This Summer three outstanding San José-based entrepreneurs, Jo Lopez, Connie Alvarez and Martha Hernandez, Jo Lopez, and Connie Alvarez were nominated for the LATINA Style Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the San Francisco Bay Area.

Launched in 1998, LATINA Style Business Series has grown to become the nation’s most successful business development program for Latina business owners. Its core mission is to build a robust business foundation that empowers Latinas to not only launch their own ventures but also propel them to new heights of success.

Martha Hernandez emerged as the ultimate recipient, an accomplishment that speaks volumes about her vision and determination. In our interviews with these remarkable women, we uncovered the stories behind their journeys, their beginnings, and their advice to aspiring entrepreneurs.

Read on to learn more about this year’s winner and nominees.

(Interviews have been lightly edited for clarity and length.)

Martha Hernandez, MadeBOS & ESOVentures

Martha Hernandez, Founder and CEO of MadeBOS, and Co-Founder of ESOVentures, is a serial entrepreneur who is no stranger to wearing multiple hats.

A common thread within her companies is helping people. Whether through accessible HR services or business training and capital for underserved communities, Martha uplifts other entrepreneurs through her own success.

Tell us about your first business.

 Martha: The first business I started was [based on] an idea of making growth accessible to those who worked in retail service and hospitality. [The] idea was: what if I create a mobile app where people can [visualize] where they could be within the company where they work and then we give them a plan to get there?

That’s where MadeBOS, Made by Own Self, came about. While building that [I] raised some capital from my community through the public with equity crowdfunding. I was one of the first Latinas to do that, and we ran our campaign successfully.

Can you share any challenges or obstacles you have faced as a Latina woman in business and how you overcame them?

Martha: When we were getting ready to launch the product and started making sales, I mean, literally Walmart was our first sales conversation, and then over that, we realized that in order to adapt and make that product available, I was going to have to raise some serious capital like three, four, five million. And I was not in that position.

As you know, Latinas get less than 1% [of venture capital]. And being in Silicon Valley didn’t necessarily guarantee that I would be one of those raising upwards of a million.

I realized the challenges that I had in relation to making it in the tech world, and so I had a switch and understanding of my reality.

And my reality was that I’m going to have to go and hustle for customers. It’s going to take a little longer, but I’m going to [work on the] concept, and then once I have the user, then I have to come back and essentially raise capital.

What inspired you to become an entrepreneur?

Martha: I always knew I wanted to help people. I remember sitting with my college counselor because I was on the science track, and I loved coding. At the beginning of my college career, I was already creating websites, which was so exciting. But when I sat with my counselor, he asked me so what do you want to do?

I said I want to help people. And he directed me to sociology [and how that] helped is to really understand society and the influences that either created something or, you know, resulted in something. And the study of society has really led me to be where I’m at today.

Jo Lopez, LUNA Mexican Kitchen, 1495 The Alameda, San José

Jo Lopez, owner of the popular LUNA Mexican Kitchen (1495 The Alameda and The Pruneyard in Campbell), is a San José native with roots in the music industry.

She got her start in entrepreneurship with the launch of a record label she founded with her husband in the late 1980’s. Decades later, she became interested in nutrition as a means of helping her aging father, which led her on the path to founding LUNA.

Jo’s attention to detail is present in every aspect of the business, from the care taken to select quality food suppliers to the atmosphere and design of her restaurants.

What inspired you to become an entrepreneur?

 Jo: Our journey to opening a restaurant started in the late eighties. I think it was ’89, we signed a lease in Downtown San José. Before light rail, we had a little record store on 21 East Santa Clara Street called Upstairs Records. My husband John and I started this record shop from that…selling vinyl to deejays.

How did you make the jump into restaurant ownership?

Jo: I started getting into nutrition when my dad was in his seventies. At the time, they started giving him a lot of medication, and you know, busy mom of three running a record company and also taking care of my dad...and then I started to see all this medication, and I’m like, what is all this?

I’m a person who always wants to feel passionate about what I do. I can’t operate without some fire and passion and believe that I want to make a difference because I feel like that. So I enrolled into a Natural Chef program in Berkeley, Bauman College, and I was like, ‘Okay, I’m going to do this. I’m going to do this program.’ And it was scary becausewe had a lot of momentum on our record company side, and I felt like that was a big responsibility. But I also had to listen to what I wanted. And so I kind of tapped out (of the record business) and went into this program and went all in.

Now I look back and say, food is love. I didn’t make that connection then, but I have that memory, and I’m able to get that memory now and say, oh, when my grandmother was cooking for my father, you know, little potato tacos like our tacos [at LUNA], those are inspired by what my grandma used to make my dad.

Tell us about the beginnings of your first LUNA Mexican Kitchen location.

Jo: When I was going to school, and John was actively looking for a space, we came upon the one on The Alameda. It did not look like that [back then] it was just this little charming building. It looked like a little hacienda. It was bright yellow at the time. And then we manifested it. We said, that, that’s our place. And it didn’t work out like, ‘Oh, here you go. And here’s the key.’ It took about, I think, a year for everything to come together.

What is your advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?

Jo: I think with anything that you do, you have to have a burning passion for what you do. I say, find out what you truly love, find out what your passion is, and allow that to lead you.

Connie Alverez, Plaza Jewelers, 1130 E Santa Clara St. San José

Connie Alvarez hails from a family with a strong entrepreneurial background. As a child, she would walk around the corner after school to work at her dad’s store, Plaza Jewelers, in Downtown San José.

After graduating from college, Connie purchased her own Plaza Jewelers franchise, starting off her personal journey in entrepreneurship that would eventually lead to her founding Plaza Garibaldi Restaurant (now catering) and purchasing Friendship Hall, a 15,000 sq. ft. facility on E Santa Clara St. Connie gives back to the community in many ways, and serves as president of the Alum Rock-Santa Clara Street Business Association.

Tell us how you got started with entrepreneurship.

Connie: Plaza Jewelers was opened in 1975, and I started there with my dad opening the store, and I started working for him...to help out at nine years old.

I got the opportunity my freshman year in college to buy one of the jewelry stores. He said, ‘You know what? It’s now your turn. It’s your turn, and I’m going to offer you the jewelry store on Santa Clara Street.’ My dad, the year that he sold me the jewelry store, he passed away. He was 48 years old. I was 20. It was so unexpected that the minute that happened with my father, his accountant, his attorney, his insurance agent just came and said, we will help you get through this, and we will help you understand the system of how to get ahead. So, I was kind of left in the hands of basically my mentors. And if it wasn’t for those people, and also my dedication to working, I wouldn’t have what I have now, the investments that I have.

What advantages or opportunities do you see in running your business in San José?

Connie: What he [my father] would always tell us was the opportunity. The opportunity that you get to be an American and be able to grow. And so even though he sacrificed working Monday through Sunday every day, he said, you know what? This is what I’m doing to give you the opportunity to do something more.

What advice do you have for aspiring entrepreneurs?

 Connie: It’s a big struggle to just get started. Sometimes, being in Silicon Valley is very challenging just because the amount of rent that we pay. And so, to be an entrepreneur, you’ve got to have that type of special spirit in you. I mean, you got to be able to wake up in the morning and be your own motivator; your tears that you cry, they’re tears of joy. You learn, and you keep on heading ahead, but you need to be consistent.

Inspired by what you've read? Our office is committed to assisting small businesses and helping lay a foundation for entrepreneurs and companies to develop new ideas and foster economic opportunities for generations to come. Are you interested in opening a business in San José? Get started here with our Business Coaching Center!