We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Yoan Dominguez Gonzalez. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Yoan below.
Hi Yoan, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
You do not have a choice in Cuba. You must be resilient. After living there for 35 years, it becomes natural to continue life with the same mentality and with the same habits. Necessity builds the resilience that then becomes muscle memory.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I started my journey with marketing with social media when I lived in Havana,Cuba. Due to the communist regime, commercialism and ability to live your dreams is limited. When access to social media was allowed by the government, I took advantage of the opportunity to use my skills from my studies at the university with a degree in marketing to learn from others on instagram to maximize followers and learn how to create meaningful content. I was able to start a business selling handmade bags, clothes and accessories. I created a separate account on social media just for my business. I enjoyed my business up until I moved to the United States to live and marry my spouse. Since December 2023, I have been living in the Tampa Bay area looking for opportunities to grow my social media and business. I am looking to develop my business to extend throughout all of Florida.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I have learned that first you have to harness your passion because you have to have the patience and perseverance to continue the journey. Without knowing the passion you have, you will never continue when the going gets tough. It’s essential to connect that passion with your “why”. The reason you continue will keep the flame of passion burning.
Next, I would say that you need to go with the flow to allow the obstacles to be your opportunities. Life does not happen to you, it happens for you. It is important to then adapt to a ripple in what you thought was something in your way. In Cuba, I needed to invent with little resources. I learned to get excited in these moments because it meant that I now get to innovate. Not all innovations are great, which is where your purpose and passion comes in; but the perseverance will eventually yield your gold.
Lastly, I would say that you need to have constant hope. Surround yourself with like-minded people so that you don’t lose all hope. My husband always tells me when I’m discourage to choose the mountain I want to climb because the most important piece of obtaining your dream is the journey to get there, not the actual attainment of the dream itself.
What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?
In Cuba, I found it very easy to post, market and sell my products and advertisement. The struggle existed in supplies and private companies. There are fewer materials and machines to assist with the business. Once I had the materials, I was able to flourish with a high demand for my products and presence.
In the United States, I have been acclimating to the culture and trying to establish connections. Learning the way to connect and grow my business is new but I am adapting.
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