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| Immigrant entrepreneur: | Doctor Maria Navas Moreno |
| Company: | Lever Photonics |
| Place of birth: | Columbia |
| Employees: | 3 partners |
| Age started business: | 35 |
Show notes
Doctor Maria Navas Moreno came to the States of hoping to do scientific research. She was nearing the journey to becoming a professor when she realized she didn’t want to do that anymore. Her journey lead to marrying a Columbian immigrant man and they both landed in Colorado. That is when she became unemployed as an immigrant due to her visa situation. During that entire year she was researching, networking and going to all the events that were closely related to her field.
She co-founded Lever Photonics and 3 years later, with 2 other co-founders they are now in a completely different field from where they began and thriving.
Maria’s quotes:
Have the same approach to successes as you do with failures. They are also learning opportunities.
A lot of times we don’t capitalize on successes.
It is doable.
You just have to keep looking for what people need and want and what problem you can solve with your skillset.
As an entrepreneur you have to always be ready to adapt.
You can still do your research on the side while you still have your day job.
Find the people that are like you, wanting to start a business.
Learn about how other people have done in your particular industry.
We, immigrants, have a different mindset. We are adventurous by nature.
Just know that you have the entrepreneurship in you already.
Being a scientist prepared me for future failures.
Mentioned in the episode:
Pro bono mentorship program for Boulder CO: SAGE
Free networking events: MeetUp
