BUFFALO, N.Y. — Cristy Karinna Orozca knows that there’s one thing pilates and owning your own business have in common: they both take work.
“I’ve been an instructor for a long time, but it was always more of a part time thing,” she said. “My dream has always been to own my own studio, and then one day the stars aligned.”
She has owned her fitness studio, Every Body Plus, for two years. But the journey to being a Latina business owner was not an easy task.
“We immigrated here where we’re taught to just kind of keep your head down and just keep working. You know, hard work eventually pays off. And it’s never, like, open your own business – you can do this. It’s always, work for someone else’,” she said.
But for her and other Latina business owners, the battle has been worth it.
“In the 1980s, I had a flower shop. That’s what got me involved in economic development, and I started a flower shop in my home. I began to do weddings and craft stuff and selling goods and services,” said Daisy Rivera-Algarin, co-founder of Latinas Unidas of Rochester.
According to the 10th annual State of Latino Entrepreneurship report from the Standford Graduate School of Business, the number of Latino- and Latina-owned businesses grew by 44% from 2018 to 2023, while the number of white-owned businesses decreased by 3% during that time.
“I’m not surprised to see how many women Latinas are moving forward in small businesses. And it’s just an entrepreneur spirit in us that we just want to move forward. And, if no one can help us, we’re going to figure it out,” Rivera-Algarin said.
For Latino business owners, especially first-generation Latinos in the United States like Karinna Orozca, who owns the first and only Latina gym in Buffalo, the growth is more than just a number.
“It’s really hard sometimes to be a Latina and stand for that. But I’m proud that we’re keeping our head up and, we’re doing our thing,” she said.
“We’re not going to stand on the sidelines anymore. We’re going to jump in, we’re going to get involved. We’re going to do the work,” Rivera-Algarin said.
Strides that remind them of where they came from and where they are going.
“Latinos are on the rise. And that’s basically that, you know, we’re showing that you can come from different races and still have a business here,” said Karinna Orozca.
