Today we’d like to introduce you to Marifely Arguello Montealegre.
Marifely, before we jump into specific questions about your work, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
My family is from Nicaragua, I was born in Costa Rica, due to exile, but consider myself 100% Nicaraguan. We returned to Nicaragua in 1991. As a girl I was always passionate about the arts, performing arts and visual arts. I decided to study Graphic Design and graduated from the University of Florida. Coming from a small country and arriving in the United States was a big change, but I was open to challenges.
One of my biggest challenges was competing for the title of Miss Nicaragua and finishing my last semester of college at the same time… tell me about being in two places simultaneously. This was definitely what made me realize that opportunities sometimes do not come in the right moments, and after this, I learned to juggle big projects and still succeed. I won the Miss Nicaragua title in March 2004 and was able to graduate top honors that year as well. I represented Nicaragua in Miss Universe of that same year in Ecuador, Miss Earth (semi-finalist) in the Philippines and Miss Expo World (winner) in Guatemala.
After I finished my year as Miss Nicaragua, I came back to the United States in 2005 and decided to start my career as a graphic designer. This was my second biggest challenge. As I had to start from scratch in a country who didn’t know who I was, where a name was nothing but just a number. Here goes the American Dream. I had to take off the fake eyelashes, the thousand layers of makeup that make a beauty queen look flawless in front of the cameras, and join the workforce. I started freelancing and doing pro-bono projects to gain experience in my career and landed a job in advertising. After the economic crisis, I switched markets and now, I work at Viacom International Media Networks as Sr. Creative Manager for Consumer Products, where I’ve proudly been for ten years.
Rewinding just a little, my nature of juggling projects was highlighted when I realized after some years of being in this country, that I was never going back to Nicaragua. This is where I realized that I had to make a name for myself here in Miami, and back then, social media support wasn’t as strong. I wanted to feel part of the community in which I lived… I didn’t have a history in Miami like all the locals, so this was my third big challenge.
I have always been involved with social projects, be it through dance, fitness, beauty pageants, and straight community service. This time, I decided to organize bazaars, which I hadn’t done, in my “spare time” to help small businesses. I have a very small stationery business myself, macco. grafika, so this also helped me get out in the market and meet fellow entrepreneurs. I organized four, one independent and the other three at work, always in pro of a good cause. In the meantime, I was also involved with Fundraisers and leadership projects. Little did I know, I was starting to create a huge database that would help me later in life.
I put the bazaar on hold for two years as I was getting overwhelmed, but then something terrible happened. On April 19th, 2018… Nicaragua exploded into a huge humanitarian crisis, where more than 64 people were killed, and 400 people were affected directly due to the attacks on that first day, and the number has been multiplying since. Being from Nicaragua, and especially having been Miss Nicaragua back in 2004, I felt the urge and social responsibility to help my country. All of a sudden, we all transformed into activists and experts in politics, and the Nicaraguan community in Miami was more united than ever. For me, politics did not last that long as I’ve never wanted to be involved in a political seat, and with what I learned those past months, I reiterate my choice. Anyways… this sparked a different way in which we could help Nicaragua and make a difference in this world.
Here comes a 4th big challenge, entering the world of fashion. Some people might think that the fashion world is very fake and plastic, and it could be, but when we come to dig deeper, there is so much more to fashion than what you only see. This is why, last year, together with Mayela Porras, my co-founder, who I met a little more than a year ago, we created The Trunk Show.
The Trunk Show started as a one-time social project to give the opportunity to entrepreneurs from Nicaragua in the creative fields, especially fashion, a chance to expand and connect in the city of Miami. Big, as well as small entrepreneurs in Nicaragua, have been affected by the crisis, so we decided to focus on the small and new, but talented, and sometimes easily ignored.
Our first event on October 13th, 2018, was a total success, we brought in about 22 brands, some living here in Miami and about half came from Nicaragua. HOLA TV, Telemundo and NBC covered the event and we exceeded expectations. Being able to support our people felt good, and the best was being able to give them a little hope. From that day, we’ve been contacted by many brands from different countries looking to expand in Miami, which guided us into organizing the 2nd event and opened many connections from then on. As a team and individually, we’ve been able to support start-ups in the fashion field and connect many people, which falls into our slogan “CONNECT, EMPOWER, EXPAND”.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It definitely has not been a smooth road. Growing up and realizing that you’re a grown-up in this world is not a smooth road. I’ve been married for 12 years to an amazing guy and have two beautiful children, and the biggest challenge is being able to give my best to them while trying to give the best of me to my job and projects. My family will always be my number one so this sometimes makes it easy when having to choose.
Finding the time to do the things that I’m passionate about is difficult, sometimes I’ve pulled all-nighters in order to finish up deadlines, I’ve gotten frustrated, felt lonely, felt tired and hopeless… but the good thing is that having a positive personality helps me to always see the light and seeks solutions. I know hard work pays off, but at the same time, if I don’t enjoy it, it is not worth it. So, I’ve learned to balance time better as years go by. If I can handle many projects at work, why not outside of work? I try not to work on my extracurricular projects all year long, I divide my time during the year and try not to work on more than two projects at the same time. I usually work on macco.grafika and The Trunk Show after hours, from 9:30 pm to 12 am, after the kids go to sleep and not every day so I can spend time with my husband as well. Working on weekends is also rare as we have a very social calendar.
Please tell us about your work.
Career-wise, I am Sr. Creative Manager for Latin America Promotions at Viacom International Media Networks. Coming from an Advertising, Marketing and Consumer Products background, this is the perfect match in my career, which has helped me succeed in this field, implementing new processes and supporting our licensing business for brands such as Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central and Paramount. Managing the creative execution of consumer products in LatAm from beginning to end in all categories (toys, publishing, apparel, accessories, back to school, home goods, health and beauty, food, promotions, among others), has given me a lot of experience and positive impact when supporting in trends and creative direction for new brands. Through my designs and working with designers all over the world and I am part of what makes our brands successful, making kids, as well as adults, fall in love with our DNA.
I’m a leader by nature, and this is why I’m also part of the leadership groups at Viacom, which are known as Employee Resource Groups (ERG’s). For four years I was one of the leaders for Parenthood, where we focus on supporting working parents to achieve professional excellence while creating a healthier work-life balance. ERGs were on hold for two years but we’re back on track in 2019 and excited for what’s to come.
As an entrepreneur with a creative soul, I love having projects, where I enjoy being in control and creating my own challenges and goals. These projects give me that extra feeling of accomplishment that sometimes we miss when working for someone else. I might not be an expert at balancing everything I do, but certainly, throughout the years, I’ve learned to manage my time. Timelines for me are a must, and this is why I’m able to juggle projects while having a full-time job and a family. Of course, without the support of my family, I wouldn’t be able to be where I am today.
My nature is to connect people, I’ve always been a social butterfly, and I think this is one of my strengths as a person. Since forever, a lot of people tell me I remind them of someone… a family member, a really good friend, confuse me with someone else or tell me that they feel they know me, or that they know someone that does. I think it’s funny, but at the same time extremely interesting, because it happens to me very often. I have the feeling that I’m a very relatable person and that is easy for people to feel connected to me… which as a result makes it easier for me to connect them to others. This has definitely helped me in my projects and the way I do business.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I am a faithful believer that everything happens for a reason, and if it wasn’t for my mistakes and experiences, I wouldn’t be who or where I am today. I don’t think I would do anything different, I like how my journey has been and what I’m still creating. I truly enjoy that it is a slow process because I feel it is realistic. I’m happy with who I am and still working at it every day.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.marifelyarguello.com
- Email: ma.macco@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marifelyarguello
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marifely.arguello
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/marifely_a
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/trunkshowmia | https://www.maccografika.com
Image Credit:
Moises Castellón
Rita Vega
Jose Carlos Arguello
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