Today we’d like to introduce you to Connie Valdes.
Connie, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Hi VoyageMIA, in sharing my story I hope to continue influencing the amazing entrepreneurs and empowering women in our community. As a Miami native, born and raised in a multicultural household of Cuban and Peruvian parents, I learned that change meant growth and power. Embracing the unknown is the fear that always drives me to lead forward in every aspect of my life. I started my career in business in the Fashion Industry right out of the university, leading a Luxury Women’s Fashion brand in South Florida, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands for over 10 years. Had the opportunity to lead amazing teams throughout those market in the retail sector managing over 19 locations at a time with top sales performances from 2005-2015. In the process, I gained amazing business relationships, friendships and surrounded myself with mentors who were called to speak on Bloomberg or share insight on The Washington Post, It’s still nice to pick up the phone and call them to share ideas.
The day came when I parted ways with the brick & mortar stores and gave life to the entrepreneur spirit within me. I sat an afternoon on Brickell Key overlooking towards Fisher Island and asked myself “where do you go from here, how do you piece together your ambition, where do you start, who will follow you, who will help you?” The unknown gave the answers as I thought each one through. Valco was my inception business name, a composition of my last and first name. I was determined to create a business where I would share my years of experience with others, I figured the knowledge I’d gained and the track record would essentially add value to those I worked with. Consulted for some of the largest E-commerce businesses in Europe and started procurement in the Textile industry in Peru. To learn quickly that I missed leading teams and creating experiences for consumers.
Fall of 2016 after a full year of networking and investments towards Valco’s mission, we landed our first break. An old colleague referred us to a New York experiential company, they were seeking support to staff their client Citibank Experiential events. We won the trust and admiration of Citi’s Marketing team and our Soho partners. We were in business managing events, training and staffing our talent to represent the brands!
I currently interview and background check each talent. I’ve made it a point to get to know them and their goals. It’s because of our amazing team’s commitment to our mission we gradually grew our client portfolio adding in Aventura Mall, Turnberry Media, Simon Malls, Master Card, Real Madrid, CASACOR Miami, City of Miami, Karma International, Trade of Peru, Charles Smith Wines, Cointreau, Dreaming Tree Wines and others.
2020 has amazing projects on the horizon and we are eager to share our mission with others!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Have you ever started a diet? LOL! Starting anything you will always face obstacles or as I like to call them learning opportunities. I learned that I had to believe in myself and the direction of my company before others. I self-funded my first year and networked to share Valco’s mission. I traveled to Peru, Paris, NY and started visiting cities in South Florida to share who I was and Valco’s mission of marketing.
Experiential marketing I would say, and everyone would always ask me what exactly was that. I had come up with my elevator pitch for it, “you know time squares ball drop, that’s marketing experience, we do that. We create experiences to reach brand messages to consumers. We train and staff for event Demos, Trade Shows, Street Teams, Tours and more.”
The hardest change was the financial adjustment I decided to make to keep my dream of being in business for myself alive. My kids did not understand why they no longer were granted every wish they asked for and why that year’s holiday list was reduced to 1/2. It’s still my drive today to seek for more as I want to share with them every dream has a price and how much sweat equity are you willing to pay for it.
Please tell us about your business.
We are a Promotional Event Staffing & Experiential Marketing Consulting Agency. We create or manage marketing campaigns for product demonstrations, Trade Shows, Experiential and special events with our promotional staff or brand ambassadors.
We have an established training system and with my personal 15 years of sales training leadership, continuously recognize our talents strengths leveraging them creating succession plans for talent growth. Our clients appreciate it and trust us.
We lead a business in a competitive industry, yet have learned our repeat clients value our commitment to their success and the quantitative performances we provide. Our sales results speak for themselves, We add value to their brand and our clients think of us as an extension to their team, I’d call that a win to set us apart in the industry,
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Winning the Tumi International Next Generation award, it’s a reflection that out of millions of Peruvian descent professionals, I was chosen to share the stage with Jaime Bayle, Peruvian writer, journalist, and TV personality.
Contact Info:
- Address: 41 SE 5th St
Miami, FL 33131 - Website: www.valcoconsulting.com
- Phone: 305-495-7363
- Email: connie@valcoconsulting.com
Image Credit:
Laura Palacios Photography, Esteban Larrañaga
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