Andrea Montalvo
Owner of Beauty of Angels

“Women's Initiative gave me a loan when nobody wanted to give me one. I did not have a credit report or even a bank account, but Women's Initiative trusted me to buy great quality products with the money that I borrowed.”
- Andrea Montalvo

Andrea arrived in the U.S. in 1990 to offer a better life to her soon-to-be-born daughter. Andrea’s life has not been easy since arriving. She had to overcome several personal and professional challenges, but nothing stopped her from providing for her newborn. In order to support herself and her daughter, Andrea held a variety of jobs from janitorial services to selling beauty products.

However, Andrea continued to dream about having her own business, a place where she could take care of the beauty and health needs of others.

Andrea was settled in California by 2006, but started experiencing serious health problems accompanied by deep depression. These problems prevented her from working full-time and she relied on family members for financial support.

Andrea then found Women's Initiative or, rather, it found her. During a Women's Initiative presentation at Andrea’s church she learned about ALAS, the Women's Initiative program designed to propel Latina entrepreneurs to success. She enrolled in one of the first Women's Initiative classes in the San Jose area and graduated in November of 2007.

Andrea shared: “Women's Initiative gave me all the necessary tools to start a business. Thanks to the ALAS program, I am no longer ignorant. I knew I had to learn, but I did not know how or where to start.”

Today Andrea owns El Ángel de la Belleza, a place designed to care for the beauty and health needs of women. Andrea offers therapeutic massage, nutrition, weight management, and cosmetology, among other services. She is starting to make consistent sales even though she has not yet reached the breakeven point. Her future plans are to turn El Ángel de la Belleza into a full-service spa. Andrea also added that,

“Women's Initiative gave me a loan when nobody wanted to give me one. I did not have a credit report or even a bank account, but Women's Initiative trusted me to buy great quality products with the money that I borrowed.”

Andrea is constantly looking for ways to expand her business and to offer higher quality services. Women's Initiative was the springboard she needed to get her business off the ground and support her with tools to open El Ángel de la Belleza successfully.

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