Women’s History Month Reflections

Women’s History Month Reflections

Reflecting a bit on Women’s History Month causes me to reflect on and honor the women in my family and how their courage and contributions to entrepreneurship have inspired my own path.  It must be in my DNA because the lineage of woman entrepreneurs is long on my Mother’s side.

My great grandmother, Eladia “Ladi” Correa, born in 1894, started her very own business in the early 1900s in Salinas, Puerto Rico. She started by selling fish in the small fishing town and then opened up her own restaurant.  Here she is purchasing plantains for the restaurant.  Her story blows my mind as she literally put Salinas on the map with her recipe for Mojo Isleno.

Her daughter, Carmen Buono (born in 1917), my grandmother, along with her sister Norma, continued running the restaurant after Ladi’s passed away AND decided to open a Furniture Store and Natural Gas company in the town.  Brining jobs and prosperity to this small town.

Carmen Buono (above)

Article about Carmen and the restaurant. (below)

My mother had the entrepreneurial gene in her as well!  This mother of 3 decided to export communication equipment!  What does that even mean?  She decided she was going to sell TV and Radio Equipment at better prices to Puerto Rico, Central, and South America.  She was a business major in college and was not an engineer.  But she had the savvy to find engineers that needed products with complex specifications.  She gathered the details and searched for the best options for her clients.  We are talking about large radio and TV antennas/ towers, TV Station Trucks, the kind that has big satellites on them, TV station cameras, Satellites, and other cool equipment.  Mind-blowing!

My Grandmother on the left with my mother, Dominique Buono (She would not be happy if I noted her bday – haha!) on the right. (With my bro’s)

From a young age I knew I wanted to run a business, just wasn’t sure what type.  I ended up in technology and it brought me down this path to build NCN.  The best part about my job is working with a trailblazing team that builds powerful and unique technology.  We get to build people’s dreams and create new businesses for entrepreneurs. I love working with entrepreneurs and seeing them succeed.  We have created our ecosystem at NCN with our team and clients and what is truly exciting is that WE BUILD the technology seed that spawns an entirely new ecosystem for clients! Then they get to create, build and grow!

Sharon Muniz (below)

And of course, they were all mothers!  That’s how I got here. 🙂  The MOST rewarding and difficult job on the planet.

History teaches us lessons.   Some of the biggest lessons from my lineage of women include persistence and innovation. But I continue to learn from the current generation.

I have to give a quick shout-out to women presently making history! Two women that INSPIRE me to make this world a better place for Women are my two daughters!  Soooo much I could say about these two brilliant young ladies! Claudia and Natalia!

NCN Women – these are the women of the future! They motivate me every day with their dedication, hard work, and genius ideas!  More to come about these wonderful ladies in subsequent posts!

Stacy (below)

Jessica

Nikky

Sara

Hanna

Kasie

You guys make it all happen!!

Women are being given a seat at the table more often nowadays and because of that, I know our world will only be better for it!