early on in his career, what business lessons he learned...

Ricardo Sucre, Gabriel González and Gustavo Darquea experienced culture shock when they came to the United States from South America for college. It wasn't just the language or the food — it was what college students drank that was surprising. Beer, vodka and hard seltzers reigned, while rum was nowhere to be found. After graduating from college, the trio decided to create a hard seltzer that was...

How do you make a Spanglish music star? Charlie Guerrero and Paloma Hecht don't have a formula, but they know what's worked for them. "Authenticity," they say. The duo, who managers singer Sofía Reyes, explains what drove them to make music mixing English and Spanish when executives told them that was a bad idea and they share how they've produced massive hits with artists like Jason Derulo, De La...

Mike Alfaro was home in Guatemala taking a break from his career fast-paced career in advertising in the United States when he saw it: the yellow Lotería game box he used to play all the time growing up. The game held a special place in Mike's heart, but the cards inside the box stood out like a sore thumb. Cards portraying a woman as a reserved woman clad in formal apparel stood at odds with the...

Patty Rodriguez had a dream job as producer for one of the most popular radio shows in America: On Air with Ryan Seacrest. But her first baby and a house fire gave her the perfect conditions to pursue a dream she had been to scared to pursue: launching a line of bilingual books for kids with her childhood best friend, Ariana Stein. Learn more about Lil' Libros at lillibros.com , and follow Patty a...

NBC and Telemundo join forces to map the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs in the United States: Latinos. In Bísness School, Latino founders share how they’ve built successful business and the lessons they’ve learned along the way. It sounds like business school, but it’s not. There are no early classes, no homework — and best of all, it’s free. Look out for new episodes the last Wednesday of...