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Mexican-American CEO Sandra Velasquez is a bona fide, tug-at-your-heart, success story.

She launched her luxe cactus-based botanicals brand during the pandemic (when even her own parents thought she was nuts) and is now slated to bring in a sweet half a million dollars in revenue.

But things weren’t always easy for this single mama and lead singer. Sandra was a longtime musician who was juggling parenting, musical gigs, and her day jobs (PLURAL) when she discovered soapmaking and started dreaming of creating her own bath and body brand. She had her “a-ha” moment back home in San Diego eating her mother’s eggs and nopal (cactus.) Cactus has similar healing properties as aloe vera but was often overlooked—until now. Sandra recognized the power of this native, regenerating, and unsung plant and made it the centerpiece of her bath and body business, Nopalera.

She was ready to launch when the pandemic hit, but she pushed through anyway. And soon, ...

We are looking for the next Latina mogul-in-the-making, and we've partnered with Eva Longoria, America Ferrera and a few other folks to help us find her.

First, some stats--courtesy of our friends at Support Latino Business:

• Latino/x small business owners are the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs in the United States
• Latinas lead 44% of Latino/x small businesses that range from restaurants, online apparel shops, beauty and lifestyle products to financial services
• Latino/x-owned businesses contribute over $800 billion to the American economy every year
• These entrepreneurs are often unable to scale at the same rates in comparison to their non-Latino/x counterparts
• The COVID pandemic has made this discrepancy even larger

This is why we are so proud and excited to announce JEFA NATION, a contest to support Latina entrepreneurship launching on the third annual Support Latino Business Day, which is today: September 14, 2021.

In order to be eligible,...