“I’m definitely not the same person after finishing the course,” said Flor Medina, one of the 23 female entrepreneurs who completed the “Women Discovering Their Potential” course held in Mérida, Yucatán. This program was launched in 2019 thanks to a partnership between The Trust for the Americas, through the VIVE Project, and CREA Comunidad de Emprendedoras AC.
Flor founded Muchitos in 2014, “we make natural milkshakes, we use fruits, and we freeze them. It’s about a healthier frozen milkshake.” Muchitos is a 100 percent Yucatecan startup; the name means little toads in Mayan.
“It has been very important to finish the course because I realized all the mistakes we have made regarding costs and profits. I feel very grateful for the training,” Flor concluded.
During the award ceremony, María Alejandra Barrios, Communication Officer for the VIVE Project, stated that “in one year, more than 260 women were trained in the state through Women Discovering Their Potential.”.
She recalled that “in 2016, The Trust for the Americas launched the VIVE Project thanks to support from the Walmart Foundation; the goal was to provide tools that would enable women to expand their economic opportunities. To date, we have trained more than 60,000 people nationwide, including 52,000 women.”.
The event was held at the Yucatecan Entrepreneur Institute, and its General Director, Antonio González Blanco, Esq., emphasized that thanks to the partnership with CREA and Proyecto VIVE, it has been possible to foster the development of women in the state. He also recalled that IYEM offers additional services to support graduates, such as trademark registration and nutritional facts panel design, among others.
The panel included Gabriela Lozano, National Director of CREA Comunidades de Emprendedoras Sociales AC, M.B.A. Nayelli C. Hernández Crespo, Director of the Trust-CREA Program in Yucatán; Natalia Wills, Representative of Pro Mujer in Mexico; and Mayra Domínguez Zenteno, M.A., Director of Entrepreneurs at the Yucatecan Institute of Entrepreneurs.
At the end of the award ceremony, the authorities visited the exhibition of products made by the graduated female entrepreneurs.