Meet Monica, a veteran and founder of MVP Transformation Fitness: a personal fitness and lifestyle business that coaches and helps those struggling with weight loss, accountability, getting results, and overall lifestyle issues. Through MVP Transformation Fitness, Monica hopes to live out her mission of helping and supporting those truly ready to commit to a new way of living and being. She primarily focuses on the benefits of strength training, nutrition, and lifestyle behaviors.
Monica shares her experience as a business owner and how EGBI can help you grow your business too.
Hi Monica! To get started, would you mind telling us a fun fact about yourself?
I enjoy watching forensic shows and documentaries. I enjoy trying to analyze who did it and why.
Why and how did you start your business?
I started my business as a brick-and-mortar facility in 2018. The reason I started my fitness business was because I noticed that we increasingly face an epidemic with the rise of obesity and health conditions due to what and WHY we eat. Most people are intimidated by gym settings. My goal was to create a space where all felt welcomed, lacked intimidation, and had someone to walk them through a fitness journey for success. Now that we are online, we still ensure that your fitness journey is carefully monitored and supported.
What was the toughest moment in your business journey? How did you go past it and move forward?
The impact of COVID19 was definitely the toughest period. After reopening, I thought I would be ok as I’d tried hiring new coaches to help support my mission. That period was short-lived. However, not having working capital was a huge underlying issue for my business overall. That is when I found out about EGBI to help me with re-strategizing.
What would you tell other entrepreneurs wanting to open their own business?
Make sure you have enough capital before opening a business. CASH is king. Not knowing when or how fast a business will grow is dependent on your capital.
How has EGBI helped you throughout your business journey?
EGBI was extremely valuable to my business journey. The coaches, especially Joni Foster, helped provide a new financial and personal strategy that significantly helped me “reboot” the business.
What would you say to someone that is still unsure about using EGBI’s services?
Give them a try. The coaches and staff are very adept in their respective areas of expertise, and they care about your business succeeding.
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Want to work with EGBI? Contact us to find out how you can get started.
Meet Elisa Avalos, an amazing EGBI supporter. Elisa was born in Mexico City and moved to Texas fifteen years ago, thrilled to call Austin home. She began her career as a Real Estate Agent with more than 15 years of experience in mortgage and customer services. In addition, Elisa has a degree in business administration and a master’s degree in marketing. Elisa’s success as an agent is founded in her kindness and patience, quickly cultivating loyal connections in her community as a realtor. She is an agent you can trust to act as your experienced guide and advisor in the home buying and selling process.
Her innate desire, as a parent, to lead with encouragement and insight extends outside of the home and to her clients, where she works to find the perfect fit for individuals in every stage of life.
In addition to real estate, Elisa is the community contact director of Amhiga Hispana, a nonprofit that empowers Spanish-speaking women.
Elisa talks about her experience in supporting EGBI and how you can too.
Hi Elisa! To get started would you mind telling us a fun fact about yourself?
At home, everything comes in two’s: two kids, two dogs, and two cats.
What does giving back to the community mean to you?
As a part of my daily work, helping my community with Amhiga Hispana and EGBI has been amazing. Helping women grow their business helps me grow personally and professionally.
“Donating to EGBI helps them help small business owners thrive and contribute to the local community.” – Elisa Avalos
How did you first hear about EGBI, and why did you decide to support EGBI?
I heard about EGBI when I started as a volunteer with Amhiga Hispana. I have worked very closely with EGBI to provide courses for women entrepreneurs and have organized EGBI’s Miercoles Professionals events.
What do you wish everyone knew about EGBI?
EGBI provides the best training and support for small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs. The resources, office space, and knowledge provided by EGBI helps a lot of aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners reach the next step in their business journey.
What would you say to someone thinking of supporting and donating to EGBI?
Supporting EGBI will help our local entrepreneurs and small business owners achieve their goals.
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Donate today to help EGBI train, coach, and support aspiring and existing business owners who face barriers to growing a successful business.
Meet Sharon, the lead designer and founder of Sharafina Designs, a hand-crafted design company offering custom bags, jewelry and more. She started making her own jewelry in 2010 based on a need for affordable high-quality accessories. Having struggled overpaying for poorly made items she was frustrated getting such few uses out of her products. After moving to Austin and hearing about EGBI, Sharon turned her hobby into a business. Today Sharafina Designs can be found online via her etsy store and social media or in person at Daniela Vlad Boutique in Bastrop, Texas.
Sharon shares her experience as a business owner and how EGBI can help you grow your business too.
Hi Sharon! To get started, would you mind telling us what inspired you to start your business?
I love all things natural, from stones to fibers. I take inspiration from these subtle beauties to create jewelry and handbags that capture both the eye and spirit one piece at a time. My tagline is “Custom designs for the individual in you.”
What makes your business unique?
I have a passion for incorporating natural gemstones in my creations. Each gem has a special meaning, heals, and is a source of encouragement. They are a signature in both my jewelry and handbags. I research the stones’ holistic meaning before including them in my work to help with stress-relief, enlightenment, and concentration.
What are some obstacles you feel like you have encountered in starting or growing your business? How did you overcome this?
The biggest obstacle was channeling my energy from the creative process to the business side of operations. I needed to become business minded and focus on social media, financials, branding, profits/margin, and growth strategies. That’s really when EGBI stepped in. They helped me turn my passion into a functional business
What workshops/business coaching have you done through EGBI?
I got in touch with EGBI around 3 years ago. I originally started out with their 90 Days to Biz Success classes. I found the class invaluable in getting out of my head and looking at things from a business standpoint. Right now I’m taking the Build Your Business Plan workshop to explore getting a bank loan and growing sales.
Exciting most moving forward?
I recently received two grants, from a local church and the Tory Burch Foundation, which have been very encouraging. They’ve helped me grow from a production standpoint and I’m now pitching a line of tote bags for retail.
Want to work with EGBI? Contact us to find out how you can get started.
Meet Aimee, founder of the Rustic Moon Bookshop, a locally owned independent bookstore committed to offering a quality selection of affordable, pre-loved books for customers of all ages and backgrounds. In July 2021, Aimee decided to pursue her lifelong dream of opening a bookstore and launched a traveling pop-up shop. The shop would visit markets across Austin with 30 boxes of books at a time. Since the beginning, Aimee’s focus has been on sharing her love of reading and writing with others. When her dream location became available in Wimberly she knew it was time to open a brick-and-mortar store.
Aimee shares her experience as a business owner and how EGBI can help you grow your business too.
Hi Aimee! To get started, would you mind telling us what inspired you to start your business?
Passion for the written word really fuels our business. I started the bookstore to foster connection and community by providing an inclusive environment that encourages the exchange of ideas. I want the shop to be a haven for those who find comfort and enrichment in books.
What makes your business unique?
Apart from having a wide variety of genres, we’re also so much more than a bookshop. We offer resources for aspiring writers and authors, host author and social events, and offer workshops on the writing craft.
What are some obstacles you feel like you have encountered in starting or growing your business? How did you overcome this?
One obstacle has been overcoming Covid. Our store is only 200 sq ft, so at first I was worried fear would keep people from coming in. We’ve been following protocols and thankfully seen consistent sales. Apart from Covid the small space has been a challenge itself, but with clever organizing and constantly refreshing our inventory we’ve made it work. We have roughly 3000 books and plenty of more to add! The biggest part of overcoming obstacles is just being creative, resourceful and determined.
What workshops/business coaching have you done through EGBI?
I attended the small business workshop series, which was around 8-12 weeks. I’m a big fan of EGBI and the program. It’s an incredibly helpful and informative workshop series. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to start a small business. Since successfully completing the course, I’ve stayed in touch with EGBI and now plan to meet with Monica to talk about getting started with marketing.
How has EGBI helped you?
EGBI allowed me to see that even though it would be a challenge to start a business it was possible. Through the series I learned I needed to be creative and smart about financing, but making the business plan really showed me I could do it. Although it can be uncomfortable or challenging to ask some of these harder questions, it wasn’t discouraging but informative and empowering.
Want to work with EGBI? Contact us to find out how you can get started.
EGBI is heartbroken to share the news of the passing of Al Lopez, our beloved board member, and first executive director. When describing Al, three words immediately come to mind: “Faith, Family, and Community.” Al professed his faith daily through action. Along with his beloved wife Judy, his eyes would gleam with pride when talking about his three children and the love he had for his 12 grandchildren. As a community leader, Al was always willing to roll up his sleeves to get the job done.
Al’s dedication to his community stemmed from the lack of guidance and resources available to him growing up. Most recently, his passion for quality education led to his services as a board member and interim CEO of IDEA Public Charter School. He was also involved in other area schools and education-related organizations. His work in education led to him being named the AISD Latino Volunteer of the year in 2012.
A humble leader, during the relaunch of EGBI, he helped us set a solid foundation to help our small businesses make a long-lasting impact in our community. He loved visiting with clients to help them figure out how to take their idea and turn it into profitable businesses. The desire he saw in their eyes to provide their families with opportunities was no different from what his parents wanted for him and what he wanted for his children. It was truly a privilege to work alongside Al.
Thank you, Al, for your service to our organization and community. You will always remain in our hearts. Please keep Judy and his family in your thoughts and prayers.
