Meet Elena Pineda

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Elena Pineda. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Elena, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
I think it started with the fact that I was born last to a single mother of 5, I had to raise myself since my brother and sisters were already in their 20s when I was a toddler. Having to decide what to do with my play time and schoolwork all by myself taught me to be self-reliant and assertive in my decisions.

I will not deny that I have made huge mistakes, but every single time, I found a valuable lesson in all negative experiences.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
Most people on my social media pages, know me as a Statement Jewelry Designer and Creative Director as Editor in Chief for Vegas Runway magazine, but I have lived my life in cycles; before moving to the United States I worked in numerous jobs including chef at a 5-star hotel, Bartender for Ruby Tuesday’s, Event and Wedding organizer for a chain of hotels in my native Honduras.

When I came to America, I tried my luck at different things with my previous background, but the Universe had different plans; I was to become a designer! I’ve been extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with incredibly talented people and launch the successful careers of many models, Make-up artists, and photographers.

Everything changed in 2018 with the untimely passing of my only child in a plane crash. The world I used to know ceased to exist and even though I’ve tried to go back to the fashion world, the Universe had another plan for me.

I am now a public speaker, where I open up about child loss and how to live a somewhat normal and successful life.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Resilience; That’s number 1! Being an entrepreneur means you’ll get 100 no’s before you get a YES! If you easily give up, you’ll never get ahead in the game. Every single “No” is a new opportunity to develop a new strategy. When I started in the fashion business, I approached a “local lady”, who hosted very successful networking groups, I offered to combine her event and my magazine launch with her, telling her that between the both of us, we could reach a larger audience, her first reaction was to charge me a modest “fee” of $1,000.00 just to allow me to share the space with her, I said No, and she replied with a negative response and told me that her events were not for the fashion industry.
Her negative reaction bothered me, but in the end, I figured out how she did it and started my fashion networking events rallying almost 500 people at each one. Eventually the “local lady” reached out to me asking if I was still interested in combining her events with mine. So I sent her a modest “fee” of $1,000 and never heard from her again.
You see, behind every disappointment there’s either a lesson or an even bigger opportunity, do not get discouraged, find the opportunity.

What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?
My public speaking and training with Toastmasters International. I have no problem speaking in front of an audience. I do know how to tell a story. However, I do want constructive feedback. Toastmasters allow me to tell my story about child loss and how I can help others navigate this terrible path. In return, they critique my performance by telling me what was right, and where I can improve. Also, the ability to evolve with the times and struggles, I have grown in many ways and led different lives in my 47 years of existence, went from being a chef to a bartender, to a wedding and event planner to a designer, photographer, editor in chief and in all of them found tremendous success, which I strive to accomplish in this next chapter of my life as a public speaker.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Roger Talley, William Zimmerman, Ashok BK, Cindy Hunsucker

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