Latina Movers N Shakers ! continued
Cynthia fuente
Name : Cynthia Fuente What is your Profession : Vice President Company : Fuente Companies Hometown : Tampa , FL
Lisa figueredo
Name : Lisa Figueredo What is your Profession : Publisher Company : Cigar City Magazine Hometown : Tampa , FL
Latin Times Magazine : How did you get started in your Career ? Lisa Figueredo : I had an Ad Agency and I was sitting up late one night missing my great grandparents who use to take me all over Ybor , West Tampa , to the cigar factories , and places around Tampa , thinking about the history in general on both sides of my family and that ’ s a lot of history in Tampa . I wondered if people would be interested in reading not only my family history stories but other people ’ s stories that had a big part of building Tampa . Came up with this idea if I do 2-3 issues , advertise my ad agency , and try it and now here we are going on 9 years , the Magazine is still going strong .
Latin Times Magazine : What do you enjoy most about doing what you do with your Magazine ? Lisa Figueredo : The thing I love most is after I publish the Magazine , people call me and say “ Hey that story you wrote was about my great-grandfather on the cover .” Or for instance I had a lady come to me , crying , we had written a story about her grandmother , she didn ’ t know her grandmother that well and said “ You know the story that you wrote about the man and woman that had all these family problems because she was Italian and he was Cuban ” which was taboo back in the day and how her family disowned her and she said “ I could never understood why my grandmother was such a mean and bitter woman , the hardship and heartache she had been through until I read the story .” The most gratification I get is when people come and they say they didn ’ t know that about their family member and have never seen certain pictures before , that is what gives me the gratification and what I love about it .
Latin Times Magazine : Being a Latina business owner have there been any obstacles that you have had to overcome : Lisa Figueredo : No not at all , because I was raised by very strong women who taught me that I could be whoever and whatever I wanted to be . It was weird too , because I grew up in the Cigar industry , on one side of my family were Cigar people and the other side were Politicians , musicians , actors and actresses . My dad ’ s mother had five sisters so my family was very women dominated . My grandmother worked and my grandfather never held her back and being raised in the cigar industry seeing women in the front of a male dominant industry in which it truly isn ’ t .
Latin Times Magazine : Who is your hero or role model living or passed and what they meant to you ? Lisa Figueredo : I would say that is hard to pick one person being a Latina coming from a Latino family because it wasn ’ t just one person in particular , my great grandparents on both sides of the family were the best , but if I had too I would have to say my aunt Marilyn Figueredo who worked with me as the editor of my magazine . She really knew how to tell the stories of our family history and she was also my confidant , like a sister and best friend , she played all those roles for me , she would be in the front while I would stay back , but would always give me the credit when in fact that Marilynn Figueredo is as big a part of the magazine as I am .
Latin Times Magazine : How did you get started in your Career ? Cynthia Fuente : I have been a part of the cigar industry since the day I was born . My grandfather started the Fuente Cigar Factory on his back porch , my father worked with my grandfather , and both my Grandmother and my mother worked alongside of them . I spent a lot of time in the factory learning and being a part of the business ….. you see it was always a family business run by family . It was never a matter of me getting into the business as much as growing up in the Business . Even though my parents encouraged me to do what I wanted to do and to be the best at whatever I decided to do . For me it was always being in the family business . I did achieve a degree in psychology because I had a great deal of love for older people and still do and I am a people person . I started working in the family business in sales and have truly enjoyed it ever since . For me this is how I was raised . My father always said “ Life is what you make it .” Family is very important to all of us , this is who I am .
Latin Times Magazine : What do you enjoy most about being in the cigar industry ? Cynthia Fuente : I am very passionate about the Cigar Industry and well I love to be around people , I genuilly love people , as you may know we just celebrated our 100 years and I get to travel a lot and enjoy smoking cigars with our fans , traveling around the world I get to meet very fascinating people and to see them enjoying our cigars especially gives me satisfaction in what I do .
Latin Times Magazine : Being a Latina business owner has there been any obstacles that you had to overcome ? Cynthia Fuente : I know that the majority of the cigar industry is run by men , I respect that , because I am constantly asked what it is like to be a woman in a “ man ’ s world ” But Growing up in this business I saw women working like my grandmother Christina working side by side with my grandfather , I saw my Mother working side by side with my father the women in my family were a great part of the business . My grandmother was a partner in running the business as my mother was for my father , So to me I have never had to deal with obstacles because I was raised seeing women being a huge part of the cigar industry and they are not only loved by men but also by women .
Latin Times Magazine : Who is your hero or role model living or passed and what they meant to you ? Cynthia Fuente : I have truly several people in my family that were a great part of my life my Grandparents , my parents , I was especially close with my godfather , Fausto Suarez who had a great influence in my life , to me they were all my heroes . I am very lucky to be apart of this great family history .