Today we’d like to introduce you to Norge Matos Aldana.
Norge, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My name is Norge Matos Aldana. I was born in Cuba without the Internet. I grew up in harmony and without stress. My parents, being kind, taught me to love. Being constant, they taught me to persist. When I was four, I learned to read, and the books taught me to dream. When you love, dream and persist, it is a matter of time before you reach your goals. My biggest inspiration to work hard is my father. He was my best friend ever and, definitely, the person who influenced me the most. Two other people influence me a lot: José Roberto Díaz, a genius and cheerful middle-school teacher in the mountains of Mayarí and Bill Gates, another genius, but somewhere else. They inspire me every day.
One of my main goals in life is helping children that have lost hope. I knew that to make my dreams come true, I needed to create assets, so I could have resources. I arrived in the United States in 2012 and, four years later, I started Utility Avenue: a socially-minded platform for small businesses and entrepreneurs to advertise and sell their services without a mediator. But, to create a product of this magnitude, I needed a first level team. Thus, I started identifying people with very high values and shared my vision with them. They fell in love with it. Our business idea turned into something wonderful: we became family. Our friendship makes this project already worthwhile.
I live in love with what I do. I firmly believe that Utility Avenue will have a positive and profound impact on society and that we will be able to help those children that are the genesis of our project.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I lost my parents in the middle of the project, three days apart. It was a turning point for me, as it makes you realize how fleeting life is. It has also been difficult to find investors who share and respect our values. Overall, it has been a lot of hard work to get here, but it has been more beautiful than difficult. We have grown as entrepreneurs, professionals and individuals and it has been every bit worthwhile.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Utility Avenue – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Utility Avenue is a platform where everyone can advertise and sell services without having to give anyone a percentage of the income. It’s as diverse as Amazon, as functional as Uber, and as free as Craigslists. Utility Avenue reflects the character of the team. It has the intention of producing while serving others, of being ingenious in the way of doing things for the common good.
Starting a business can be difficult because of the cost of its digitization and publicity. Utility Avenue seeks to establish the concept of Digital Free Economy, in which ordinary people can compete with large companies with personalized attention and superior customer care. What started as an idea is now a long-term project of much more scope. We are only getting started.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Utility Avenue intends to help people to do business, reducing costs. But there are many different areas needing disruption. We have a long term vision of five steps. They include, for instance, the project Rates: let’s say you go to Ukraine, and you are looking for a restaurant. If you see the reviews, most of them will be local reviews. However, you need to know what “people like you” think of those restaurants. And “people like you” means your language, your culture, your habits, your income…
Pricing:
- Service sold: $0.50
Contact Info:
- Website: https://utilityavenue.com
- Phone: (786) 490-6233
- Email: support@utilityavenue.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/utilityavenue/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/utilityavenue/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/UtilityAvenue
Image Credit:
Odette Photo Art
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